Butcher’s Guide · Smoked Meats
Smoked Bacon
Cure. Hang. Smoke. Slice. The four-step method that turns pork belly into bacon — and why butcher-shop bacon doesn’t shrink to nothing in the pan.
Bacon starts as one cut of meat: pork belly. Everything that happens between the slaughterhouse and your skillet is craft. Cure, hang, smoke, slice. Four steps. The way a butcher does each one is what separates great bacon from the rubbery strips that vanish into a puddle of water in a 10-inch pan.
The four steps.
- Cure. Pork belly is rubbed with a cure mix — salt, sugar (brown or maple), pink curing salt (sodium nitrite), spices. Wet-cured bacon sits in brine. Dry-cured bacon is rubbed and packed. Either way, the cure penetrates over 5–7 days, drawing moisture out and flavor in.
- Hang. After curing, the belly is rinsed, patted dry, and hung on a rack in a cool space (under 50°F) for 8–24 hours. The surface dries and forms a tacky pellicle that helps smoke adhere.
- Smoke. Hot smoke at 200°F until the internal temp hits 150°F — typically 3–4 hours. Applewood for sweeter bacon. Hickory for stronger. Cold smoke (under 90°F, longer duration) is the traditional approach but requires more equipment.
- Slice. Cool the smoked bacon completely (overnight in the fridge), then slice. Thick-cut is 1/8 to 1/4 inch. Paper-thin is 1/16 inch — the diner-breakfast cut. Stittsworth runs thick-cut as the default because thinner bacon falls apart on a smoker or in a BLT.
Why grocery bacon disappears in the pan.
You lay six strips of grocery bacon in a pan. Ten minutes later you have three strips, a half-inch deep puddle of brine-flavored water, and a frustrating breakfast.
The reason: most large-scale bacon is pumped with curing brine to speed up production and add weight. A 1-pound package of grocery bacon may contain 10–15% added water. When that water boils off in the pan, the bacon shrinks dramatically.
Butcher-cured bacon — either dry-cured or minimally pumped — doesn’t do this. What hits the pan is mostly meat and fat. It still renders fat (that’s what gives you the crispy edges) but it doesn’t evaporate down to a third of what you started with.
Two woods, two characters.
Applewood
Sweeter, milder, fruitier. The classic breakfast-bacon profile. Pairs well with maple, brown sugar, syrupy glazes. Most people’s first answer when asked “what bacon do you want.”
Hickory
Stronger, more savory, more aggressive. The BBQ-style bacon profile. Works hard with eggs, holds up in a BLT, the bacon that earns its presence on a burger.
Real wood smoke. No shortcuts. Butcher bacon doesn’t vanish in the pan.
Why does grocery store bacon shrink so much in the pan?
Grocery bacon is often pumped with brine — 10–15% added water by weight. That water boils off in the pan, and the bacon shrinks. Butcher-cured bacon is dry-cured or minimally pumped, so what hits the pan is mostly meat and fat.
What's the difference between applewood and hickory bacon?
Applewood is sweeter, milder, fruitier — the breakfast profile most people prefer. Hickory is stronger, more savory, more BBQ-leaning. Both work for cooking; the choice is flavor preference.
How long does smoked bacon last?
Unopened in the fridge: 2 weeks. Opened: 7–10 days. Frozen: 3–4 months. Vacuum-sealed extends fridge life.
Is butcher bacon worth the price difference?
Often yes per cooked ounce. Grocery bacon shrinks 30–40% from water loss. Butcher bacon shrinks far less, so a pound yields meaningfully more cooked product.
Part of the Smoked Meats guide series. Bacon recipe: Candied Bacon.
From the Smokehouse
