txags2011
Full Fledged Farker
Trying to get better about documenting my exploits somewhere, and this is much more fun and interactive than a blog.
Like many others around here, I decided to snatch up a pork belly from Costco a few weeks ago to try my hand at bacon. Started with a belly just shy of 10# and cut it up into 4, 2.5# or so hunks. Two got dry cured and vac packed for a week, the other two got a wet/brine cure for about 10 days.
Here are the dry cure slabs before going into the vac.(yes, I cut them the wrong direction)
Both got a mix of kosher salt, brown sugar & Prague powder (1/2t per slab). To make it fun, one got slathered with Round Rock honey and I added Meatchurch Honey Hog Hot to the cure, the other got a pure maple syrup (grade A amber) with fresh cracked black pepper.
After a taste test and an overnight rest, these two were smoked at my brother in law's on his BGE (with some sockeye he had) with a few pieces of lump and applewood chips. We ate some and sliced it... good lawdy this stuff is amazing. The honey hog one had just a touch of the jalapeno, but the maple pepper is insanely delicious.
The other half came out of the wet brine on Tuesday and rested overnight before hitting the smoke on my kettle for about 3-4 hours with hickory chips. Sliced it up and vac packed today.
The wet cure batch is a little salty, should have soaked it some more after the cure, but its still good. I also think the instacure penetrated more in the wet, as that portion was much more of the nitrate pink.
This may have been the first, but will not be the last.
Thanks for lookin!
Like many others around here, I decided to snatch up a pork belly from Costco a few weeks ago to try my hand at bacon. Started with a belly just shy of 10# and cut it up into 4, 2.5# or so hunks. Two got dry cured and vac packed for a week, the other two got a wet/brine cure for about 10 days.
Here are the dry cure slabs before going into the vac.(yes, I cut them the wrong direction)
Both got a mix of kosher salt, brown sugar & Prague powder (1/2t per slab). To make it fun, one got slathered with Round Rock honey and I added Meatchurch Honey Hog Hot to the cure, the other got a pure maple syrup (grade A amber) with fresh cracked black pepper.
After a taste test and an overnight rest, these two were smoked at my brother in law's on his BGE (with some sockeye he had) with a few pieces of lump and applewood chips. We ate some and sliced it... good lawdy this stuff is amazing. The honey hog one had just a touch of the jalapeno, but the maple pepper is insanely delicious.
The other half came out of the wet brine on Tuesday and rested overnight before hitting the smoke on my kettle for about 3-4 hours with hickory chips. Sliced it up and vac packed today.
The wet cure batch is a little salty, should have soaked it some more after the cure, but its still good. I also think the instacure penetrated more in the wet, as that portion was much more of the nitrate pink.
This may have been the first, but will not be the last.
Thanks for lookin!
