Smye's Lightly Peppered Bacon

1. Rinse pork belly; pat dry. Combine brown sugar, non-iodized salt, paprika, red pepper flakes, black pepper, curing salt, and cumin seeds in a bowl; stir in maple syrup. Evenly spread brown sugar curing mixture over pork belly.

2. Vacuum-seal pork belly or place into a resealable plastic bag, squeezing out as much air as possible. Refrigerate for 7 to 10 days.

3. Remove pork belly from bag; rinse thoroughly. Pat dry; refrigerate while preheating smoker.

4. Preheat a smoker to 220 degrees F (105 degrees C) according to manufacturers' instructions.

5. Place pork belly, fat-side down, onto the wire rack. Place the rack into the smoker. Add 1 fist-sized chunk of applewood and 1 chunk of hickory wood to the smoke pan according to manufacturer's directions. Smoke for 1 1/2 hours; add 2 more applewood chunks. Continue smoking until pork belly reaches an internal temperature of about 150 degrees F (66 degrees C), about 1 1/2 hours more.

6. Remove pork belly from smoker; slice as desired. Store in the refrigerator for about 30 days. You can also portion the smoked bacon, freezing whatever you don't plan to consume right away. To use, thaw it in the refrigerator.

Cook's Notes:

For this recipe, I've found the most success with a water smoker.

You can substitute honey for maple syrup.