Lamb bacon is easy to make, delicious and is well worth the time sitting by the smoker with a couple of beers. Use it in any way you would use bacon - it tastes better.

All you need is:

1.5 - 2 pounds of boneless lamb breast, with silver skin in tact (any one of the butchers on our WHERE TO BUY will make this cut for you)
5 tablespoons kosher salt
2 teaspoons pink curing salt*
3 tablespoons Highland Sugarworks Maple Sugar
4 dried bay leaves, crushed
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 handfuls of natural apple flavor wood chips

* Get this at your local butcher shop or online. Buy a pound or 2 so you can store it for your next smoking session.

Mix the salts, sugar and pepper together and then crush in the bay leaves.

Pat the lamb dry with a paper towel and dredge through the mixture. Cover and refrigerate for 5 days, turning once per day.

This is what your lamb will look like after 5 days in the fridge. Wash off the salt mixture really well and put back in the fridge, uncovered, for one more night. Then you're ready to smoke it.

Soak 2 handfuls of apple chips for 30 minutes while your smoker heats up. Drain chips and place them in your smoker's wood chip pan. Smoke for 3 hours at a steady 200 degrees. Cool completely in the refrigerator for up to 1 month.