Welcome to the EGGhead Forum - a great place to visit and packed with tips and EGGspert advice! You can also join the conversation and get more information and amazing kamado recipes by following Big Green Egg to Experience our World of Flavor™ at:
Want to see how the EGG is made? Click to Watch
Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest | Youtube | Vimeo
Share your photos by tagging us and using the hashtag #BigGreenEgg.
Share your photos by tagging us and using the hashtag #BigGreenEgg.
Want to see how the EGG is made? Click to Watch
Belly Bacon cure and smoke and package (pic heavy)
Options
2Fategghead
Posts: 9,624
This post includes part of a previous post from the start to the finish. Thanks for looking.
We purchased a pork belly a couple weeks ago. It weighed almost 10 pounds. Cost was almost $17.00
I cut it in half and started curing one with Hi Mountain Buck board Bacon Cure. I put it in a food saver bag and sealed it up making sure not to draw very much vacuum.
The other half got a tender quick cure in place of the pink salt and kosher salt from Michael Ruhlmans recipe for bacon.
Mix the following together in a small bowl:
(Keep in mind this is for 5 pounds of bacon)
2 ounces (1/4 cup Morton or Diamond Crystal coarse kosher) salt
2 teaspoons pink curing salt #1 (I use this DQ Cure from Butcher-Packer, $2)
Substitute the above with:
5 tablespoons of tender quick
plus
4 tablespoons coarsely ground black pepper
4 bay leaves, crumbled (left out)
1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg (substitute with 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg)
1/4 cup brown sugar or honey or maple syrup (used the dark brown sugar)
5 cloves of garlic, smashed with the flat side of a chef’s knife (substitute with 2 1/2 minced garlic in a jar)
2 tablespoons juniper berries, lightly crushed (optional)(left out)
5 to 10 sprigs fresh thyme (optional)(substitute 1/4 tsp chopped thyme)
Here is the actual write up by Michael Ruhlman
http://ruhlman.com/2010/10/home-cured-bacon-2.html
Here is the other half with Michael Ruhlman recipe changed a little.
Here they are getting happy in food saver bags in my fridge in the garage.
After seven (7) days I took them out of the fridge and rinsed them off and put them into a pan to soak a few hours.
Here is the belly with the Hi Mountain cure
Note you should use a non reactive container to soak out the bacon.
Here is the belly with the Tender Quick cure with additional stuff added.
After a six (6) hour soak I removed them from the water and dried them off and set them back in the fridge. After about 16 hours equalizing I set the egg up with the AR for a direct 180F smoke with hickory wood.
I used the CyberQ II to control the egg at 180F dome and placed the food probe in the lower Tender Quick belly set for 150F IT. I double checked in several places when I pulled the Tender Quick belly off.
After the Tender Quick belly cooled off I sliced some strips off of it and fried them up in the skillet. Then we had a bacon sandwich for supper with home made potato salad and tomatoes. We just loved the tender Quick bacon. I'm sure when we get around to eating the Hi Mountian we will love it just as much.
After the other belly reached 150F about 4 hours I double checked with the thermapen and pulled it out of the egg to cool off.
After it cooled off I placed it in the freezer to ferm up. Then I went to my new butcher friend Roy and he sliced it for me. Then I took it home to quickly package up.
Here is the Hi Mountain bacon all sliced up.
Here is what is left of the Tender Quick bacon sliced up.
Here it is all packaged up in FoodSaver bags. I made 9 packs of 6 slices of the 5 pounds of Hi Mountain. and what was left of the Tender Quick bacon made 2 packs of 6 slices.
We purchased a pork belly a couple weeks ago. It weighed almost 10 pounds. Cost was almost $17.00
I cut it in half and started curing one with Hi Mountain Buck board Bacon Cure. I put it in a food saver bag and sealed it up making sure not to draw very much vacuum.
The other half got a tender quick cure in place of the pink salt and kosher salt from Michael Ruhlmans recipe for bacon.
