Honey Cured Bacon (with Honey Kölsch)

Ingredients

1 each pork belly, skin on, trimmed
2 square and cut so you have equal halves (approximately 5 pounds/2.3 kg for each half)
10 oz. (283 g) Kosher salt
1.5 oz. (43 g) sodium nitrite (aka: “pink salt”)
16 oz. (453 g) honey

Step by Step

1. Mix the Kosher salt and sodium nitrite with the honey to make a sticky paste. 2. Slather half the mixture on half of the pork belly and place the whole thing in Ziploc bag, removing as much air as possible. 3. Repeat steps 1 and 2 with other half of the pork belly. Label the skin sides of the bacon with date on the outside of the bag. Place the curing bellies on a plate and place them in a refrigerator. 4. Flip the bags every day to ensure proper overhauling (think even curing). 5. After five to six days remove the cured bellies and rinse them very well under cold running water. 6. Once the bellies are dry, smoke the bellies with indirect heat using your favorite moist wood, or even spent grains, until you get your desired color and flavor. I usually smoke my bellies with hickory at 130 °F (54 °C) for about one hour. 7. Once the smoking is complete, keep the bellies in the refrigerator until you are ready to slice and cook.