Bacon recipe needed

[Blanton]

I will be picking up 10lbs of belly and looking to do my first slab. I have done buckboard before with Hi Mountain with great success and looking to just mix up my own cure. I have read so many recipes on the site and the web that seem to conflict with each other I am back to square zero.

So far I am leaning towards either Thirdeyes or just a 50/50 of brown sugar and tenderquick. (1T of each per pound)

Thirdeye's

NOTE: these measurements are per pound of fresh pork belly.

1T Morton’s Tender Quick curing salt
1 teaspoon dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon granulated garlic
1/2 teaspoon fenugreek seeds
1/4 teaspoon fresh ground or cracked black pepper
1/2 crushed bay leaf

Looking to make, for a lack of better words, just a traditional hickory smoked bacon and not exotic flavoring.

Any other advice or recipe recommendations.

[Fattom]

JeffR, thirdeye's ingredients work well with bacon. The fenugreek gives it a nice maple flavor. The only other ingredients you might want to try are juniper berries and/or onion powder. I use cure #1 for bacon better control of salt. Tom

[IamMadMan]

Using Tender-Quick is good because it is a bonded pre-mix. That makes it harder to make a mistake if you follow directions of a proven recipe as indicated above.

I will be picking up 10lbs of belly and looking to do my first slab. I have done buckboard before with Hi Mountain with great success and looking to just mix up my own cure. I have read so many recipes on the site and the web that seem to conflict with each other I am back to square zero.

So far I am leaning towards either Thirdeyes or just a 50/50 of brown sugar and tenderquick. (1T of each per pound)

Looking to make, for a lack of better words, just a traditional hickory smoked bacon and not exotic flavoring.

Any other advice or recipe recommendations.

I think the sugar level would be over the top at a 50/50 ratio.

If you are looking for traditional bacon flavors try....

per pound of fresh pork belly.

1 Tablespoon Morton’s Tender Quick (curing salt)
1 teaspoon dark brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon granulated garlic
1/4 teaspoon fresh ground or cracked black pepper
1/4 teaspoon pickling spice
1/4 teaspoon thyme
4 juniper berries

[Blanton]

Thanks Madman. Do you run the berries through a grinder?

[Big George's BBQ]

I have used thirdeye's recipes several times and they were all good

[IamMadMan]

Thanks Madman. Do you run the berries through a grinder?


They are actually optional, but no, they'll impart a subtle flavor as the liquid hits them. I use them when I make bacon and when I make sauerkraut, I really like the flavor.