Homemade Beef Bacon (Cured & Smoked)

Why should you start making homemade beef bacon? If you’ve ever seen beef bacon at the store and choked on the price tag, I need you to know: you can make it better, and cheaper, in your own kitchen. All it takes is a beef belly (or navel), a simple dry cure, and patience. That’s it. No pork required, no $12-a-package nonsense — just bold, smoky, salty-sweet bacon you built yourself.

This isn’t a shortcut recipe. It’s a real cure, the same way bacon has always been made, and that’s exactly why it tastes so much better than anything shrink-wrapped. The smoked paprika and black pepper get worked into every inch of that beef belly, so the flavor isn’t sitting on top — it’s all the way through. And once you’ve done it once, you’ll wonder why you were ever paying store prices for something this simple to make at home.

Why Make Your Own Homemade Beef Bacon

Homemade Beef bacon is having a moment, and for good reason — it’s a great option if you don’t eat pork, and it brings a deeper, beefier flavor that holds up beautifully to a smoker. But it’s almost always sold at a premium. Curing your own beef belly costs a fraction of the price, and you control every bit of the seasoning. This is a project recipe — it takes about a week from start to finish — but almost all of that time is hands-off. You’re mostly just waiting on the fridge to do its job.

Ingredient Notes

Beef belly or navel (4–5 lbs) — This is the cut. It’s the beef equivalent of pork belly: well-marbled, with good fat coverage that renders down and crisps up just like classic bacon. Ask your butcher for beef belly or beef navel specifically — it’s not always on display, but most butcher counters can get it.

Kosher salt — The backbone of the cure. It draws out moisture and is what actually preserves the meat during the cure.

Brown sugar — Balances the salt and helps the exterior caramelize beautifully once it hits the smoker or the skillet.

Pink curing salt (Prague Powder #1) — This is not the same as pink Himalayan salt, and it’s not optional for a cure like this. It’s what keeps the meat safe during the multi-day cure and gives bacon its signature color. Use exactly the amount called for — no more, no less — and buy it labeled specifically as Prague Powder #1 or “curing salt #1.”

Black pepper, smoked paprika — This is where the flavor lives. The pepper gets ground fresh if you can manage it, and the smoked paprika adds color and a whisper of smokiness that carries through even before the smoker gets involved.

Garlic powder, chili powder (optional) — Both are welcome here. This is your cure — taste your rub, adjust it, make it yours.

How to Make Homemade Beef Bacon: The Walkthrough

Day 1 — Mix your cure and get it on the meat. Pat that beef belly bone dry with paper towels before anything else touches it — moisture is the enemy of a good cure, it stops the salt from doing its job. Mix your kosher salt, brown sugar, pink curing salt, black pepper, and smoked paprika together, then rub it over every single surface of the meat. Don’t be shy with it — every inch needs contact. Seal it in a zip-top bag or vacuum seal it, and get it in the fridge.

Days 2–5 — Flip it daily. Every day, flip the bag over and give the meat a gentle massage through the plastic so the cure and the liquid it releases keep working evenly. This is where the transformation actually happens — the salt is pulling moisture out and pulling flavor in. Don’t rush this part. A full 5 days gets you a deeper, more developed flavor than cutting it short.

Day 6 — Rinse and air-dry. Pull the belly out and rinse off the surface cure thoroughly under cold water — you don’t want a salty crust left behind. Pat it completely dry. If you have the fridge space, set it uncovered on a wire rack for 12–24 hours. This step forms what’s called a pellicle — a slightly tacky surface that helps smoke cling to the meat and gives you a better bark. Don’t skip it if you can help it.

Day 7 — Smoke. Get your smoker to a steady 200–215°F using hickory, oak, or applewood — any of the three works, so use what you can get. Smoke until the internal temperature hits 150°F, which usually takes about 2–3 hours depending on the thickness of your belly. Use a meat thermometer here; don’t guess. Once it’s done, let it cool, then wrap and refrigerate it.

Day 8 — Slice and cook. Chill the meat fully before you try to slice it — this makes a massive difference in how clean your cuts come out. Warm meat squishes; cold meat slices like a dream. Go thin for classic bacon strips or thicker if you want something heartier. From there, cook it exactly like you would regular bacon: skillet, oven, or griddle, low and slow so the fat renders out instead of burning.

No-waste tip: Don’t pour out that rendered bacon fat. Strain it and keep it in a jar in the fridge — it’s liquid gold for frying eggs, roasting vegetables, or building a pan sauce.

Serving Suggestions

• Crumbled over a skillet of cheesy grits for breakfast
• Layered onto a burger with sharp cheddar and caramelized onions
• Chopped into a pot of collard greens or beans for a smoky, beefy backbone

FAQ

Do I have to use pink curing salt? For a multi-day cure like this one, yes. It’s what makes the extended cure safe and is standard in every traditional bacon recipe. Use the exact amount specified and don’t substitute regular salt for it.

