Bacon

Tried it twice now, one too salty (dry brine), one no flavor (wet brine) I need help too, glad ya posted this.

Add me to the list of those who need some help makin' bacon.

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Playing With Fire And Smoke.com

I made about 18 lbs here a month ago.The simplest recipe I have used is 1 tablespoon mortons tenderquick and 2 tablespoons brown sugar per pound of meat, you can add pepper, garlic, maple syrup to it to fit your tastes.I added about 2 tablespoons garlic per 5 lbs rubbed it down with maple syrup and lightly dusted it with black pepper.Make sure its evenly coated and vacuum seal it, put it in the fridge for 10 to 14 days turning it daily.

when its time to come out rinse it off and put it on a rack in the fridge to dry overnight, it should get a glazed look on the surface of it.Smoke it at around 175-200 untill you get an internal temp around 150, take it out, let it cool slice and enjoy.

Kave Dweller said:

Tried it twice now, one too salty (dry brine), one no flavor (wet brine) I need help too, glad ya posted this.

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I did some last year with a dry salt brine and it to came out very salty, with the tenderquick you dont get that, matter of fact you could probably add a little salt to help flavor it if you wanted to, I plan to try adding some next time around

smokinrack said:

I did some last year with a dry salt brine and it to came out very salty, with the tenderquick you dont get that, matter of fact you could probably add a little salt to help flavor it if you wanted to, I plan to try adding some next time around

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My first batch I used both TQ and kosher, only way it was remotely edible was candied. I've postponed all further pork belly purchases until I get a better handle on it. I've been paying $3.40 a lbs for belly and buying 2 at a time, about 20lbs. Sucks to spend $70 and be let down on the result.

These are both great!


http://playingwithfireandsmoke.blogspot.com/2002/10/lynnes-breakfast-bacon.html?m=1

http://cowgirlscountry.blogspot.com/2008/12/curing-bacon.html?m=1




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Kave Dweller said:

My first batch I used both TQ and kosher, only way it was remotely edible was candied. I've postponed all further pork belly purchases until I get a better handle on it. I've been paying $3.40 a lbs for belly and buying 2 at a time, about 20lbs. Sucks to spend $70 and be let down on the result.

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We butcher a couple hogs every fall I get free from a local guy my kid works for so I can experiment without spending a bunch to find out I dont like it. Still sucks to spend 2 weeks waiting and find out its not edible :mmph:

Never tried it but after my first disaster i read you can cut a piece of before you smoke it and fry it up to taste it, if its still to salty you can soak it longer to get rid of some of the saltiness.

Here is the basic recipe that I have used (provided to me from one of my favorite in-laws) for a 5 lb slab of pork belly:

5 lbs Pork Belly



14g Instacure #1



80g Kosher Salt



80g Dark Brown Sugar



80g Vermont Maple Syrup





This was a 6.25 lb pork belly - so I did a little math to figure out how much to increase each ingredient by.





After rubbing the belly - I put it in a mega sized ziplock bag. The kids were more than happy to fight over who got to flip the bacon each day. May I also recommend to put the ziplock bag inside of a cookie sheet just in case there is salt or sugar stuck in the track of the bag allowing the seal to break overnight making a huge mess in the fridge to clean up (from what I have heard.........)

This pic was after 6 days of getting happy happy happy in the fridge.





Then go outside and prepare your Green & Gold UDS for 175F - 200F smoking. I smoked with Apple chunks and chunks of Jack Daniels barrels. Talk about a heavenly smelling smoke........

And because I am paranoid - I added an aluminum pan to catch any dripping fat. Since the cooking temp was so low - there was very little dripping fat - but I figure better safe than sorry.






Hang out and wait while the smoke does its job. For this 6+ lb slab of pork, I think that the cooking time was almost 4 hours to reach 150F internal temp.





At 150F - take the pork out and promptly take pictures.





Slice, cook, and enjoy.




My first batch of bacon I found to be a bit too salty and often scorched when frying in the pan. So what I did was wash off the bacon after curing, and let it sit in the cookie sheet of water for about 10-15 minutes per side. Then I would let the soon to be bacon sit in the fridge uncovered overnight to dry off.

chriscw81 said:

These are both great!


http://playingwithfireandsmoke.blogspot.com/2002/10/lynnes-breakfast-bacon.html?m=1

http://cowgirlscountry.blogspot.com/2008/12/curing-bacon.html?m=1




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Just called my butcher, gonna give lyns a try! Thanks

What I do is....

Ingredients :
Pork Loin Roast
Supracure (Ready mixed cure and salt)

What I Do :
Untie, rinse and dry the pork loin.
Weigh the pork loin.
Weigh the cure at a rate of 5% cure to meat (1kg meat = 50g cure).
Sprinkle on ~a third of the cure onto the meat, ensuring it's well covered and all nooks and crannies are covered.
Place meat in a tupperware and put in the fridge overnight.
Next day remove from the fridge and drain off any liquid and sprinkle with more cure, put back in the fridge.
Repeat the last step until all the cure has been used up.
Leave to cure for a minimum of 7 days - this is just my preference, the rule of thumb is two days of cure per inch.
During this time just check on the meat, drain off any liquid (it's become more and more less as the week time goes on) - there should be no 'off' smell to the meat.
Once cured, soak overnight in cold water, changing the water a couple of times.

You've now got bacon, well done, have a beer!

I then cold smoke it for 5 days.

Leave to rest (wrapped in baking paper and clingfilm or tinfoil) in the fridge overnight and then slice.

Here's some pics of the sliced results...Have fun!

Kave Dweller said:

Just called my butcher, gonna give lyns a try! Thanks

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No problem, both of those people are brethren too! Enjoy, you'll never buy bacon at the store again.




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I'll second Cowgirls recipe--Its terrific.
The other is probably good,too; I just have not tried it YET.

I wish I would have saw that, I would have tried it

I just a few minutes ago put 4 lbs in my usual dry mix.

I found an Asian supermarket that sells small slabs (about 2 lbs ea) fresh for a good price.

Its real nice not having to buy a full slab if I dont want to

Check out this:

http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=154771
For better quantities refer to 3rd post.
John

Here is my recipe and steps for home cured bacon... I made this video last week.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6Ilba002hg&feature=youtu.be

I have found that curing at 34degrees is too low. It took almost 2 weeks before a test slice didn't taste like fried pork.

Now, I turn the fridge up to about 36-37 degrees; ready to smoke in about 5-7 days.

BTW, I have a fridge for curing and stuff separate from the every day fridge.

wallace