Once you make this homemade bacon recipe, youll never look back. You won’t believe how good bacon SHOULD taste. It tastes like nothing you’ve ever had before. Its also sugar free, nitrate free, and Whole30 compliant.
Im going to be straight with you from the start: making homemade bacon is not a quick process. Its going to require a few steps, and a bit of waiting in between. But believe me when I tell you: it is SO worth it.
(If you’re in a hurry and need a Whole30 or paleo bacon option, Whole Kitchen Sink has a list of all the store-bought ones that are okay. ).
People love crispy, smoky bacon for breakfast, but the sugar and preservatives used in store-bought cures can be scary. Good news: it’s simple to make tasty bacon at home without sugar for a treat that’s better for you and can be tailored to your tastes.
Why Make Sugar-Free Bacon?
There are a few great reasons to try curing your own bacon without sugar:
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Avoid added sugars for low-carb diets or health conditions like diabetes or candida.
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Control exactly what goes into your food and avoid preservatives found in store-bought bacon.
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Customize flavors to your taste preferences with different salts, spices, and smoking.
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Enjoy incredibly tasty artisanal bacon made just how you like it
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Save money by buying pork belly in bulk and preparing your own.
While sugar helps balance salty flavor in cures it’s not a required ingredient for safety or preservation. With some tweaks, you can cure delicious sugar-free bacon safely at home.
How Sugar Functions in Curing
In traditional curing recipes sugar plays a few roles
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Flavor – Sugar balances out saltiness and adds sweetness.
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Texture – Sugar allows moisture retention for tender, juicy meat.
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Preservation – The high osmotic pressure of sugar inhibits bacteria.
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Color – Sugar aids in the development of an appetizing reddish-pink color.
So without sugar, expect a saltier final product with slight texture and color differences. The bacon keeps well refrigerated and retains terrific flavor.
Ingredients for Sugar-Free Bacon Cures
Curing sugar-free bacon requires just a few basic components:
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Pork belly – The raw meat cut with fat and skin to be cured and smoked.
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Salt – Sodium chloride provides preservation through dehydration and osmotic pressure. Table salt, sea salt, or kosher salt work.
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Curing salt – Also called pink salt, this provides nitrites for safety and color. Sold as Prague powder #1 or InstaCure #1.
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Spices (optional) – Tailor flavor with pepper, garlic, herbs, chili flakes, etc.
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Sweetener substitute (optional) – For some sweetness, use a small amount of honey, maple syrup, or sugar-free sweetener.
That’s it! The salt is the essential ingredient, while the other components simply customize taste and texture.
Dry Cure vs. Wet Brine for Sugar-Free Bacon
There are two main approaches to curing bacon at home:
Dry Cure
Coating meat directly with a salt and spice mixture.
Pros:
- Simple ingredients and process.
- Forms pellicle for better smoke absorption.
- Intense cured flavor.
Cons:
- Uneven contact can lead to inconsistent results.
- Requires daily flipping and rubbing.
Wet Brine
Submerging meat in a water-based salt solution.
Pros:
- Cure penetrates evenly and smoothly.
- Set it and forget it with no daily maintenance.
Cons:
- Diluted flavor from added water.
- No pellicle for smoking.
Both work well. Dry cure requires more hands-on attention, while wet brine needs more active ingredients.
Step-By-Step Guide to Sugar-Free Bacon Curing
Follow this simple dry cure process for sugar-free bacon:
1. Prepare the Pork Belly
Rinse the raw pork belly and pat dry. Trim off the skin for better cure absorption. Chill meat.
2. Make Curing Mix
Combine salt, curing salt, and any spices in a bowl. Use approximately 1 tablespoon of cure mix per 1 pound of pork belly.
3. Coat the Pork Belly
Rub the cure mix evenly all over the pork belly. Be sure to coat all surfaces thoroughly.
4. Cure the Pork
Place pork in a sealable bag or container. Cure in the fridge for 10-14 days, flipping periodically.
5. Rinse and Dry
Once cured, rinse off excess cure mix and pat pork very dry.
6. Rest 3-7 Days
Optionally rest meat in the fridge for a few days to form a tacky pellicle.
7. Slice and Cook
Slice the belly into bacon strips. Fry or bake until crispy!
And that’s all it takes to make tasty sugar-free bacon at home with basic ingredients and hands-on attention.
Tips for Successful Sugar-Free Bacon
Follow these tips for the best results when curing bacon without sugar:
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Use an accurate scale to weigh ingredients. Proper ratios are critical.
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Cut pork belly into manageable 2-3 pound slabs for even curing.
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Apply cure mix thoroughly and massage it into all surfaces.
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Flip and rub slabs daily during curing time for good distribution.
