Mango Jalepeño Applewood smoked bacon

I’d be a vegan if veggies were made of bacon. At work the other day I mentioned that we were getting a new smoker for the house. My boss brought up the idea of combining mangos and jalapeños in a bacon marinade. As a beginner pork candy maker, I had to take on the challenge.  Previous bacon making focused on dry brining which basically means you rub the pork belly down with salt and seasonings for a few days before the smoke. It was good, but not great. Very salty and not much bacon flavor. I’m not a big fan of the dry method.

Here is my first attempt at a wet brining method. The recipe was simple:

• 4 lbs of fresh pork belly (whole or divided for your brining vessel)
• 1 cup sea salt
• 1 quart of Mango puree
• 4 healthy sized jalapeños (sliced into rounds)
• 1 Mango (chopped)
• 2 Tablespoons crushed black pepper
• 1/4 cup molasses
• 1 1/2 quart water

Add all ingredients into a pot and bring to a simmer. Remove from heat and place pork belly into plastic tubs. Pour your brine over the pork belly ensuring that the meat is covered.

I left the skin on my pork belly during the brine, but I’ve read that you can cut it off for more flavor in the final product. I kept it on so that we could fry them up and have the brine flavor in the crackl’ns.

Let rest in the fridge for at least 3 days. I let mine sit for a week.

Next post… The smoke…

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