Gore
Phizzy
- Joined
- Oct 5, 2008
- Name or Nickame
- Gore (surprise!)
The last several months I've been drooling when I pass through Costco. They've started carrying pork belly: whole and packages of sliced. I wasn't ready to commit myself to a whole one, but I thought it would be fun to play with the slices. Heck, who doesn't like really thick bacon? :noidea: There also was enough for me to play around. So, I'll tell you what I recommend and then a few variations. Also, I'm always looking for the simplest method of skinning a cat, so I emphasize that this guide is for idiots: even I can follow it.
1. Basic cure: 1/4 cup kosher salt, 1/4 cup brown sugar, 2 tsps. of pink curing salt (you can find this on Amazon), some chili powder, cayenne, paprika to taste. I mixed the ingredients in a bowl. I grabbed a large ziploc bag, put a layer in, added a layer of sliced belly, coated the other side, then another layer of belly, etc. I closed up the bag and put in the fridge. Every day or two (when I can remember :roll
, I turn the bag over and give it a swish. You will notice a fair bit of liquid in the bag. Sorry, I didn't get any pictures of this, but I was a bit lazy. Essentially, imagine a ziploc bag filled with thick raw bacon strips in the fridge next to a carton of cream, two ribeye steaks and a Spanish jamon that I haven't sliced up yet. Note that clean-up was trivial as everything is done in a ziploc bag.
2. Preparation: Rinse the belly. If you don't rinse it, you'd better be a salt lover. I used that same ziploc, poured off the juices. I don't recommend drinking them, although I do have a friend who thinks that's the best part. Anyway, fill the bag up a few times with cold water, swish and empty. I then filled it up and laid it on the counter while I made the fire (see step 3).
Hey, looky there, a picture! When you're ready to go, take those slices out and pat them dry with a paper towel.
Then lay them out
Note the nice tray and the frogmat. I got these trays on Amazon. I think they were about $10 and they're great for hauling meat back and forth to the grill. They're also lightweight, which is important. I have some other ones that are too heavy. I also love the frogmats. :thumb:
3. Your fire: I lit the smoker, got it up around 200* and put a chunk of wood in there. I thought I had hickory, but it wasn't hickory. It stank. I think it might have been mulberry. Anyway, I took it out and threw it in the fire pit and put a chunk of cherry in the smoker. You don't need to do all that if you get some good wood in there from the start. :thumb: Heck, you can probably do this better without my advice. :roll:
4. I then put the belly in the smoker and went for a walk in the park for a couple hours. Probably you don't need to do that, but you might want to watch football or do some yardwork. I let the temp creep up around 300* because I also wanted these cooked and not just smoked.
5. These probably would be fine to take off now, but I just let them cook and get a bit crispier, 'cause that's how my family like their bacon.
This didn't last long.
Variation 1: I tried a small batch after only curing for two days. This was virtually indistinguishable from the batch after 9 days curing. Of course we ate it right away, so the cure was only for flavor.
Variation 2: We took some of the raw pork belly and simply cooked it over a campfire. This was quite fun.
1. Basic cure: 1/4 cup kosher salt, 1/4 cup brown sugar, 2 tsps. of pink curing salt (you can find this on Amazon), some chili powder, cayenne, paprika to taste. I mixed the ingredients in a bowl. I grabbed a large ziploc bag, put a layer in, added a layer of sliced belly, coated the other side, then another layer of belly, etc. I closed up the bag and put in the fridge. Every day or two (when I can remember :roll
, I turn the bag over and give it a swish. You will notice a fair bit of liquid in the bag. Sorry, I didn't get any pictures of this, but I was a bit lazy. Essentially, imagine a ziploc bag filled with thick raw bacon strips in the fridge next to a carton of cream, two ribeye steaks and a Spanish jamon that I haven't sliced up yet. Note that clean-up was trivial as everything is done in a ziploc bag. 2. Preparation: Rinse the belly. If you don't rinse it, you'd better be a salt lover. I used that same ziploc, poured off the juices. I don't recommend drinking them, although I do have a friend who thinks that's the best part. Anyway, fill the bag up a few times with cold water, swish and empty. I then filled it up and laid it on the counter while I made the fire (see step 3).
Hey, looky there, a picture! When you're ready to go, take those slices out and pat them dry with a paper towel.
Then lay them out
Note the nice tray and the frogmat. I got these trays on Amazon. I think they were about $10 and they're great for hauling meat back and forth to the grill. They're also lightweight, which is important. I have some other ones that are too heavy. I also love the frogmats. :thumb:
3. Your fire: I lit the smoker, got it up around 200* and put a chunk of wood in there. I thought I had hickory, but it wasn't hickory. It stank. I think it might have been mulberry. Anyway, I took it out and threw it in the fire pit and put a chunk of cherry in the smoker. You don't need to do all that if you get some good wood in there from the start. :thumb: Heck, you can probably do this better without my advice. :roll:
4. I then put the belly in the smoker and went for a walk in the park for a couple hours. Probably you don't need to do that, but you might want to watch football or do some yardwork. I let the temp creep up around 300* because I also wanted these cooked and not just smoked.
5. These probably would be fine to take off now, but I just let them cook and get a bit crispier, 'cause that's how my family like their bacon.
This didn't last long.
Variation 1: I tried a small batch after only curing for two days. This was virtually indistinguishable from the batch after 9 days curing. Of course we ate it right away, so the cure was only for flavor.
Variation 2: We took some of the raw pork belly and simply cooked it over a campfire. This was quite fun.