Can I make homemade beef bacon without a smoker? Yes — see the full oven method below. You’ll lose the wood smoke flavor, but the smoked paprika in the cure carries a lot of that smokiness on its own.

How long does homemade beef bacon keep? Slice it first, then store it in the freezer — that way you can pull out only what you need. It’ll keep well for a couple of months frozen, and about a week in the fridge once sliced.

Can I use a different cut of beef? Beef belly or navel is what gives you that classic fatty, bacon-like bite. A leaner cut will cure fine but won’t render or crisp the same way.

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Homemade Beef Bacon (Smoker Method)

Yield: About 4–5 lbs beef bacon (roughly 20–24 servings) Prep time: 20 minutes (plus 6 days curing + 12–24 hrs air-dry) Cook time: 2–3 hours smoking, plus a few minutes per batch to pan-fry Total time: About 8 days, mostly hands-off Method: Smoker

Ingredients

• 4–5 lb beef belly or beef navel
• ¼ cup kosher salt
• ¼ cup brown sugar
• 1 tsp pink curing salt (Prague Powder #1)
• 1 tbsp freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tbsp smoked paprika
• Optional: 1 tsp garlic powder, 1 tsp chili powder

Instructions

1. Pat the beef belly completely dry with paper towels.
2. In a bowl, mix the kosher salt, brown sugar, pink curing salt, black pepper, smoked paprika, and optional garlic powder and chili powder.
3. Rub the cure over every surface of the meat, making sure it’s fully coated.
4. Seal the meat in a zip-top or vacuum-sealed bag and refrigerate.
5. Flip the bag daily for 5 days, gently massaging the cure into the meat each time.
6. On day 6, remove the meat from the bag and rinse off the cure thoroughly under cold water. Pat dry.
7. Optional but recommended: air-dry uncovered on a wire rack in the fridge for 12–24 hours to form a pellicle.
8. Preheat your smoker to 200–215°F using hickory, oak, or applewood.
9. Smoke the belly until it reaches an internal temperature of 150°F, about 2–3 hours.
10. Remove from the smoker, let cool, then wrap and refrigerate until fully chilled.
11. Slice thin or thick, depending on preference, and pan-fry, oven-cook, or griddle like regular bacon.

Notes

• Slice before freezing so you can grab only what you need later.
• Save the rendered fat from cooking — it’s excellent for frying eggs or vegetables.
• Taste your cure blend before it goes on the meat and adjust the pepper, paprika, garlic, or chili to your preference. This is your bacon — make it yours.

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Homemade Beef Bacon (Oven Method)

No smoker? No problem. This version follows the same cure and gets its smoky flavor from the smoked paprika in the rub, finished low and slow in the oven.

Yield: About 4–5 lbs beef bacon (roughly 20–24 servings) Prep time: 20 minutes (plus 6 days curing + 12–24 hrs air-dry) Cook time: 2–3 hours in the oven, plus a few minutes per batch to pan-fry Total time: About 8 days, mostly hands-off Method: Oven

Ingredients

• 4–5 lb beef belly or beef navel
• ¼ cup kosher salt
• ¼ cup brown sugar
• 1 tsp pink curing salt (Prague Powder #1)
• 1 tbsp freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tbsp smoked paprika
• Optional: 1 tsp garlic powder, 1 tsp chili powder
• Optional: ½ tsp liquid smoke, for extra smokiness

Instructions

1. Pat the beef belly completely dry with paper towels.
2. In a bowl, mix the kosher salt, brown sugar, pink curing salt, black pepper, smoked paprika, and optional garlic powder and chili powder.
3. Rub the cure over every surface of the meat, making sure it’s fully coated.
4. Seal the meat in a zip-top or vacuum-sealed bag and refrigerate.
5. Flip the bag daily for 5 days, gently massaging the cure into the meat each time.
6. On day 6, remove the meat from the bag and rinse off the cure thoroughly under cold water. Pat dry.
7. Optional but recommended: air-dry uncovered on a wire rack in the fridge for 12–24 hours to form a pellicle.
8. Preheat your oven to 200–215°F. Set the belly on a wire rack over a sheet pan. If using, rub the surface lightly with liquid smoke before it goes in.
9. Cook until the internal temperature reaches 150°F, about 2–3 hours, checking with a meat thermometer starting around the 2-hour mark.
10. Remove from the oven, let cool, then wrap and refrigerate until fully chilled.
11. Slice thin or thick, depending on preference, and pan-fry, oven-cook, or griddle like regular bacon.

Notes

• The liquid smoke is optional but helps close the gap between this version and the smoker version — a little goes a long way, so don’t overdo it.
• Slice before freezing so you can grab only what you need later.
• Save the rendered fat from cooking — it’s excellent for frying eggs or vegetables.