One of the things I’ve learned on my journey to becoming healthy is that many foods made “the old fashioned way” are much healthier for us than their modern counterparts. Case in point: bacon. Today’s bacon is typically filled with sugar and nitrates. Read the label on bacon the next time you buy a package; it’s frightening.

Now, sugar does add a nice flavor to otherwise savory foods, but since I’m cutting all added sugars from my diet, this is a no-no. How to get around this?

Sherry has found a low-salt bacon at Kroger that has no added sugar which we use quite regularly, but after purchasing a pork shoulder to make pulled pork with, I was left with a large piece of fat that I didn’t want to just throw away. I decided to salt it and add some pepper, onion powder, and garlic powder and put it in the refrigerator in a plastic bag for a week. I then smoked it with pecan wood for three hours. What resulted is the lovely bacon you see below. As for flavor? It’s really, really good! It tastes like a cross between what I refer to as regular American bacon and Canadian bacon. Sliced, it has a very nice flavor.

I highly recommend making your own bacon. It takes a week, and can be made with either pork belly or pork shoulder. Having a smoker enhances the flavor, but isn’t absolutely necessary. Cured pork stores well, and hot smoking it like I do makes it edible without frying.