First time homemade bacon.

Tixunau

My first try at homemade bacon. Followed guidelines of Ruhlman recipe but had to modify as I could not buy pink curing salt here. (Canada) Cured for 7 days and cold smoked it for 4 hours.

I have already been asked to make a bigger slab for the holidays. Store bought bacon will never taste the same anymore after this.

The Cen-Tex Smoker

What did you modify with? Pink salt is a fairly important ingredient in bacon.

Tixunau

I used ReadyCure so I did not addmuch more salt or sugar. Only used the right amount as per instrcutions on package.

Getting some pink salt delivered to me by some relatives coming from the US for the Holidays. For now, it is ReadyCure but the bag would probably last me a while.

The Cen-Tex Smoker

That will work. Just have to be careful with curing. Can get sketchy if you mod it up without following known best safe practices. Careful out there buys and girls . Looks really good. I can't eat storebought anymore.

grey_bri

The first time I  did bacon Ihad no redicure or anything. ( also from Canada) I just used 1/2 cup brn sugar 1/2 cup kosher salt 3/4 cup maple syrup couple drops molasses and some pepper. Left it in fridge for 6 days turning once a day. Took it out and smoked it and it was fine. Have done that ever since. I hate the idea of additives. It won't go bad with all that salt in the fridge in a baggie 

grey_bri

I also just did a 4lb Montreal Smoked Meat with no additives. You don't get the pink colour but but no **** it in either. It was the best thing I have ever made and it sat in fridge for 8 days

GlennM

I'm from Canada and I will be smoking a belly tomorrow. This is what I use, I think it is the same as pink salt?

tarheelmatt

I want to do some bacon, bUT scares me some to do it.

theyolksonyou

Bout to put a batch in the egg as we type. Easy peasy Matt. Go for it. Just know its a week+ Long process.

tarheelmatt

My place has belly for $3.09lb. I need to get a smoke generator too. Either Amazing unit or soldering iron.

Z_Eggineer

Microorganisms in the raw meat while it is in "danger zone" for hours is much scarier than different types of sodium.

theyolksonyou

@tarheelmatt‌ you can hot smoke too. No need to buy more stuff. Smoke on the egg to IT 150. Them fridge or near freeze and slice. Fry it up. Goodness.

The Cen-Tex Smoker

grey_bri said:

The first time I  did bacon Ihad no redicure or anything. ( also from Canada) I just used 1/2 cup brn sugar 1/2 cup kosher salt 3/4 cup maple syrup couple drops molasses and some pepper. Left it in fridge for 6 days turning once a day. Took it out and smoked it and it was fine. Have done that ever since. I hate the idea of additives. It won't go bad with all that salt in the fridge in a baggie 

Nothing wrong with uncured bacon as long as you handle it properly (hot smoke it and treat it as any other leftover). Cured bacon can be eaten raw(I don't) and stored for much longer periods.

If the "stuff" you are worried about are the nitrates from the pink salt, you should never eat celery again. It has way more than bacon. Many veggies do. The only science that nitrates are harmful are when they are cooked at high temp. I eat way more cooked veggies than bacon. Probably going to die of celery poisoning (love that stuff).

Eggcelsior

GlennM said:

I'm from Canada and I will be smoking a belly tomorrow. This is what I use, I think it is the same as pink salt?

@GlennM Yes. The Sodium Nitrate is the key ingredient. "Pink salt" is pink to differentiate from table salt since NaNO3 is toxic in high doses but very much safe in curing applications.

Sookie

This is really fascinating.  Your thread has generated some discussion about methods but I wouldn't even know where to start.   What I CAN tell you however is that bacon is God's back up plan to the rainbow...the promise that everything will be all right.

HawkeyeEgghead

Your bacon looks great.  I too am trying my first batch of bacon.  I'm three days in to my 7 day cure with Prague Powder #1, kosher salt, and dark brown sugar. 

Did your bacon brown a bit during the cure process?  The meat in two of my Ziplock bags looks brown, similar the look hamburger gets if you store it too long.  Enjoy the bacon...

cook861

were in Canada do you live

Mikee

Z_Eggineer said:

Microorganisms in the raw meat while it is in "danger zone" for hours is much scarier than different types of sodium.

Not much different than making beer. Chilling the wort as quick as possible lessens the chance of bacteria affecting it.

theyolksonyou

Mikee said:

Z_Eggineer said:

Microorganisms in the raw meat while it is in "danger zone" for hours is much scarier than different types of sodium.

Not much different than making beer. Chilling the wort as quick as possible lessens the chance of bacteria affecting it.

plus, it's not just raw meat, it's cured meat. Big difference.

Mikee

You make a good point. Never made bacon, never read up on it. So once its cured there is no way bacteria can affect it?

I read that curing beef in making jerky is a safer way to do it. I just didn't know it eliminated all the potential of contaimination.

theyolksonyou

The salt dehydrates the meat, but also the bacteria that causes contamination. It's not forever, but certainly slows down the process. If you think about it, our ancestors did it from necessity, it just happens to taste good. Beef jerky, though not cooked, will keep for months.

Mikee

Made beef jerky a ton of times. It never lasted more than a few days before it was all gone.

GlennM

were in Canada do you live?

If your asking me, I'm in Cambridge, Ontario

Cookinbob

+1 on hot smoking bacon. It's my preference over cold. 200 -225 to IT of 140 here. Yum

Zmokin

Cookinbob said:

+1 on hot smoking bacon. It's my preference over cold. 200 -225 to IT of 140 here. Yum

Doesn't that start rendering the fat?
I would think cold smoking preserves the condition of the fat, so when it goes in the frying pan, you get all of that bacon fat for frying your eggs in after the bacon is done.

The Cen-Tex Smoker

"bacon is God's back up plan to the rainbow...the promise that everything will be all right".

This made me happy

The Cen-Tex Smoker

Zmokin said:

Cookinbob said:

+1 on hot smoking bacon. It's my preference over cold. 200 -225 to IT of 140 here. Yum

Doesn't that start rendering the fat?
I would think cold smoking preserves the condition of the fat, so when it goes in the frying pan, you get all of that bacon fat for frying your eggs in after the bacon is done.

it does not really render much but it does have a completely different texture than raw bacon. It's much firmer and does not fry up the same. It's really good but if you want raw bacon they way you are used to eating, you would cold smoke it.

Cold smoke adds an element of risk which is why almost everyone suggests hot smoking. Doing it hot kills the bad guys, if there are any left after the cure- mainly botulinum (yum) which is flavorless, odorless and can kill you. Hot smoking is probably the way to go if you aren't 100% sure of what you are doing.

Cookinbob

Zmokin said:

Doesn't that start rendering the fat?
I would think cold smoking preserves the condition of the fat, so when it goes in the frying pan, you get all of that bacon fat for frying your eggs in after the bacon is done.

I wondered the same until I did it.  You definitely want to keep the temp low, but here is a pic of sliced hot smoked bacon.  It really does not render the fat.  I save the fat when I fry bacon, but have been tossing it lately as I have way more than I can use