Ingredients:
- Side of pork belly (the one I used was 3.8kgs)
- 1/4 cup table salt
- 1 tbs Prague #1 powder/curing salt
- 3.5 tbs brown sugar
- 6 tbs Lane's Maple Pecan Rub
- 2 tbs maple syrup
Method:
- Mix all the dry ingredients together in a bowl. I then filled an empty rub shaker with the curing salt mix.
- Rub the pork belly with the maple syrup to use as a binder.
- Evenly apply the curing salt mix to both sides of the pork belly and the edges.
- Cryovac the pork belly and place in the fridge (A zip lock bag with as much air removed as possible will also work).
- Place in fridge on a spare shelf and flip daily. Cure for 7 days.
- After 7 days of curing, remove the pork belly from the bag and rinse off the curing mixture under cold water. (You can slice a piece off to fry up to check saltiness. If too salty soak in water. If not salty, add more prior to smoking)
- Return cured pork to fridge on a rack to dry for approx. 24-48hrs.
- Smoke the cured pork using your desired fruit wood at 225f until the pork reaches an internal temperature of 145f. (Approx. 3hrs).
- Let the pork cool, then place back in the fridge to chill for another 24-48hrs prior to slicing.
