Homemade Uncured Bacon – AIP, Paleo, Whole 30
Do you love Paleo and Whole 30 bacon? Meeeeee too! Do you love it’s price? Me neither!
I’ve seen truly all-natural, pastured raised, honey sweetened, celery-cured bacon sell in the price range upwards of $14/lb. Now, if I only nibbled on a few bacon bits every once in a Sunday, that would be feasible. But, I’m a bacon wh*re.
And I need a bacon safety cushion ALL DAY EVERY DAY. Know what I’m sayin’? I’ve gotta have some in the fridge or the freezer, raw or cooked, at all times else I panic and feel sort of sad that I’m living in a baconless home.
There are a few bacon brands out there that are in a more manageable fundage range, but they aren’t exactly Paleo to the P. Some may have turbinado sugar in them.
Some contain spice “extracts” which the company may not be willing to disclose, in fear that you’re going to go all mad-scientist + publisher on them and share their secret recipe with the world. “Bruh, look…I really just NEED to know what’s in that blend so I don’t get sick. Pshhh.”
Anyhoo, I’ve found the most frugal way for me to keep my hands on all that divine swine is to make it at home. My rancher sells sliced pastured pork belly (aka “fresh bacon”) for around $7/lb, and this means about twice the bacon to be contained in the Unskilled household; and that means MOMMA be a happy momma.
It also means I get to control the ingredients! (ooh a control freak’s favorite thing!)
Here are the ingredients you’ll need to make ya a batch of this here cavewoman-approved bacon:
- Celery powder – available through Amazon -or- you can dehydrate celery at home and turn it to dust with your food processor.
- Smoked salt – I switch between Maldon’s and my homemade version which is much smokier. This involves the simple task of using your food processor to grind up 3/4 parts mineral sea salt and 1/4 part lapsang souchong smoked tea leaves together to make a lovely salt that you will want to sprinkle on EVERYTHING.
- Honey – you know, the bees’ golden nectar of the gods -or- Coconut nectar (*both optional, use honey for AIP, and for Whole 30 and Keto diets, these should be omitted)
- Pork belly – I prefer to get mine pre-sliced, and this recipe is written for pre-sliced bacon. You also have the option of buying a whole pork belly and slicing it yourself at home.
Once you try this bacon, you may not ever want to buy prepared bacon again. I haven’t gone back to the packaged stuff since! Try this recipe out and let me know what you think in the comments below. Happy bacon-ing, hun!
- 2 lb Pork belly, sliced
- 1 to 3 Tb Smoked salt
-or- Redmond Real Salt
- 2 Tb Celery juice powder
(*Homemade celery powder recipe coming soon! But its really easy…just finely chop a head of celery in your food processor, dehydrate
completely, then turn to powder in your food processor
.)
- 1 to 4 Tb Honey (*AIP option) -or- Coconut nectar
(*omit sweetener for Whole 30 and Keto)
-or- Redmond Real Salt
(*Homemade celery powder recipe coming soon! But its really easy…just finely chop a head of celery in your food processor, 
completely, then turn to powder in your
.)
(*omit sweetener for Whole 30 and Keto)- Add pork belly to a large mixing bowl. (You can also do this directly in a freezer baggie if that floats yer boats.)
- Sprinkle over salt and celery powder evenly, then massage well into the belly slices.
- Drizzle over sweetener if using, then massage again until well-incorporated.
- Its ok if the seasonings are little bit chunky-looking, they will eventually dissolve during the curing process!
- Place either in an airtight storage container, or a large plastic freezer bag. (I like to double up the bag or place the bag inside a grocery sack just in case of leakage.)
- Store in the fridge for about 6 days, shaking the container / massaging the baggie every day to keep the juices evenly brining the pork.
- I've cured this for 4 days before and the flavor was similar to roast pork, as well as for 8 days and the flavor was too sour for me. I think the sweet spot is around 6 days.
- The pork will have changed from a pinkish color to a deeper brown-pink / slightly greyed when it is ready.
- Drain off juices before cooking.
- Cook as desired and enjoy your scrumptiously clean, chemical-free bacon!
- Freeze any uncooked bacon immediately for future use.
- I love to use the cooked bacon on top of (or inside!) burgers, chopped on top of salads, inside frittatas, wrapped around meatloaf or seafood…even packed as a quick protein snack on the go…the options are endless!
9 Comments
Angie
This looks fascinating – lapsang souchong tealeaves to make smoked salt, whoever would have thought! Must give it a go. I’ve always used pork belly slices from the butcher for bacon, as I can’t find cured bacon without additives. I usually just dowse it with salt as it’s cooking, which works fine, but looks like this will take it to another level! Thanks.
Samantha Jo Teague
Hi there Angie! Oh, its such a good little homemade salt! I just love how it adds another layer of flavor to meats, veggies, soups, eggs. I’ll have to try your method too! I like how the curing process gives it that bit of tang. 🙂 I hope you enjoy it if you give it a try. 🙂
Camilla
So, do you really need to dry the celery? It wouldn’t work just mixing celery, salt and honey to a paste and cover the meat with it? I’ve just finished my first batch of celery salt and the amount left really made me laugh…
Samantha Jo Teague
Hi there Camilla,
I have seen recipes that use just salt, or some with celery juice instead of powder, though they used a whole (uncut) pork belly and different curing methods. I’m sure its a possibility and would still taste delicious, but unsure of the results. If you give it a go, please let me know how it worked out for you! I always love simplifying ANYTHING in the kitchen. ??
Olivia
So, you are just buying freshly sliced pork belly that hasn’t been smoked or frozen, correct?
Samantha Jo Teague
Hi Olivia, Yes that is correct 🙂
Eileen
Thank you for these ideas. My hubby and I are at day 11 of our first whole 30. I’m amazed at how many bloggers post recipes with bacon, as if it’s so easy to get for a Whole 30. So I think I’m gonna make the trip to the butcher, first time ever. Happy cooking. Thanks for demystifying the how to’s of finding whole 30 bacon.
Samantha Jo Teague
Hello Eileen,
Yes, Whole 30 bacon can be quite costly and difficult to track down. Quite often it’s sold out, too!
I have also been wanting to try the dry-curing process I’ve seen in a few recipes online, in hopes of a slightly dryer end result, but I haven’t gotten around to it just yet.
Thanks for stopping by, I hope you and the hubs enjoy the recipe!
Pingback: