Making Bacon

sjb67 said:

I just put on a belly yesterday to cure used the equilibrium cure I found in another thread on here. It said 3% salt, 1% sugar and the cure #1 at .025 as stated above but made no reference to brown sugar or non iodized or kosher salt. I used plain sugar and regular iodized table salt. Did I goof ?

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sjb67 said:

I found in another thread on here. It said 3% salt, 1% sugar and the cure #1 at .025 as stated above

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IamMadMan said:

Only pure natural salts should be used in curing....

Iodized salt is a poor choice, it will work, but because of the anti-caking agents (sodium aluminosilicate). They can flatten and dull flavors of the finished product.

Also sodium aluminosilicate functions by adsorbing excess moisture and by coating particles thus making them water repellent. This can also slow the curing process or cause an uneven cure.



Are you sure it was .025 ? it should be .25% which is .0025 as a multiplier....

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sjb67 said:

That is correct I mistyped. I used 2.5g per kilogram well hopefully it will taste ok as I have 9# in the refrigerator. Chalk it up to learning. What about white sugar vs brown sugar? Thanks and sorry for hijacking

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IamMadMan said:

I know many areas of Europe have unsmoked bacon (IE UK - Rashers, Germany - Bauchspeck, durchwachsener, Schinkenspeck) and is used for flavor in cooking.

After a recent trip to Europe, I realize your food purity laws are also something we could only wish for here in the US. It's a shame what we as American consumers have settled for. However the reason for the cure is two-fold...

1) Because of the extend time in refrigeration (7-10 days) cure #1 is used to prevent spoilage. Our store bought meats are trucked across country from processor, to warehouse, and then to store distribution, and our meat products are not as fresh as yours.

2) Because when smoking bacon, we usually smoke at a lower temperature gradually raising the smoker temperature over time to reach the finishing temperature of the bacon. The time in the smoker would allow the meat to be in the "danger zone" for 4 hours or more. I cold smoke my bacon for a minimum of 6 hours before applying heat, and many of us never exceed an IT of 125°.

.

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LordRiffenstein said:

Thanks for this excellent info.

When I hot smoke bacon, I use my pellet grill on smoke until the IT is 150 F, usually done within 4 hours. I have yet to try cold smoking first but probably will have to give that a go VERY SOON!

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IamMadMan said:

I use the A-Maze-N pellet tray, probably something similar you could make yourself there in Belgium...
https://www.amazenproducts.com/product_p/amnps5x8.htm

This produces large amounts of smoke without any heat, so there is no concern for condensation of smoke or creosote formation. It works well for cold smoking cheese, spice, fish, meat, virtually anything you want to add a smoke flavor to.

Cold smoking adds a deeper smoky flavor to the bacon. Taking it to a final internal temp of only 54° C / 130° F with heat over a long period of time, does not cook the bacon, but merely renders out some of the soft saturated fat. This helps to mildly firm the bacon and concentrate flavor. It makes slicing easier and leaves less melted fat in the pan when cooking.

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mchar69 said:

I've done 7 days, no fewer. 2-3 days is too few.

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brdbbq said:

8 days in cure, received cold smoker this AM

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IamMadMan said:

You don't have to buy their pellets, just use any pellet approved for smoking food. Traeger, Home Depot, and Lowes all sell pellets in the grill section.

DO NOT USE HEATING PELLETS for wood stoves, they use a petroleum based lubricant.

A full maze will burn about 8 - 11 hours.

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