Starting a new batch of home cured bacon

paqman

All this bacon talk lately got me thinking I should start a new batch. Nothing like home cured bacon. My friendly butcher had just what I needed, 10 pounds of belly!

I starter by squaring the belly and splitting it in two.

The cure (for each half):
-50 grams kosher salt
-12 grams prague powder #1 (pink salt)
-50 grams brown sugar
-60 grams maple

The original recipe calls for 60 ml of maple syrup. I used 60 grams of maple sugar instead. It is easier to deal with dry ingredients when working with a vacuum sealer.

I vacuum sealed each half of the belly with the cure. They will stay in the fridge for 7 days. I will turn the bags every day.

After the 7 days, I will rinse the bellies and dry them. I will let them dry in the fridge for a day to form a pellicule and then smoke them until they reache an IT of 150F. The skin will then be removed while the bellies are still hot.

I'll report back in a week.

ChillyWillis

=P~

I need to try this... I haven't had the pleasure of cooking up any pork belly yet, never mind making bacon. This is on the to do list now! I can't wait to see the results.... It looks fantastic so far.

SGH

Sounds like a plan. Standing by for the finale.

Sundown

Why aren't you removing the skin before you start the cure? Better saturation of the cure and better smoke penetration too.

Justa thought after all of the bellies I've done.

paqman

@ChillyWillis‌ - This is super easy. The most complicated part for me was finding the pink salt. Here, in the Great White North, I have looked for weeks before finally finding a website that sells it to the general public. Even my butcher could not find some for me.

@Sundown‌ - I am following Ruhlman's instructions from the book Charcuterie. He specifies to remove the skin after smoking. Not sure why... I actually considered to remove the skin first but I have done this recipe several time before and it was always perfect. I never had problems with saturation of the cure but I agree that it must help with the smoke. I may try to remove skin first on my next batch now that I know that you had success doing it.

GATraveller

I've been waiting to do this myself but am having a hard time locating pink salt as well.  Look forward to seeing the complete process.  Thanks.

Cookinbob

That is a great looking belly!  I wish I could find a good one, most I see here are on the thin side, and always skinless.  As you saw, my last cure was a shoulder, and I am pretty pleased with the results.  This was my 6th cure and every one has been a success.  I tell others that all you really need (besides curing salt) is a ziploc bag.  Even the smoking is optional.

The one thing that has frustrated me about the Charcuterie recipe (I have the book) is it is ambiguous about how much is really needed per pound.  I did a lot of research and determined that 17 grams of Ruhlmans basic cure per pound is just right.  I measure that out and then add extra sugar or spices as desired

@GATraveller, you can buy the pink curing salt at Amazon.  Here is a link  Just make sure you get Instacure 1, and not pink Himalayan salt!

paqman

@GATraveller‌ - If you are in the USA, it is fairly easy to find. Here's one online store that was mentioned before by fellow forum members. 1 pound of the stuff sells for 3.50$ (+ ~10$ shipping) and this will last you forever...

http://www.butcher-packer.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=237_12&products_id=56

shtgunal3

Hey paqman are you gonna smoke it on the egg? If so what dome temp are you gonna shoot for and how long do you think it will take? I have cured a few bellies but I cold smoked them with the AmazeN smoker. I been wanting to do another one and hot smoke it.

@cookinbob that shoulder bacon looks good!

paqman

@shtgunal3‌ - I'll smoke it on the egg at 225-250F. My egg's sweet spot is 250F, I have a hard time holding temps lower than that. I have the AmazeN smoker as well but I prefer to hot smoke. I did not like cold smoke so much. I know that many fellow forum members prefer cold smoke...

Cookinbob

shtgunal3 said:

Hey paqman are you gonna smoke it on the egg? If so what dome temp are you gonna shoot for and how long do you think it will take? I have cured a few bellies but I cold smoked them with the AmazeN smoker. I been wanting to do another one and hot smoke it. @cookinbob that shoulder bacon looks good!

Chiming in here, I have an AmazeN smoker, have done cold smoke three times and hot smoke twice.  I am able to hold the dome at 200 or below which I did yesterday.  It took about 4 hours to hit the 140 IT I was shooting for.  This shoulder has a lot of smoke

hondabbq

I did some bacon in the spring, 26 lbs finished to be exact. Sliced it at work and vac packed it into 1 lb bags. Making pizza tonight and using some bacon. We put it in everything.

paqman

@Cookinbob‌ - If I really want, I can get the egg to a lower temperature but it requires babysitting... For some reason, it likes to stay at 250F with no effort whatsoever.

