Pork belly smoked into bacon - how to??

reh111

I think that this has been covered before but I can't find it - I've got a 4 lb belly - I want to smoke it on the egg and then slice for bacon - any recipes/suggestions would be appreciated - thanks!

buzd504

If you want to make actual bacon, you will need to cure it first.

I followed this recipe and it came out great:  http://ruhlman.com/2010/10/home-cured-bacon-2/

reh111

Thank you - that's what I was looking for

The Cen-Tex Smoker

That's the one. Just remember that pink salt is curing salt, not himylayan pink salt. Curing salt is salt and sodium nitrite. Huge difference. 

ElkhornHusker

I used the recipe found on the Barbeque Bible website.  Turned out well.

reh111

How important is it that the curing salt is pink - local grocery store has Morton Tender Quick which, I understand, is a curing salt - OTOH, I also understand that the pink salt gives bacon that "pink" color and keeps it from turning out brown?

The Cen-Tex Smoker

reh111 said:

How important is it that the curing salt is pink - local grocery store has Morton Tender Quick which, I understand, is a curing salt - OTOH, I also understand that the pink salt gives bacon that "pink" color and keeps it from turning out brown?

it looks like tenderquick has sodium nitrate and nitrite. I've never used it but it should work. I bet the measurements are different though

The Cen-Tex Smoker

found this on another forum. I can't vouch for the validity but it sounds right.

With all the different dry cured bacon recipes, I was beginning to question myself whether or not the one I have been using  was the one recommended by Morton® or had I misunderstood and been doing it wrong for a good many years.   After contacting Morton® the following was confirmed and I felt reassured.

Morton® recommends dry curing pork belly.  The rate of cure is 7 days per inch thickness using one application of Tender Quick® or Sugar Cure® (Plain or Smoke Flavored) over the entire belly of  1/2 oz. or 1 TBS per pound of meat.

 At 7 days per inch, it takes the cure 7 days to penetrate 1/2 inch from both sides to reach the center.  This calculates to be 1/14 of an inch per side per day to reach 100% saturation.

A 2 inch pork belly would then take 14 days minimum to cure to the center, which is 1 inch.
Morton® then recommends a two day equalization period resulting in a minimum of 16 day's cure time  for a two inch thick pork belly.

Hope this helps those who questioned the recommended cure times using Morton® products.

To receive the Morton® Home Curing Guide.PDF or ask questions,  Google Morton Salt/contact-us.

Tom

 

Updated to include the following threads:  Bacon curing time using Tender Quick ,  Fry Testing Bacon - Not Needed - Explained
 

reh111

Thanks - I wonder whether I'd need to use more or less (and how much)

SGH

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

it looks like tenderquick has sodium nitrate and nitrite. 

It does contain both at 0.5%. As well as sugar, salt and a few preservatives. 

If memory serves (and it may not) pink salt is salt with 6.25% sodium nitrite and binders  

reh111

Well, I may have answered my own question - these are the directions from Morton regarding their Tender Quick:

"Use fresh or completely thawed frozen meat that is clean and chilled to 36-40 degrees F internal temperature. Use 1 tablespoon (1/2 oz.) of Tender Quick for each pound of meat, rubbing it into the meat thoroughly. Place in clean, food-grade plastic bag, tie securely, and refrigerate at 36-40 degrees F for 4 to 8 hours to cure, longer for larger or thicker cuts, up to 24 hours. Rinse meat prior to cooking. For brine curing, dissolve 1 cup Tender Quick in 4 cups cool water. Place meat in brine, using a ceramic plate or bowl to submerge it entirely. Prepare more brine if needed. Refrigerate and allow to cure 24 hours. Rinse meat after brining. Cook meat until done. Follow directions carefully."

The recipe linked above by buzd504 called for 2 TBLSP of curing salt - I used that much for my mix - however, it's a 4 lb belly - so, if I follow Morton's instructions, I need to add two more TBLSP to the mix to properly cure - any comments - and, can I just dump another couple of tblsp into the zip loc bag and rub it around now that I've already put on the rub and put it in the fridge?

SGH

reh111 said:

 can I just dump another couple of tblsp into the zip loc bag and rub it around now that I've already put on the rub and put it in the fridge?

You certainly can. No harm no foul. 

reh111

Thanks - off to the fridge

Darby_Crenshaw

Morton's tenderquick is nitrites and nitate, sugar, and salt. A straight basic cure

pink salt is nitrite mixed with salt and colored pink so tou won't eat it. You still need to add sugar. And it has no nitrate for hanging/drying. sausages

if tou tool the sugar out of tenderquick, you'd basically be right back to pink salts, but with nitrite included for other types of curing. It's an all in one cure

Hibby

I've made bacon several times both ways (with and without pink salt). The pink salt is not required if you will be warm smoking the belly. Meaning achieving a high enough temperature to kill bad bacteria. If you do a cool smoke - like with an a-maze-n smoker where the temperature never gets even close to 150°F, you must include the pink salt. Having done it both ways, the end result varies in meat texture for the most part. Good luck either way. 

Hibby

Sausagemaker.com is a great resource for supplies.

