The Big Green Egg is a great way to whip up all kinds of terrific dishes to be sure. Lots of different folks out there have created some outstanding goodies on the Big Green Egg and put them online for the world to see…but the idea of our own bacon?! Y-U-M-!

We’re not taking credit for this. We came across it on a blog called the Big Green Craig (http://www.biggreencraig.com/). Plenty of great things to try making on your Egg to be found on his site, but your very own homemade bacon? We are IN. Maybe next weekend for Memorial Day you can serve your own Egg-made bacon. Um, with eggs.

Bacon on the Big Green Egg

What you’ll need

• 5 lbs raw pork belly
• ¼ cup kosher salt
• 2 tsp pink curing salt #1 (NOTE—This is not Himalayan Pink Salt)
• 5 tbsp coarsely ground black pepper
• 4 crumbled bay leaves
• 1 tsp grated nutmeg
• 1/8 cup brown sugar, honey or maple syrup
• 6 cloves of minced garlic
• ¼ cup pickling spice
• 1 tsp cayenne pepper

Prepare it

• Combine the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl and whisk together thoroughly.
• Rinse pork belly in cold water and pat dry with paper towels.
• Rub the dry mixture thoroughly into the pork belly, covering the entire surface as thoroughly and evenly as possible.
• Place the pork belly in a 3 gallon Ziploc® bag. Squeeze all the air of out the bag and seal. Refrigerate for at least 8 days.
• On day 8, pull the belly from the Ziploc bag and rinse it under cold water, scrubbing the cure off completely. Pat dry with paper towels.
• Trim the belly to the desired length for your bacon strips and square the belly as much as possible. Allow to air dry for at least one hour.

Make it

• Soak wood chips or chunks (your choice) for one hour prior to smoking the belly on the Egg.
• Set your Egg up for indirect cooking. Place the plate setter legs up with the grill rack on top of the legs. Set the temperature between 215 and 225° F.
• Place the belly on the grill grate and smoke the pieces until they reach an internal temperature of 150° F.
• Remove the belly from the egg, wrap in foil and refrigerate overnight.
• After 24 hours, remove the belly from the foil and slick into strips with a good knife or meat slicer.

Mmmmmmmmm! is all we can say! It will be worth all the effort!