Homemade pork belly bacon - Seasoning question for the pro's

unoriginalusername

Our first attempt at home cured nitrate free bacon resulted in a salt block so salty that even deer wouldn't be tempted to put it in their mouth... my wife threw it out and I began plotting my revenge on the pork belly.

Last week attempt two began, I used dark brown sugar, course sea salt, pepper, maple syrup and nutmeg to coat the pork belly put it in a bag and flipped it daily for the past 7 days.

This morning I rinsed it, and soaked it in clean cold water in the fridge with some potato slices to try and reduce the salt content and its currently in the fridge on a cookie rack to dry out for good bark formation.

Question, do you add any rub at this point like you would for a brisket/shoulder or just smoke it as is and that's plenty of flavour for bacon?

bgebrent

I've only smoked it at this point but see no reason you couldn't augment the flavor profile with a rub.  Slice off a small piece and fry it up to assess your salt content after rinsing/soaking.  Gives you a sample to tell if you need more soaking or not.  Good luck.

unoriginalusername

bgebrent said:

I've only smoked it at this point but see no reason you couldn't augment the flavor profile with a rub.  Slice off a small piece and fry it up to assess your salt content after rinsing/soaking.  Gives you a sample to tell if you need more soaking or not.  Good luck.

Thanks that’s s good idea. Didn’t even think about getting a sample before smoking in order to figure out any last minute tweaks and with the bonus of some bacon that’s a win win lol 

The Cen-Tex Smoker

why are you making nitrite free bacon (aka salt pork)?

unoriginalusername

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

why are you making nitrite free bacon (aka salt pork)?

For a bunch of bacon dishes we have over the holidays.... cheese ball, egg bake, family breakfast etc .... and a few hours outside “cooking” vs sitting with aunts and uncles hearing about their latest conspiracy theories. Store bought bacon gives me no such escape 

lkapigian

in the desalination effort did you do water changes...........even if over salted you should be able to get it out over time i would think , like a reverse equilibrium brine 

unoriginalusername

lkapigian said:

in the desalination effort did you do water changes...........even if over salted you should be able to get it out over time i would think , like a reverse equilibrium brine 

No just rinsed then into cold water with some potatoes for two hours, rinsed again and then pat dry.

just sliced off a sample to fry up and it was pretty good... way less salty than my first attempt so I think I will smoke it as is and maybe spritz with Apple cider vinegar to balance it out if needed 

The Cen-Tex Smoker

unoriginalusername said:

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

why are you making nitrite free bacon (aka salt pork)?

For a bunch of bacon dishes we have over the holidays.... cheese ball, egg bake, family breakfast etc .... and a few hours outside “cooking” vs sitting with aunts and uncles hearing about their latest conspiracy theories. Store bought bacon gives me no such escape 

I was asking why nitrite free?

unoriginalusername

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

unoriginalusername said:

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

why are you making nitrite free bacon (aka salt pork)?

For a bunch of bacon dishes we have over the holidays.... cheese ball, egg bake, family breakfast etc .... and a few hours outside “cooking” vs sitting with aunts and uncles hearing about their latest conspiracy theories. Store bought bacon gives me no such escape 

I was asking why nitrite free?

Apparently bacon can be health food without it

Basically bacon without nitrates is like lettuce... but safer 

lol

The Cen-Tex Smoker

unoriginalusername said:

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

unoriginalusername said:

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

why are you making nitrite free bacon (aka salt pork)?

For a bunch of bacon dishes we have over the holidays.... cheese ball, egg bake, family breakfast etc .... and a few hours outside “cooking” vs sitting with aunts and uncles hearing about their latest conspiracy theories. Store bought bacon gives me no such escape 

I was asking why nitrite free?

Apparently bacon can be health food without it lol

The "nitrites are bad" thing has been debunked just so you know. There are more nitrites in spinach and kale than bacon. So skip the leafy greens (seems to be a trend lately) and make normal bacon.

jtcBoynton

Make bacon with nitrites not nitrates. So it will be nitrate free.

bigguy136

I'm not an expert on the nitrates or not. My bacon recipe uses Morton's Tender Quick, not too salty and flavor/ heat just right for me. My last batch was sliced on a Sunday morning and I realized on Friday that I never cleaned my slicer. No smell from the bacon after a week without refrigeration so I'm happy.

I slice mine to be 1.5 oz per slice. With buying pork belly, I think it's much meatier than typical store bacon. 

Here are two photos and my recipe.

1.5 cups of Tender Quick salt mix

4 tbsp coarsely ground black pepper

3 tbsp granulated garlic

2 tbsp paprika

2 tbsp chili powder

3 tbsp brown sugar

6 cups of water

10-15 LBS Pork Belly

 

Brine for 7 days. Flip daily

 

Smoke at 200° 3-4 hours till 150° internal temp

Chill before slicing

unoriginalusername

Well much better than my first attempt. Might soak the next one even longer to reduce salt but this is pretty spot on. 

lkapigian

Looks good from here...Give cold smoke a try ( with safe curing )

unoriginalusername

lkapigian said:

Looks good from here...Give cold smoke a try ( with safe curing )

Do you think the nitrate free salt method is taking unnecessary risks with safety?  

lkapigian

unoriginalusername said:

lkapigian said:

Looks good from here...Give cold smoke a try ( with safe curing )

Do you think the nitrate free salt method is taking unnecessary risks with safety?  

Where live and you can probable cold smoke at refrigerator temps, not risky, that being said,  Cure 1 is what makes it bacon as we know it

At a TSP per 5 pounds 96% of that teaspoon is regular salt....i think there is more chemicals in our smoke