I notice that your U.S. belly has a lot more fat than a lot of british grown pigs, and that you are hot smoking.
Some of that fat bacon would make fantastic lardo or fat bacon. When i get a big boar i often dry cure and cold smoke these chunnks of fat. Very tasty to eat sliced thinly. I expereinced this a lot in Romania. Plus my father was a butcher and used to make it.
Since then i have tried to re-invent lardo for top restaurant chefs.