Mix the following together in a small bowl:
(Keep in mind this is for 5 pounds of bacon)
2 ounces (1/4 cup Morton or Diamond Crystal coarse kosher) salt
2 teaspoons pink curing salt #1 (I use this DQ Cure from Butcher-Packer, $2)
Substitute the above with:
5 tablespoons of tender quick
plus
4 tablespoons coarsely ground black pepper
4 bay leaves, crumbled (left out)
1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg (substitute with 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg)
1/4 cup brown sugar or honey or maple syrup (used the dark brown sugar)
5 cloves of garlic, smashed with the flat side of a chef’s knife (substitute with 2 1/2 minced garlic in a jar)
2 tablespoons juniper berries, lightly crushed (optional)(left out)
5 to 10 sprigs fresh thyme (optional)(substitute 1/4 tsp chopped thyme)
Here is the actual write up by Michael Ruhlman
http://ruhlman.com/2010/10/home-cured-bacon-2.html
Here is the other half with Michael Ruhlman recipe changed a little.
Here they are getting happy in food saver bags in my fridge in the garage.
After seven (7) days I took them out of the fridge and rinsed them off and put them into a pan to soak a few hours.
Here is the belly with the Hi Mountain cure
Note you should use a non reactive container to soak out the bacon.
Here is the belly with the Tender Quick cure with additional stuff added.
After a six (6) hour soak I removed them from the water and dried them off and set them back in the fridge. After about 16 hours equalizing I set the egg up with the AR for a direct 180F smoke with hickory wood.
I used the CyberQ II to control the egg at 180F dome and placed the food probe in the lower Tender Quick belly set for 150F IT. I double checked in several places when I pulled the Tender Quick belly off.
After the Tender Quick belly cooled off I sliced some strips off of it and fried them up in the skillet. Then we had a bacon sandwich for supper with home made potato salad and tomatoes. We just loved the tender Quick bacon. I'm sure when we get around to eating the Hi Mountian we will love it just as much.
After the other belly reached 150F about 4 hours I double checked with the thermapen and pulled it out of the egg to cool off.
After it cooled off I placed it in the freezer to ferm up. Then I went to my new butcher friend Roy and he sliced it for me. Then I took it home to quickly package up.
Here is the Hi Mountain bacon all sliced up.
Here is what is left of the Tender Quick bacon sliced up.
Here it is all packaged up in FoodSaver bags. I made 9 packs of 6 slices of the 5 pounds of Hi Mountain. and what was left of the Tender Quick bacon made 2 packs of 6 slices.
Comments
-
Ahh bacon sandwiches! That looks great! Never got around to my buckboard this winter....maybe I should get a move on that one.
-
This the season Stacy. Get wiff it. :laugh:
-
Nice job Tim! Thanks for posting I ordered the Morton salt book you posted about, it has been shipped but i have not received it yet.
-
I know, I know.....OR you could just do it for me and send it on up here! :woohoo:
-
Tim - Great pics and even better looking bacon. I've been waiting to hear how the curing process and smoking went. The real test is in the taste and it sounds like it was a success. Well done.
-
I could. I made 2 10 pound butts and I only have one small pack of BBB left. :( I need to get wiff it myself. :laugh:
-
Great job Tim...it is great being master of your domain.... :P :silly:
-
Hey Susan, I got mine a long time ago. I will tell you a story. I called and ordered the book. I had to pay $4.99 plus $2.50 handling.
The next day I had a question and called the Consumer Affairs number and they said they would send me a meat chart for free. I said good and thank you. I thought I am getting a book and now a chart.
Now to make a long story short I got a package in the mail and it was the book I ordered but, as it turned out it was the meat chart they said they would send me. The next day I got the book I ordered with the receipt. I got the same book two days in a row. I paid for one and got the other for free. I don't get it. :unsure: I suggest to you to call consumer affairs and tell them you have questions about the curing process. There is a different number to call for online orders.
http://www.mortonsalt.com/contact_us/index.html -
Very nice post Tim. I have been waiting to see the results.
I will be interested to hear how the Hi Mountain compares to the Morton method.
Kent -
Steve, The Tender Quick bacon came off first and after it cooled some I sliced some strips off it. I thought the bacon was a little salty at first but that may have been from the first few slices. I have to learn if I need to do a soak or not and for how long. Tender Quick was vague about this process but, Hi Mountain talked about soaking out the cured butt but was unclear about belly bacon. :unsure: I haven't tried the Hi Mountain bacon yet but I'm sure it will be good. :P
-
Thanks Kim, I just love all this stuff. :laugh:
-
Thanks Kent. I have some of the other to eat first but, I will take out the Hi Mountain bacon this coming weekend. BTW I got my mail. Thank you. I need to send you $ or something. :unsure:
-
Whew, that looks like work! I'm betting it was time well spent.
