Maple, Chilli and Bourbon Bacon

Ingredients
6 tbsp Dried Chilli Flakes
1/3 cup Bourbon Whisky
1 cup Maple or Hickory Wood Chips or Pellets
80g Misty Gully Maple Bacon Cure
2kg Pork Belly (skin on/off)

Method
1) Remove excess fat and skin from your slab of pork belly. Weigh.
2) Add 80g of Misty Gully Maple Bacon Cure (or 40g per kg of meat). Rub into pork belly ensuring to get in all the folds and cracks. Place into zip lock bag or air tight container. Add bourbon and chilli flakes. Coat well.
3) Refrigerate for 6 days, turning the meat every 24 hours.
4) Remove from container/bag and rinse under tepid water to remove all excess cure and salt. Soak for 30 mins.
5) Pat dry, then add additional chilli flakes and bourbon if desired.
6) Smoke your bacon. We recommend smoking with this recipe as the smokey flavour profile works well with the sweetness of the Maple and Bourbon. We used Hickory chips in a Masterbuilt 40″ smoker, but you can also use a Misty Gully Double Barrel smoker in any hooded bbqwith pellets. Bacon can also be brought to temperature in a regular oven without smoking. Check out our Bacon Hangers for additional equipment for better results.
7) Smoke/cook at 105c for approx 75 minutes until your bacon reaches an internal temp of 68c.
8) Allow to cool.
9) Slice thinly, then cook as desired. For intermediates and experts – we cannot speak highly enough of our automatic slicers available here.

This bacon will taste nothing like you’ve ever tried before! It’s unusual at first, but if this was even possible, the sweetness from the Maple and Bourbon and the warm aftertaste from the chilli make it the most addictive bacon we’ve ever had…. You’ve been warned!