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Rinse extremely well after curing to remove excess salt.
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Let pellicle fully form if smoking for best smoke absorption.
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Cook low and slow, checking often to avoid burning.
Answers to Common Sugar-Free Bacon Questions
Is sugar required for cured meats?
No, sugar is added for flavor, moisture, and color but is not required for preservation.
What’s the best sugar substitute for bacon cures?
Maple syrup, honey, or low-carb sweeteners like monk fruit or stevia work well in small amounts.
Can I make bacon with just salt?
For safety, you need both plain salt and a curing salt that contains nitrites. Don’t omit the curing salt.
How long does sugar-free bacon keep?
Fully cured, uncooked bacon keeps 3-4 weeks refrigerated. Cooked bacon keeps 1 week refrigerated or 2 months frozen.
What about sugar-free corned beef or pastrami?
The same sugar-free curing method works well for all whole muscle meats. Adjust seasonings to your taste.
Enjoy Your Homemade Sugar-Free Bacon
With some simple ingredients and a bit of patience, you can easily cure fantastic bacon at home without sugar.
Experience the joy of crafting your own artisanal bacon customized to your dietary needs and taste preferences. Then fry up slices to enjoy in favorite dishes from breakfast tacos to BLTs for amazing flavor.
How long to cure homemade bacon
Oh, the waiting. So much waiting.
Youll need to give your pork belly around 4 days in the cure. Remember that it needs to stay in the fridge the whole time, so make sure you have room before you start!
Anything less than 4 days simply doesnt result in the best flavor. If you need to go a day or two longer, you can, but its not necessary. You dont gain a whole lot in terms of flavor by pushing to day 5 and 6.
How to cook homemade bacon
Remember, at this point, weve only just cured our raw meat. We still need to cook it.
What you want to go for is low and slow. We want the pork to be at least 165° on the inside. This is the safest temperature to kill anything that could be harmful to you.
We’re going to bake it at 225° for three hours, which is a low temperature for a long time.
Once you take the pork belly slabs out of the bag, rinse them off to get rid of any extra cure. Then, use a paper towel or clean dish cloth to dry them. (Then put that towel in the wash, because you just put it on raw meat!).
Place them on a baking sheet with a wire rack inside it, like this:
The wire rack will let the heat reach all sides of the meat and give the fat a place to drip off as it cooks.
Place your pan with the pork belly on it into the preheated oven.
Allow it to cook for three hours without opening the oven. (Doing so will release heat, which will mean you just need to cook it for longer. ).
If the pork belly is still hot when you open the oven after three hours, you can use a meat thermometer to check. Youre looking for it to get to an internal temp of 165°. If its not there yet, put it back in and check it again in 15 minutes.
Repeat this process until youve reached that 165°.
Once its done, remove it from the oven and allow it to cool a bit. It should look something like this:
You can also use a grill or smoker if you have one. Just follow the steps in this post for how to smoke pork belly.
We looooove our Traeger grill and use it for so much of our cooking. If youre looking for a healthy alternative and a way to keep your kitchen clean, you can check out Traeger pellet grills here.
If you want to learn more about what a Traeger Grill is and how it works, you can find that here.
MAKIN’ #BACON: EASY, Homemade, NO SUGAR, and BETTER Than Store Brand #Keto #Carnivore
FAQ
Is sugar necessary for curing bacon?
Can you cure bacon with just salt?
How to cure bacon without nitrates and nitrites?
What powder for curing bacon?
What is the best way to cure Bacon?
Gone but not forgotten. RIP If you were planning on Brine Curing your Bacon, use Pop’s Brine, No Sugar, with 1 Tablesoon of Cure #1 and no more than 1/4 to 1/2Cup Kosher Salt per Gallon. For Dry Rub Cured Bacon, use 0.25% Cure #1 and 1.5 to 2% Salt.
Can you eat cured bacon without cooking?
But eating cured bacon is not safe without cooking. For curing bacon that will be later cooked you need to use Insta Cure #1 (Prague Powder 1). When making dry-cured bacon, you need to use Insta Cure #2 (Prague Powder 2). Hope this helps.
Can you eat dry cured bacon?
You can eat dry-cured bacon as is but dry curing involves curing (described in this post) and later drying/maturing, like guanciale or pancetta. But eating cured bacon is not safe without cooking. For curing bacon that will be later cooked you need to use Insta Cure #1 (Prague Powder 1).
Is sugar needed to cure Bacon?
Sugar is NOT needed in any way to cure bacon. It is only used to offset the saltiness, of which the salt IS needed as part of the cure. There are probably a ton of options out there to negate the saltiness. You may just want to take a minute and visit my best friend.Google and see if there are alternatives.