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1st go at bacon

R

rockyathabaska

Knows what a fatty is.
Joined
Feb 9, 2009
Location
vancouver b.c. Canada
tried bacon for the first time last week.
Sorry no pron.
Bought a 4 lb pork belly in chinatown last week,brined it in Fergus Henderson"s brine for 5 days.
Into the UDS with kingsford and apple wood for the smoke ; 175' f for about 5 hrs.
Turned out well;a bit on the salty side.
Learned:-trim out the ribs and flap before I start
-don't brine for so long
-do more than 4 lbs next time!
I've read a fair bit about bacon on this site and am trying to put together a good method for UDS.

Can anyone tell me what is the significance of tenderquick and pink salt ?
It's come up so many times and I can't seem to get a handle on either.
I have gathered that they are key to avoid botch, etc.
I'm relying on brine for that but would love to know more.

thx

RockyAthabaska
Weber 18”kettle
Weber 22.5”kettle
Performer green
Weber silver B gasser
UDS
cob
A man never tells you anything until you contradict him.
George Bernard Shaw
 
Brother I have in the last month cured and smoked 60#s and they turned out great. I by know means am a guru that being said I researched a lot before my attempt and pooled a lot of info and just did it. It is very easy the difference in tenderquick and pink salt to me they are just 2 different cures. I dry cured mine for 10 days soaked in water for 30 minutes poured the water off put in fridge for 24hrs or until dry and smoked the fire out of them. I must say they were excellent. I experienced with tenderquick/ pink salt/ and regular kosher salt . The jury is still out they all were great. Nitrirites / Nitrates and all that do not make me paranoid . There are many great people here who can and will help you just keep on trying until you hit that magic recipe. If you are like me I am my worst critic if I please myself everyone else will like it
 
4 days is usually good for brine curing a pork belly but I guess you found that out. Pink salt is about 93% salt mixed with 7% sodium nitrite, a curing agent. To use it you mix it with more salt and sugar to make the curing mix. Tenderquik is just pink salt that has already been mixed with salt and sugar. The sodium nitrite is to keep the food safe at unsafe temps in the smoker. It also contributes to flavor and the pink color of cured meats. Nothing to worry about using the cure. Remember, it's nitrites and nitrates (break down to nitrites) in smoke that gives meat a smoke ring.
 
Here's an answer I found posted on yahoo to the question: "What's the difference between Morton's Tenderquick and pink salt?"

Tender is a salt and Monosodium Glutamate mix for tenderizing meat, Pink salt is a mix of salt, borax, nitrites and nitrates, potassium eythrobate and other preservatives meant to cure meats, you can add a bot of the tenderizing agent in to soften tough cuts of meat like Brisket and ham legs.

I can't testify to the accuracy of the answer, but I was also curious. I use tenderquick to dry cure salmon, but have never used it for anything else. I want to do bacon too and am curious.

Congrats on taking the plunge! As with any other thing, the way to learn it is to DO IT! Now if I can only take some of that advice......:becky:
 
Anyone know if it's possible to over cure something with TQ? Due to the superbowl and people asking me to smoke stuff for them. I let my bacon go 7 days in the cure. It's good but it has a flavor I just can't put my finger on, like maybe it's a little over cured if that's possible.
 
You can overcure it by putting too much TQ on it. The meat can only absorb as much as you put on it so if the proper amount of cure is used there should be no problem. Overcuring will make the meat taste oversalted but if yours doesn't taste oversalted then the flavor you detect is probably not from overcuring.

Brine curing can result in over salty meat if left in the brine too long.
 
Thanks bros

Thanks so much for your insight to the bacon issue!

Everyone who tried my bacon liked it; go figure people like bacon!

Seems we've been sold on the bad health effects of nitrites and nitrates and should avoid them,but they occur in the smoking process anyway.
Interesting.

Have always been wanting to try making bacon, sausage and charcuterie of all kinds but have been cautious because of the possibility of food poisoning.

Does anyone know of a good book or source of information on the subject so that I won't poison myself,family and friends?
My brother's hunting habit has been supplying me with some fantastic venison that would be great to make sausage with.

I'd love to find a balance between salt, smoke and food safety.
Thanks again for you input.

Will post any attempts at meat curing in the future.


RockyAthabaska
Weber 18”kettle
Weber 22.5”kettle
Performer green
Weber silver B gasser
UDS
cob
A man never tells you anything until you contradict him.
George Bernard Shaw
 
rockyathabaska said:
Thanks so much for your insight to the bacon issue!

