Since I'm not a certified meat processing facility, I can't really sell bacon. People do purchase the plastic bags (that happen to contain two pounds sliced) for about 12 bucks. The same bags containing ends and pieces would be about ten bucks. If you're trying to earn enough money for a FEC, borrow the money and buy the FEC. I sold enough plastic bags last year with Bacon, jerky, ribs, chicken, snack sticks and sausage to pay for half of my FEC.
With the bacon, I have the place I purchase them remove the rinds if I have them removed. About half of the folks like it on. If you have it removed prior to purchasing it, it is cheaper than removing it yourself; as the rind and the bit of fat that has to come off with it make for around 20 percent of the weight.
If you have a choice, take all you can off before to get the best penetration of cure and smoke. Either way, side-by-side bellies, (rind on and off) cured in the same amount of time, but I take them a full seven days, when they probably only need five. I figure about 1/4 inch a day per side for a full cure, but it varies.
Last batch costs 1.98 a pound raw, but I usually pay 2.25/LB. 30 cents a pound for the cure mix (hi mtn buckboard bacon cure) and I smoked them for 12 hours on 150 in the FEC. They did loose about 15-20 percent in water weight while smoking. I know it was water, as I weighed them before and after and had clean foil on the grease slide and it was still clean after the smoke. This long slow smoke Really concentrated the flavor and the texture was amazing.
I use 2.5 gal Ziploc bags and fit two five pound slabs on top of each other in them to cure, flipping the bag a couple of times thru the week it is in the fridge. I rinse the cured bellies real good, put them back in the same bag and fill the bag with water and ice, setting them all down in a cooler for a couple of hours. This is the un-messiest way for me to do the cure/rinse/soak process.
By the way, you guys that are having trouble finding bellies, try making some canadaian bacon out of pork loin, or some buck Board Bacon out of pork butt. The Cad bacon is like real good quality ham, amazing on sandwiches or whatever.
Here's a pic of my slicing setup, which annexes our dining room table. It takes three of us to complete the slicing/sealing process, completing about 30 to 40 pounds an hour. By the way, the scales in the pic has long since retired, as it was grossly inaccurate, over a quarter pound sometimes. I replaced it with a digital one that goes up to 70 pounds; I love it.
