How to cook thick-cut bacon

Put the ingredients for the spiced salt into the pot and stir-fry over low heat until fragrant.

Put it into the grinding cup and grind it into seasoned salt. You can make a bit more at once, as it will be useful when making bacon later.

When buying meat, ask the butcher to remove the skin for you. At home, wash the meat, pat the surface of the pork belly dry with kitchen paper, and poke some holes with a fork to allow the seasoning salt to penetrate. Spread a layer of seasoning salt on the surface of the meat, making sure to cover every spot, including the gaps. Place a small draining rack in a storage container and put the meat on the rack, so that the juices released during marination will drip to the bottom of the container. If you don't have a draining rack, just clean up the released juices promptly and reapply seasoning salt to any spots where the meat touches the water. Put the storage container in the refrigerator and marinate for 3 days.

The next day, take out the meat and get ready to sprinkle your favorite herbs on it.

I want to make two flavors, and sprinkle thyme on this piece of meat.

The other piece of meat is seasoned with rosemary.

Sprinkle the meat with herbs, wrap it in kitchen paper, using two layers, place it in a storage container, and refrigerate for 4-5 days. Keep an eye on it in the meantime, and if the kitchen paper becomes wet, make sure to replace it with new kitchen paper in time.

When the time comes, take the meat out of the refrigerator and get ready to start smoking. Make sure to find a pot with a thicker bottom and even heat conduction. Line it with a sheet of aluminum foil, sprinkle 10 grams of tea leaves and 30 grams of brown sugar, then place a small rack to set the meat on. My rack wasn't that big, so I cut each piece of meat in half.

Cover the pot with a lid and first heat it over medium-high heat until it starts to smoke. Once it begins to smoke, turn to low heat and smoke for 50 minutes. When the time is up, do not open the lid immediately; let it cool naturally with the lid on.

Once the bacon is smoked and cooled, cleaning the pan is very easy; just pick up the aluminum foil and throw it away.

Wrap each piece of meat in aluminum foil and store it in the refrigerator overnight to let it absorb more flavor.

The next day, you can take out the meat and cut it into portions, slicing it vertically into thick pieces, which is thick-cut bacon.

I like to wrap every 4 slices in aluminum foil, set aside the portion for breakfast, and freeze the rest. For breakfast, I just take out a pack and fry it, which is very convenient. For meat that has been frozen, put it in the fridge to thaw overnight, and it can be used in the morning.

The size of a pack of slices is just right, flat and rectangular, stacked one by one, into the freezer.

You can also cut it into strips like this, which is suitable for making mushroom and bacon braised pasta, or various baked dishes.

Thick-cut bacon and fried egg sandwich, super delicious.