Bacon!

The gateway food for vegans and vegetarians.  Just as (some people want you to believe that) marijuana is a gateway drug to things like cocaine, heroin and the like, bacon is the gateway to pork chops, steak and all things meaty.   You might not agree with the bit about pot, but there is no refuting the fact that if you get someone to have bacon, there's no looking back.  It's wonderful stuff.

I (Aaron) don't have many vices, but bacon certainly could qualify.  How do you get to know your vice better?  Well, you go Jesse Pinkman on it, and make it.  Bacon is as addictive as meth, without the paranoia (I figure).

How do you make bacon?  It's simple.  First, get a copy of Charcuterie by Ruhlman and Polcyn.  Follow the recipe.  It's way easy.

Cure the bacon by rubbing belly with Polcyn's "General" cure to (5% of the belly's weight in cure).

Let it sit a week or so (this time I let it go 10 days).

Smoke it.  Apple wood, about four hours at 180ºF until the meat is 150ºF (remove skin when cool enough to handle - use skin for stock, soup, broth, etc).  Let it rest a day. 

Slice.

Store.

Eat.

Oh, the bacon-y goodness.  It's truly FAR better than store bought.  This gives you the option of leaving out the Sodium Nitrite - but that's like drinking orange juice without pulp, you could, but why would you want to?