-
It was time well spent. Very good I will do it again. Thank You
-
Tim, nice bacon post. I'll be interested in your comparison with the Hi Mountain cure.
Gotta love home cured bacon. Now if I could just round me up a good meat slicer. -
Nope, I should have included it in the first place. We are square.
Kent -
NICE!!! I am going to try my hand at this cook. i will probably need some of your help.
-
Tim, that looks great! Nice job and nice post I have a boneless butt curing in Hi-Mountain as we speak. It will be ready to smoke early next week :cheer:
-
Thanks Rebecca, I will open up a pack of Hi Mountain belly bacon this weekend. Then I will do my comparison and post my finds. I should have waited but my sous chef has been to an oral surgeon so we are waiting for her tongue to heal.
-
That turned out really nice. And it was good timing to try different recipes back to back. I'll be watching for a full report, and your review on both products.
One thing to keep in mind for any curing (or brining)step is to use non-reactive containers. Food safe plastic, glass or even stainless steel containers are all non-reactive. Things like those aluminum pans you did the soak out in are not, they can react to the salts... Now, when soaking, your solution was very dilute, and the time was short, so the pan did not react to the salts and there is nothing to worry about. It's just better to build good habits early.... kind of like all things I guess.Happy Trails~thirdeye~Barbecue is not rocket surgery -
Thanks BigA. The process is easy once you decide
What cure you will use
Will there be other spices or sugars...
How long to cure
What process after the cure
Like will there be a rinse
Will there be a soak out
How long will you equalize
Will you smoke the bacon and what process
Will you add rubs or syrup
Will you cold smoke
For how long
Will you hot smoke
To what temp
What flavor wood
Then you will take the bacon out of the egg and let it cool and make plans to slice by firming up in a freezer before using a slicer.
Then how will you package the bacon. -
Thanks Capt. Frank. You will love it. I had mine sliced and some of it got sliced with the grain of the meat even still it was great. :P
-
:laugh: :laugh:
-
Thanks Wayne. :ermm: You got me on the aluminum pan. At the time I thought I had two plastic pans but, no. I'll get back here for a full report when I try some from the Hi Mountain batch.
Thanks for everything. The mail went out Monday. -
Looking good Tim, great deal on that meat, mine runs close to 3 a pound. I still recommend cold smoking it next time, but I would not change anything else you did.
Doug -
Thanks Doug. I will try the cold smoke method next time. I ordered a full shoulder and I hope to get it this Friday. I plan to make it all shreaded for future eats. :P
Sometime I want to make city ham from a picnic. :P -
Tim, You really did a great job on not only the bacon, but on the presentation of the process. It looks awesome! You are one great egger, dude!
-
VERY nice job and post Tim.That is on my list as soon as I get moved and settled in. It ALL looks WONDERFUL!
-
Look real good there buddy. Now thats what I call GOOD EATS
-
Nice job Tim. How'd you like the hickory on that?Molly
Colorado Springs
"Loney Queen"
"Respect your fellow human being, treat them fairly, disagree with them honestly, enjoy their friendship, explore your thoughts about one another candidly, work together for a common goal and help one another achieve it."
Bill Bradley; American hall of fame basketball player, Rhodes scholar, former U.S. Senator from New Jersey
LBGE, MBGE, SBGE , MiniBGE and a Mini Mini BGE
Categories
- All Categories
- 182.8K EggHead Forum
- 15.7K Forum List
- 459 EGGtoberfest
- 1.9K Forum Feedback
- 10.3K Off Topic
- 2.2K EGG Table Forum
- 1 Rules & Disclaimer
- 9K Cookbook
- 12 Valentines Day
- 91 Holiday Recipes
- 223 Appetizers
- 516 Baking
- 2.4K Beef
- 88 Desserts
- 164 Lamb
- 2.4K Pork
- 1.5K Poultry
- 30 Salads and Dressings
- 320 Sauces, Rubs, Marinades
- 543 Seafood
- 175 Sides
- 121 Soups, Stews, Chilis
- 36 Vegetarian
- 100 Vegetables
- 313 Health
- 293 Weight Loss Forum