@hondabbq‌ - That's a lot of bacon! You are in Canada right? Where did you find the curing salt?

hondabbq

@paqman I just used MTQ. My supplier had bellies that had 2 per case. it was almost 14kg for the 2 bellies. I got in just prior to the pork jump. I paid $66 for it. so about $2/lb.

Canugghead

paqman said:

@shtgunal3‌ - I'll smoke it on the egg at 225-250F. My egg's sweet spot is 250F, I have a hard time holding temps lower than that. I have the AmazeN smoker as well but I prefer to hot smoke. I did not like cold smoke so much. I know that many fellow forum members prefer cold smoke...

@paqman, to go lower than 250F, try using leftover lumps in a large perforated coffee can, that's how I smoke jerky or salmon.

JRWhitee

@paqman I want to try this too, just got my Amazing Smoker and I have pink salt. The hardest part will be converting grams to teaspoons/tablespoons..... :@)

Cookinbob

Don't do it. Buy a scale or borrow one. You have to compound your cure by weight. [-X

paqman

@Canugghead‌ - I am a lazy man... removing all the lump just for that is too much trouble for me and 250F works just fine but thanks for the advice.

@JRWhitee‌ - I agree with @Cookinbob‌ on this... You can get a cheap digital scale for under 20$. Also, make sure that your pink salt is actually curing salt and keep in mind that this stuff is poison. I play with the other ingredients ratio but I always measure the curing salt accurately with a digital scale. My digital scale is one of the best investment I made when it comes to kitchen tools. I also use it to measure the chemicals for the pool.

paqman

The cure is already working it's magic. The bellies are already feeling firmer to the touch and are not as flexible as last night. They also have released some liquid. The cure is now completely wet and is acting as a brine.

Little Steven

hondabbq said:

@paqman I just used MTQ. My supplier had bellies that had 2 per case. it was almost 14kg for the 2 bellies. I got in just prior to the pork jump. I paid $66 for it. so about $2/lb.

One of the Asian markets near me is still $2.29. I was waiting til the temps went down a bit before doing another batch.

paqman

Little Steven said:

hondabbq said:

@paqman I just used MTQ. My supplier had bellies that had 2 per case. it was almost 14kg for the 2 bellies. I got in just prior to the pork jump. I paid $66 for it. so about $2/lb.

One of the Asian markets near me is still $2.29. I was waiting til the temps went down a bit before doing another batch.

I paid 5$/lb for this one.

Little Steven

Ouch! Notice how they have resized the packaged stuff from 454g to 390g?

shtgunal3

Thanks paqman and cookinbob for the responses. I really want to try bacon with a hot smoke. With the cold smoke it had more of a dirty smoke taste to me.

paqman

Yes, "new look, same goid taste".

Cookinbob

Interesting pics @paqman.  My cures have never given up that much liquid for some reason

Canugghead

@pagman is not taking any chances, triple sealed )

The Cen-Tex Smoker

paqman said:

@ChillyWillis‌ - This is super easy. The most complicated part for me was finding the pink salt. Here, in the Great White North, I have looked for weeks before finally finding a website that sells it to the general public. Even my butcher could not find some for me. @Sundown‌ - I am following Ruhlman's instructions from the book Charcuterie. He specifies to remove the skin after smoking. Not sure why... I actually considered to remove the skin first but I have done this recipe several time before and it was always perfect. I never had problems with saturation of the cure but I agree that it must help with the smoke. I may try to remove skin first on my next batch now that I know that you had success doing it.

If you hot smoke (like you are doing and he does in the book) the skin comes off way easier after the smoke. I usually leave mine on even in the "cold" smoke that I do and trim after. I use the amaze N smoker and no lump- I have not noticed any issue with smoke penetration either way. I've done both several times and haven't noticed any difference in smoke or taste.

Cookinbob

I have never had a belly with skin on.  I have read that the removed cured skin can be used to make cracklings, though I don't really know what they are or what you do with them :-/

The Cen-Tex Smoker

Cookinbob said:

I have never had a belly with skin on.  I have read that the removed cured skin can be used to make cracklings, though I don't really know what they are or what you do with them :-/

We trim before the cure and the smoke around christmas to render all the lard for tamales. I've never had the cured cracklins but I bet they are salty (no problem with that here)

paqman

Cookinbob said:

I have never had a belly with skin on.  I have read that the removed cured skin can be used to make cracklings, though I don't really know what they are or what you do with them :-/

@Cookinbob‌ - It looks like this:

buzd504

paqman said:

I have never had a belly with skin on.  I have read that the removed cured skin can be used to make cracklings, though I don't really know what they are or what you do with them :-/

@Cookinbob‌ - It looks like this:

Those look great.