OMG, Real Homemade Bacon!

Double posting tonight, because the bacon simply must be shared. It is that superbly glorious. You may recall from my post last week that I was curing some pork bellies for bacon, and let me tell you, that was one of the best decisions I've ever made. I fried some up for dinner tonight (yes, I ate a dinner of bacon and nothing else), and it was just SO good.

Fresh off the smoker on Saturday. 

Just sliced. If it weren't in beautiful, giant chunks, you'd think it were store-bought by the appearances.

Bobby, the maple cure, didn't get as much maple flavor as I'd hoped at first - it was subtle, but it built up with each bite. He tasted like candy, let me tell you. Petrino, with the garlic in the cure, was perfectly salty but not overly so. Considering that this was a short cure - just two and a half days, plus three hours soaking (Bobby was soaked in brown sugar and water, Petrino was repeatedly rinsed and soaked in clear water), plus drying in the fridge overnight - I'm blown away by how absolutely perfect it was.

A bit of each was for dinner tonight. I like mine slightly undercooked, and definitely not burnt.

I will never buy bacon at a store again if I can help it. I'll just make huge batches while I visit down here, then freeze them for use throughout the year.