Bacon is really easy to make. Trust me on this. Buy some pork belly, cure it for seven days. That is all. Neither more nor less. Now it is ready to use, but for better results smoke it. Again, trust is important. The details are on p. 174 of A Charcuterie Diary.

Here are a few photos of the process. Taken on my phone so the quality and composition are not great. After curing, note the deeper red colour (due to the nitrite in the cure):

After curing, the bacon is smoked for about 5 hours.

Bacon

See how nice and pink it is inside (again due to nitrite).

I usually keep it on the bone. Once completed remove the bones and use in a soup.

You will never eat bacon this good. I am a river to my people. The nitrite police should have left some time ago.