Darby_Crenshaw

Pink salt isn't required for food safety. 

but it changes the meat in a way that salt does not. Piquancy, a crystalline snap to it when cooked, and fixing of color (of the myoglobin) for the pink color

it's what makes commercial (i.e. Grocery store wet-cured) bacon 'bacon' instead of brined sugary pork

nolaegghead

There are two pink salts seen in the US.  Often called "Prague powder", it comes in a #1 formulation which is 6.25% sodium nitrite.  The #2 is 6.75% sodium nitrite and something like 4% sodium nitrate.   The balance in each case is regular ole salt.

You don't need the nitrate in #2 for bacon.  It's not going to hurt anything either, as the tender-quick stuff is a swiss army knife curing solution.

The nitrite is the active chemical.  It's very reactive and oxidizes the hell out of everything.  The nitrate is time-release nitrite.  Like stike said, it's for stuff that sits out in the air where bacteria breaks the nitrate down to nitrite, gives you a long-term cure and protection against botulism (which is nothing you need to worry about with bacon).  

Darby_Crenshaw

No2 isn't always pink 

i don't frankly understand the industry's varying types of cures. I mean beyond the obvious nitrite/nitrate need

pink salt is the curing agent, but you still add more salt and sugar.  But then #2 (at least in my case) ain't pink. Probably so you don't confuse it with #1. But gee it is dangerous too no? But it is uncolored

i can understand Tenderquick a bit more. It is an off the shelf ready to use cure, with the premixed final amounts of salt and sugar. 

But alll three are somewhat unclear to the beginner. You'd think with a (technically) toxic food ingredient, they'd be a bit more uniform

reh111

Wow! Thanks for all the comments - I've learned a lot.  Mostly, I've learned that if I'm using actual pink salt it's not "cut" with other stuff so it needs to be "cut" with sugar, salt and spices if you want.  It seems it's more of a "concentrated" curing salt whereas Morton's Tender Quick is already "cut" and can be used by itself (although probably in double the quantity of pink salt)  Thanks, again.

Darby_Crenshaw

here's the big take-away: follow an actual recipe

RiverRatSkier

reh111 said:

Wow! Thanks for all the comments - I've learned a lot.  Mostly, I've learned that if I'm using actual pink salt it's not "cut" with other stuff so it needs to be "cut" with sugar, salt and spices if you want.  It seems it's more of a "concentrated" curing salt whereas Morton's Tender Quick is already "cut" and can be used by itself (although probably in double the quantity of pink salt)  Thanks, again.

Way more than double the quantity of tenderquick vs. straight pink salt.  My fuzzy memory is leaning towards a factor of 10 roughly.  Follow a real recipe as Darby suggests.  The Michael Ruhlman recipe is an easy one to find on the interwebs and seems to be pretty common among home bacon makers.

nolaegghead

My #2 cure is pink.  I do have some #1 that I just bought that I found at Hong Kong market - 1KG, and it's not pink anymore.  Old looking label and the last they had.  It's probably been on the shelf for years.  The nitrite is very reactive...can react with the red dye.  

reh111

RiverRatSkier said:

reh111 said:

Wow! Thanks for all the comments - I've learned a lot.  Mostly, I've learned that if I'm using actual pink salt it's not "cut" with other stuff so it needs to be "cut" with sugar, salt and spices if you want.  It seems it's more of a "concentrated" curing salt whereas Morton's Tender Quick is already "cut" and can be used by itself (although probably in double the quantity of pink salt)  Thanks, again.

Way more than double the quantity of tenderquick vs. straight pink salt.  My fuzzy memory is leaning towards a factor of 10 roughly.  Follow a real recipe as Darby suggests.  The Michael Ruhlman recipe is an easy one to find on the interwebs and seems to be pretty common among home bacon makers.

The reason I was thinking double was that the recipe above called for 2tbsp of pink salt for a 4 - 5 lb belly - I have a 4 lb and the Morton website calls for 1tbsp/pound which would be double what the recipe calls for in pink salt

Little Steven

Darby_Crenshaw said:

here's the big take-away: follow an actual recipe

You're so analytical. Sometimes you have to let art flow over you. 

Darby_Crenshaw

'Art' is your boyfriend?

Little Steven

No! My boyfriend's name is Anal Lytical. He's Arab Irish

reh111

Little Steven said:

Darby_Crenshaw said:

here's the big take-away: follow an actual recipe

You're so analytical. Sometimes you have to let art flow over you. 

I love recipes - I just never follow them 

Darby_Crenshaw

you'll want to follow one for bacon.

it has been comical here that people will say "i tried making bacon and it was no good" and then they document how they changed and freewheeled half the ingredients or steps

"i didn't want to use nitrite so i skipped that"

"i don't like a lot of salt, so i reduced it"

"i was afraid it wasn't safe so i cured it for two weeks"

"i used belly that was already sliced into inch wide strips"
etc etc

followed by "what did i do wrong?"

blind99

Little Steven said:

No! My boyfriend's name is Anal Lytical. He's Arab Irish

Damn!


personally I wonder why we need to bother with #1 and not just use #2 in the cure. 

Looking forward to the new year and some new things to cure!

Darby_Crenshaw

Because number one is for whole muscle quick curing (ham, bacon, loin, dry cure or brine/pickle). And number 2 is for sausage being air dried or (though not truly needed but recommended often bu panicky types out of an abundance of concern) any meat being hung to dry for very long periods at room temp (country ham).