Buckboard Bacon Dry Rub Cure

JohnH12

I've read several posts regarding the factory type rubs and brine's but haven't seen one for a home made dry rub cure.
I recently did a slab of skinless belly with the maple brine recipe from Sausage Maker and wasn't all that impressed. I tried another with their cure as a rub and it turned out way too salty and still didn't hit the mark for flavor.
I want to use a pork butt and cure it with pink salt (cure #1) and other ingredients for flavor.
I've been told that any rub for belly's can be used on butts for buckboard style bacon but am not sure of the source.
Any favorite recipes you're willing to share are appreciated.

JustineCaseyFeldown

You used a cure as a rub?  As in, while cooking some meat you seasoned it with cure like you would rub?

that would be way too salty. The cure is supposed to cure the entire chunk of meat, and the salt diffusing through it. As opposed to keeping all that salt on the surface. 

JohnH12

As in I rubbed it in and cured it for 10 days as they said. Even after a two hour soak it was too salty.
Used the same mixture as a brine with hardly any flavor.
FYI: Two ways to make bacon. Rub or brine. Cure in the refer for the prescribed time. Out comes bacon! Smoke it if you want.

JustineCaseyFeldown

JohnH12 said:

As in I rubbed it in and cured it for 10 days as they said. Even after a two hour soak it was too salty.
Used the same mixture as a brine with hardly any flavor.
FYI: Two ways to make bacon. Rub or brine. Cure in the refer for the prescribed time. Out comes bacon! Smoke it if you want.

i know how to make bacon. 

when you said you used it as a "rub", that meant a whole different thing than a dry-cure.  "rub" generally means something you slather on ribs or pork butt for example.


with dry curing i go by the "salt box method", dredging in the cure, and whatever sticks is the correct amount.  this is a standard method.  i find going by weight with some recipes can make it too salty.

i  mix my own cures, as opposed to the premixed stuff, so i can control salt amounts.

hondabbq

JustineCaseyFeldown said:

JohnH12 said:

FYI: Two ways to make bacon. Rub or brine. Cure in the refer for the prescribed time. Out comes bacon! Smoke it if you want.

Yeah JCF is it your first day here or what? 
Everyone knows how to make bacon. Cmon man. 

LOL. 

blind99

I've never done buckboard bacon. But if i did I would use an injection for the deepest parts around the bone. doing a typical dry cure takes around 5-7 days to fully penetrate a belly so I'd be impatient about it getting all the way through a butt or shoulder. Thoughts @JustineCaseyFeldown ?

bgebrent

hondabbq said:

JustineCaseyFeldown said:

JohnH12 said:

FYI: Two ways to make bacon. Rub or brine. Cure in the refer for the prescribed time. Out comes bacon! Smoke it if you want.

Yeah JCF is it your first day here or what? 
Everyone knows how to make bacon. Cmon man. 

LOL. 

@Justincasehefelldown knows a little bit.

blind99

bgebrent said:

hondabbq said:

JustineCaseyFeldown said:

JohnH12 said:

FYI: Two ways to make bacon. Rub or brine. Cure in the refer for the prescribed time. Out comes bacon! Smoke it if you want.

Yeah JCF is it your first day here or what? 
Everyone knows how to make bacon. Cmon man. 

LOL. 

@Justincasehefelldown knows a little bit.

Whatever the heck his name is these days. Pretty sure he's cured more things then most of us put together. 

hondabbq

bgebrent said:

hondabbq said:

JustineCaseyFeldown said:

JohnH12 said:

FYI: Two ways to make bacon. Rub or brine. Cure in the refer for the prescribed time. Out comes bacon! Smoke it if you want.

Yeah JCF is it your first day here or what? 
Everyone knows how to make bacon. Cmon man. 

LOL. 

@Justincasehefelldown knows a little bit.

That was sarcasm. 

shtgunal3

Take a look @ this.....

http://eggheadforum.com/discussion/1170981/home-made-shoulder-bacon-lotsa-pics#latest

JohnH12

I guess the real answer is "No" we won't give up a mix.
I suppose I need to apologize to all offended by my ignorant question.

Ima_good_egg

I've successfully used a dry rub cure that was for belly bacon. Cured for 7 days, and then smoked until 155 internal. Good luck, it's fun.

blind99

JohnH12 said:

I guess the real answer is "No" we won't give up a mix.
I suppose I need to apologize to all offended by my ignorant question.

Hey John - I think most people around here start with something like Ruhlman's bacon cure recipe. Nothing really too secret. I have made the switch to liquid equilibrium curing, because it is utterly foolproof and you simply cannot make it too salty if you measure it all out properly. My recipe is 2 percent salt, 1 percent sugar, and 120 ppm nitrite. 

JustineCaseyFeldown

JohnH12 said:

I guess the real answer is "No" we won't give up a mix.
I suppose I need to apologize to all offended by my ignorant question.

It wasn't ignorant 


I was confused. I answered the question you asked. I apologize if i misunderstood and thought you used cure as a rub (flavoring only). But that's what you said you did.

I tried to explain  a method for using dry cure which is often less salty ('salt bix method' of applying cure).

You just emphasized that you only want a recipe. But a recipe without proper method is useless.

There are a ton of recipes. I would say pick one that sounds good

 But try the salt box method rather than applying cure by weight. I find it to be less salty

which was your problem, no?

as an alternative.  Simply use less salt. Cut it by 25%. 

There is absolutely no safety issue using less salt. It will merely be less salty, less firm, a bit more moist. 

JustineCaseyFeldown

blind99 said:

I've never done buckboard bacon. But if i did I would use an injection for the deepest parts around the bone. doing a typical dry cure takes around 5-7 days to fully penetrate a belly so I'd be impatient about it getting all the way through a butt or shoulder. Thoughts @JustineCaseyFeldown ?

You can brine cure, sure. Different result is all. 

Injecting a pickle is something you usually do on a large ham, along the bone. The idea is to prevent bone taint. (He said 'taint'. Heh heh hehe). This allows the cure to start out deep in the meat and hurry up the curing

But you can inject shoulder too. Although it is small enough to cure quickly anyway. 

When you apply a dry cure, it's much slower. On the order of something like a day per pound. 

But you don't inject *and* use a dry cure. 

Either is fine, but if the guy wants the firmer and drier (i.e. doesn't shrink when cooked) result of dry curing, it's undone by wet curing. 

blind99

@JustineCaseyFeldown cool, thanks for the thoughts. All of my curing is done in the fridge so the bone taint issue may be irrelevant for me. Yeah, bone taint still sounds bad

JustineCaseyFeldown

blind99 said:

@JustineCaseyFeldown cool, thanks for the thoughts. All of my curing is done in the fridge so the bone taint issue may be irrelevant for me. Yeah, bone taint still sounds bad

your point is well taken w/r/t bone taint. i have only ever heard of it, and not experienced it.  scotty may have practical experience.

because it could very well be that it is mitigated by having a fridge.

we forget that curing was never done under refrigeration until, well, we invented fridges.  and your point that that might be the issue with bone taint is perfectly logical.

i mean, we don't have bone taint when we just leave the meat in the fridge, right?