Everyone who tried my bacon liked it; go figure people like bacon!

Seems we've been sold on the bad health effects of nitrites and nitrates and should avoid them,but they occur in the smoking process anyway.
Interesting.

Have always been wanting to try making bacon, sausage and charcuterie of all kinds but have been cautious because of the possibility of food poisoning.

Does anyone know of a good book or source of information on the subject so that I won't poison myself,family and friends?
My brother's hunting habit has been supplying me with some fantastic venison that would be great to make sausage with.

I'd love to find a balance between salt, smoke and food safety.
Thanks again for you input.

Will post any attempts at meat curing in the future.


RockyAthabaska
Weber 18”kettle
Weber 22.5”kettle
Performer green
Weber silver B gasser
UDS
cob
A man never tells you anything until you contradict him.
George Bernard Shaw
Click to expand...

This is my charcuterie bible.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0393058298
 
Great Sausage Recipes and Meat Curing by Rytek Kutas is the bible. Charcuterie by Michael Ruhlman & Brian Polcyn is good also but doesn't have much on technique.
 
rawtalent said:
Great Sausage Recipes and Meat Curing by Rytek Kutas is the bible. Charcuterie by Michael Ruhlman & Brian Polcyn is good also but doesn't have much on technique.
Click to expand...

Dude said "Charcuterie" was his bible, not the bible for all. To each their own but watch out for toes. By the way I like both books. The Kutas book seems more wide ranging to me too. Ruhlman/Polcyn seems more modern/gourmet/foodie to me but it is still cool.
 
rawtalent said:
You can overcure it by putting too much TQ on it. The meat can only absorb as much as you put on it so if the proper amount of cure is used there should be no problem. Overcuring will make the meat taste oversalted but if yours doesn't taste oversalted then the flavor you detect is probably not from overcuring.

Brine curing can result in over salty meat if left in the brine too long.
Click to expand...

I definitely didn't have too much TQ on it. Maybe I put too much smoke on it or put it on too early. I could've sworn I saw thin blue but it was dark outside.

SirPorkaLot said:
Over curing will give the meat a nitrate "burn". You will notice an iridescent look to the meat, and it will have a certain background taste that is a tad off.
Click to expand...

I haven't noticed any iridescent look to the meat but I only sliced a couple pieces from the black pepper slab. I'm gonna slice up the rest tonight so I'll check it out. Maybe the flavor will be different in the 3 other pieces.
 
I have dry cured instead of brining with good results. Rub the belly meat in a 60-40% morton kosher salt and light brown sugar. Be liberal. Refrigerate on rack in container, turning each day for 7 days. At seventh day, remove, wash off cure, dry and put back in fridge. Next day, pelicle will form. I cold smoke for 5 hours at 100 degrees and plenty of hickory smoke then take fire up to 250 degrees and finish meat to 155 degrees internal temperature. Then i refrigerate or freeze. I slice it thick and it is great flavor and looks good when cooked in conventional ways.
 
Grain Belt said:
Dude said "Charcuterie" was his bible, not the bible for all. To each their own but watch out for toes. By the way I like both books. The Kutas book seems more wide ranging to me too. Ruhlman/Polcyn seems more modern/gourmet/foodie to me but it is still cool.
Click to expand...
If you'll notice both posts were made within a few seconds of each other. I wasn't trying to refute another person's opinion because I hadn't even seen the other post. Relax.
 
Seems there is a great interest an passion on the bacon topic.
Thanks to all for directing me to those references .I'm going to enjoy experimenting in the future.

Stumbled onto another cool thing to try;duck breast prosciutto!
Damn;this is endless!

RockyAthabaska
Weber 18”kettle
Weber 22.5”kettle
Performer green
Weber silver B gasser
UDS
cob
A man never tells you anything until you contradict him.
George Bernard Shaw
 
rockyathabaska said:
Seems there is a great interest an passion on the bacon topic.
Thanks to all for directing me to those references .I'm going to enjoy experimenting in the future.

Stumbled onto another cool thing to try;duck breast prosciutto!
Damn;this is endless!

RockyAthabaska
Weber 18”kettle
Weber 22.5”kettle
Performer green
Weber silver B gasser
UDS
cob
A man never tells you anything until you contradict him.
George Bernard Shaw
Click to expand...

Duck Prosciutto yum. Here you go.
http://sirporkalot.com/2011/01/year-of-meat1-duck-prosciutto/
 
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