- 6 cups water
- 1 cup kosher salt
- 2/3 cup packed dark brown sugar
- 2 1/2 tablespoons Instacure No. 1
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 1/2 cup pure maple syrup
- 3 cups ice cubes
- 2 (2-lb) pieces boneless pork loin (2 inches thick; preferably from rib end)
- Special equipment: a 1- to 2-gallon plastic storage tub or stainless-steel bowl; a 22 1/2-inch covered kettle grill with a hinged top rack; a 12- by 8- by 2-inch disposable aluminum roasting pan; 3 lb hardwood sawdust; charcoal briquettes; a chimney starter; long metal tongs; an instant-read thermometer
- Stir together water, salt, brown sugar, Instacure, and vanilla in storage tub until solids are dissolved, about 3 minutes, then add maple syrup and stir until dissolved. Add ice and stir until cure is cold (ice may not be completely melted; keeping liquid cold slows salt absorption).
- Add pork to cure, then weight with a large plate to keep submerged. Chill, tub covered with a lid or plastic wrap, 36 hours.
- Rinse pork and pat dry, then discard brine.
- Open vents on bottom of grill and on lid. Remove lid and top rack from grill, then center disposable roasting pan on lower rack. Add 6 cups hardwood sawdust to pan.
- Light 5 briquettes in chimney starter. When briquettes are fully lit (covered completely with gray ash and glowing), transfer with tongs to sawdust, spacing evenly.
- When sawdust begins to smolder, replace top rack and arrange pork pieces on rack about 1 inch apart. Cover grill with lid, then insert thermometer into a vent hole in lid to monitor air temperature, which should be 80 to 120°F. (If temperature rises above 120°F, remove 1 or more briquettes or uncover grill slightly until temperature falls. If temperature falls below 80°F, light 1briquette and add to sawdust.)
- Smoke pork, adding 1 cup sawdust to roasting pan and stirring with tongs every 11/2 hours to ignite unburned sawdust, 8 hours. Cool completely, then chill, wrapped in plastic wrap, until ready to use.
- Cut finished bacon crosswise into 1/8- to 1/4-inch-thick slices (or roast whole; see cooks' note, below) and fry in a nonstick skillet over moderate heat, turning, until browned. Transfer to paper towels to drain.
- Available at The Sausage Maker (888-490-8525).