Recipe: Bacon (maple smoked) - sous vide and traditional

Do I really need to get into benefits of making bacon?  I doubt it.  If you have the use of a slicer, you can control the thickness of the slices, which is fantastic if you want to wrap a terrine with an ultra thin layer of bacon (or maybe you just like a fat slice for breakfast).  Lardons are always nicer two or three times thicker than store-bought thickness.  The list goes on, so we'll get right down to it.  

This recipe comes down to method more than anything since the amounts will depend on how much belly you are working with.  The salt and the nitrate are the most important elements - the rest is really determined by flavour preference.  While you will want some sugar involved, the type of sugar is up to you.  Same with spices - you don't really need to add any if you don't like, or you can switch it up.  With this recipe, we're going for a nice breakfast style bacon, but the technique is applicable to any style you end up going with.  Remember that it is always best to use gloves when in direct contact with nitrate.

You will need:

1                     pork belly

as needed       bacon cure

as needed       #3 dark maple syrup

 For the bacon cure, you will need:

450g / 15.9oz      kosher salt

250g / 8.8oz        sugar

50g / 1.76oz        nitrate

30ml / 2Tbs         ground fennel seed

30ml / 2Tbs         ground star anise

Method:

 -  trim the belly up if necessary
 -  cold smoke the belly for 3 hours
 -  mix all the cure ingredients together
 - weigh the belly
 - multiply the weight by 0.035 - this is the weight of the cure you need
 - if you have a skin, brush the flesh side of the belly with the maple syrup, otherwise brush it all
 - pack the measured amount of cure onto the flesh side (or all over if no skin)
 - either vacuum seal in a bag, or put in a non-reactive container and place in the fridge
 - store at least two or three days or until the belly has released some juices and has firmed up a bit
 - rinse the belly of the cure under cold water and pat dry

 - if cooking sous-vide, seal in a bag and set the bath to 150F / 65.5C
 - cook in the bath about 6 hours
 - cool in the fridge on a try with a weighted tray on top (so it stays flat when cool)
 - remove from the bag, and carefully remove the skin if necessary
 - use as needed

 - if finishing in the oven, set it to 200F / 193C
 - insert a probe into the belly and set it in the oven on a rack
 - when the internal temperature reaches 150F / 65.5C, remove (about 2 hours)
 - cool on the rack
 - remove the skin if necessary
 - use as needed