Uncured and Cured Bacon question

Mickey

I understand all bacon is cured and when natural salts is used it's called Un-cured where the big chem packs are used it's cured. My question is of those who do it themselves do you do one one way over the other. Think I would like to learn how to do un-cured.

fishlessman

have had it from a butcher and didnt really care for it, however, it just could have been his recipe i didnt like. we do get grey corned beef here from several butchers and prefer them to the fake red beef thats seen commonly, my favorite place adds just a little pink salt to theirs and i like it better. so far the best bacon ive had was made by stike with rulhmanns savory recipe. i might start with that recipe and step the pink salt down by half, he says its optional anyways

Mickey

fishlessman said:

have had it from a butcher and didnt really care for it, however, it just could have been his recipe i didnt like. we do get grey corned beef here from several butchers and prefer them to the fake red beef thats seen commonly, my favorite place adds just a little pink salt to theirs and i like it better. so far the best bacon ive had was made by stike with rulhmanns savory recipe. i might start with that recipe and step the pink salt down by half, he says its optional anyways

I was reading this: http://letsmakesomethingawesome.com/2011/03/home-cured-bacon-without-nitrates/

fishlessman

from what i remember there was more a pork/gamey taste with the stuff made by a butcher upstate and it lacked color, if you didnt know what it was you would assume it had gone bad but they have a huge following in that shop, they cure the best ham ive ever eaten and every spring someone makes the trip there for our annual fishhing gettogether. go for it. heres the recipe stike used and note the curing salt is optional

Adapted from "Charcuterie" by Michael Ruhlman and Brian Polcyn

Recipe: Corned Beef (November 9, 2005)

Recipe: Pickling Spice (November 9, 2005)

In his blog, Frank Bruni reports on restaurant news and trends, the life of a critic and more.

Time: 15 minutes for preparing the cure, 7 days for curing, 3 hours for cooking and cooling

1 5-pound slab pork belly
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 teaspoons sodium nitrite (see note), optional
3 tablespoons kosher salt or 1½ ounces noniodized salt
2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
2 tablespoons coarsely ground black pepper
4 bay leaves, crumbled
4 or 5 sprigs fresh thyme.

1. Trim belly so edges are square. Combine garlic, sodium nitrite (if using), salt, sugar, pepper and bay leaves in bowl, mix well.

2. Place belly in 2½ gallon resealable bag. Add spices and thyme sprigs and rub over belly to give it a uniform coating. Seal bag and refrigerate for 7 days, occasionally rubbing meat to redistribute seasonings, and turning bag over every other day.

3. Remove belly from cure, rinse well and pat dry with paper towels; discard cure. Belly can be refrigerated, covered, for 3 days.

4. Preheat oven to 200 degrees. Place belly on rack on a baking sheet. Roast until it reaches internal temperature of 150 degrees, about 2 hours; begin checking temperature after 1 hour. While fat is hot, slice off rind; save for stocks and stews. Cool to room temperature. Wrap well; refrigerate until chilled. Can be kept refrigerated for up to 2 weeks or cut into slices or chunks, wrapped well and frozen for up to 3 months.

5. When ready to use, cut in 1/8-inch slices or ½-inch lardons and sauté slowly until fat is rendered and bacon is crisp.

Yield: 12 to 16 servings.

Note: Sodium nitrite is sold under various names. It is available from the Butcher & Packer Supply Company (butcher-packer.com) as DQ Curing Salt.

Little Steven

fishlessman said:

have had it from a butcher and didnt really care for it, however, it just could have been his recipe i didnt like. we do get grey corned beef here from several butchers and prefer them to the fake red beef thats seen commonly, my favorite place adds just a little pink salt to theirs and i like it better. so far the best bacon ive had was made by stike with rulhmanns savory recipe. i might start with that recipe and step the pink salt down by half, he says its optional anyways

There is so little pink salt in it anyway compared to the Kosher, I wouldn't think that it would make much difference in the flavor. It's only a 6% concentration anyway. My first round of bacon was overly salty (to my tastes) but everyone that had it loved it. My last batch I soaked in cold water for a day and it is the best I've had.
I think the plain salt has as much to do with the process as the pink salt does though.

fishlessman

Little Steven said:

fishlessman said:

have had it from a butcher and didnt really care for it, however, it just could have been his recipe i didnt like. we do get grey corned beef here from several butchers and prefer them to the fake red beef thats seen commonly, my favorite place adds just a little pink salt to theirs and i like it better. so far the best bacon ive had was made by stike with rulhmanns savory recipe. i might start with that recipe and step the pink salt down by half, he says its optional anyways

There is so little pink salt in it anyway compared to the Kosher, I wouldn't think that it would make much difference in the flavor. It's only a 6% concentration anyway. My first round of bacon was overly salty (to my tastes) but everyone that had it loved it. My last batch I soaked in cold water for a day and it is the best I've had.
I think the plain salt has as much to do with the process as the pink salt does though.

i think with the bacon it was the recipe or maybe he water soaked it, i would try it with a rcipe i trust with out the curing salt. with the corned beef i never seen the red stuff til i was in college, ill take the grey beef that turns brown any day, pretty sure the corned beef is corned dry here, not soaked and injected

Cookinbob

First of all it is hard to focus on my post here with the cup flipping butt just above, but.......

I made bacon and followed Ruhlmans basic recipe which I found frustrating.  He called for 50 g of his basic cure for a 3-to 5 lb belly.  From all I have read, the amount of nitrate you want in the cure is critically important, and based on the weight of the meat.  You do not want to go over, and if you are under, you have to be more careful handling your bacon.  3 to 5 lbs is a 60% weight variance, I did not feel comfortable using a flat amount.  But anyways, his basic cure is:

• 1 pound/450 grams kosher salt
• 8 ounces/225 grams sugar
• 2 ounces/50 grams pink salt

In the book he called for basically 50 g for the 3-5 lb belly (ours was 4 lbs).   I don't think it was enough, the bacon did not give up moisture and harden as described.  In a post on line he calls for 5% of the weight of the meat which in this case would have been 91 g.  What a difference!

I used the cure calculator at diggingdog farm http://www.diggingdogfarm.com/page2.html which specifies 6.25% nitrite.  I calculated that I should use 16.67 g of Ruhlmans basic cure (which I now have premixed) per pound of meat/belly.  To the basic cure I will add additional brown sugar, spices, pepper, etc as the mood strikes me, but I will be using the 16.67 amount going forward.

Since doing my first batch, I have read a ton more, and have another 6 lbs in the freezer waiting to be cured.  I will do mine with the pink salt nitrite as I know it will be real bacon, and it will be safe.