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Pork belly = bacon
Cure 7-10 days with a spice mixture, wrap. I have a food saver
Wash, smoke for around 12 hrs
I have sawdust of different woods. Could I add some of that? The guy I watched on YouTube lit a lot more of the pellets than I thought you should. Thanks for any help.
Comments
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I will be interested in hearing the responses. I tried cold smoking some bacon for the first time last weekend but have yet to try out the results. In my case, I cured the belly for 11 days, washed it and then air dried it in the fridge over night. The next day, I cold smoked it for 7 hours. It looked fantastic when it I pulled it. Planning on some bacon and eggs on Sunday.
Tom
Tom
Charles is a mischevious feline who always has something cooking
Twin lbge's .. grew up in the sun parlor of Canada but now egging in the nation's capital
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What was your cure? Let me know how it goes please. Thanks.Green egg, dead animal and alcohol. The "Boro".. TN
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11 days = salty. Too long if your cure was right.Keepin' It Weird in The ATX FBTX
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Its not just some spice you have to use a cure that includes pink salt from what I have seen. The main recipes for the cures I have seen posted are the 2 from Charcuterie. Also you don't need to food saver it you want room in the bag for the liquid to come out of the belly.
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Chef Charles said:
I will be interested in hearing the responses. I tried cold smoking some bacon for the first time last weekend but have yet to try out the results. In my case, I cured the belly for 11 days, washed it and then air dried it in the fridge over night. The next day, I cold smoked it for 7 hours. It looked fantastic when it I pulled it. Planning on some bacon and eggs on Sunday.
Tom
Keepin' It Weird in The ATX FBTX -
Home-Cured Bacon (adapted from Charcuterie)
—Order five pounds of fresh pork belly from your grocery store, the pork guy at your farmers market, or from a local butcher shop.
—Buy a box of 2-gallon zip-top bags if you don’t have a container big enough to hold the belly.
—Mix the following together in a small bowl:
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)
4 tablespoons coarsely ground black pepper
4 bay leaves, crumbled
1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 cup brown sugar or honey or maple syrup
5 cloves of garlic, smashed with the flat side of a chef’s knife
2 tablespoons juniper berries, lightly crushed (optional)
5 to 10 sprigs fresh thyme (optional)
—Put your belly in the zip-top bag or on a sheet tray or in a plastic container. Rub the salt and spice mixture all over the belly. Close the bag or cover it with plastic wrap, and stick it in the refrigerator for seven days (get your hands in there and give the spices another good rubbing around midway through).—After seven days, take it out of the fridge, rinse off all the seasonings under cold water and pat it dry.
—Put it on a sheet tray and put it in the oven (put it on a rack on a sheet tray if you have one) and turn the oven on to 200 degrees F. (if you want to preheat the oven, that’s fine, too). Leave it in the oven for 90 minutes (or, if you want to measure the internal temperature, until it reaches 150 degrees F.).
—Let it cool and refrigerate it until you’re ready to cook it. But I know. You won’t be able to wait. So cut off a piece and cook it. Taste it, savor it. Congratulations! It’s bacon!
Notes: If you don’t have five pounds of belly, either guesstimate salt based on the above or, if you have a scale, multiply the weight of the belly in ounces or grams by .025 and that’s how many ounces or grams of salt you should use.
If for any reason you find your bacon to be too salty to eat (it happens, especially if you measure your salt by sight, which I sometimes do), simply blanch the bacon and dump the water before sautéing it.
Keepin' It Weird in The ATX FBTX -
I don't do the juniper berries, nutmeg or Thyme. I cut WAY back on the garlic and I add a lot of cracked black pepper.This recipe also assumes you don't have an egg and you are cooking in the oven. I do a cold smoke with Apple Wood in the Amaze N Smoker on the egg. Cold smoked bacon has a much better texture than hot smoked.This will get you started.You MUST use curing salt in your cure. Pink salt is not Himalayan Salt, or pink sea salt. It is Sodium Nitrite. If you don't use Sodium Nitrite in your cure, you are not making bacon and you risk food borne illness.Keepin' It Weird in The ATX FBTX
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In addition to the basic cure (Pink Salt, Sugar, Salt) I put 4 jalapenos and 4 Cloves of garlic through a food processor and add it to the cure. Its our favorite, the end pieces will have a little heat.I usually soak the belly in fresh water after the cure for at least two hours, changing the water every hour. This helps cut down on the saltiness. CT is correct about blanching if it is still to salty. Its a veery easy process with stunning results.Simi Valley, California
LBGE, PBC, Annova, SMOBot -
I actually soak in cold water. Works every bit as good as a blanch and does not cook the bacon.Keepin' It Weird in The ATX FBTX
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SoCal_Griller said:In addition to the basic cure (Pink Salt, Sugar, Salt) I put 4 jalapenos and 4 Cloves of garlic through a food processor and add it to the cure. Its our favorite, the end pieces will have a little heat.I usually soak the belly in fresh water after the cure for at least two hours, changing the water every hour. This helps cut down on the saltiness. CT is correct about blanching if it is still to salty. Its a veery easy process with stunning results.
"Entrepreneurs are simply those who understand that there is little difference between obstacle and opportunity, and are able to turn both to their advantage."
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I'll be following this thread as well. Waiting on the belly to arrive at the butcher so I can pick that up as well as the sausaged wild hog I dropped off MondayDunedin, FL
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The Cen-Tex Smoker said:Chef Charles said:
I will be interested in hearing the responses. I tried cold smoking some bacon for the first time last weekend but have yet to try out the results. In my case, I cured the belly for 11 days, washed it and then air dried it in the fridge over night. The next day, I cold smoked it for 7 hours. It looked fantastic when it I pulled it. Planning on some bacon and eggs on Sunday.
Tom
Tom
Charles is a mischevious feline who always has something cooking
Twin lbge's .. grew up in the sun parlor of Canada but now egging in the nation's capital
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Chef Charles said:The Cen-Tex Smoker said:Chef Charles said:
I will be interested in hearing the responses. I tried cold smoking some bacon for the first time last weekend but have yet to try out the results. In my case, I cured the belly for 11 days, washed it and then air dried it in the fridge over night. The next day, I cold smoked it for 7 hours. It looked fantastic when it I pulled it. Planning on some bacon and eggs on Sunday.
Tom
Keepin' It Weird in The ATX FBTX -
michigan_jason said:SoCal_Griller said:In addition to the basic cure (Pink Salt, Sugar, Salt) I put 4 jalapenos and 4 Cloves of garlic through a food processor and add it to the cure. Its our favorite, the end pieces will have a little heat.I usually soak the belly in fresh water after the cure for at least two hours, changing the water every hour. This helps cut down on the saltiness. CT is correct about blanching if it is still to salty. Its a veery easy process with stunning results.Simi Valley, California
LBGE, PBC, Annova, SMOBot -
Chef Charles said:Thanks for the words of wisdom. I actually did soak it in cold water rather than just rinsing it once I finished curing it. Around here, we can't get pink salt. Instead, something called ready cure is used and it has less nitrates. A fellow on another forum cured his belly for 2 weeks with success. As this is the first attempt for me, I will wait to see how things turned out. Good to know that if it is too salty, I should cut the curing time down. I might also play around with adding spices to the cure the next time too. Thankfully, I only used a small piece of belly so I won't mind too much if it turns out to be a disaster.canuckland
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You can get pink salt here but it isn't readily available. Canada Compounds has it. Nothing wrong with ready cure but you have to buy more.
Steve
Caledon, ON
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Got my ReadyCure from CC's Toronto HQ in Woodbridge a while back. Just noticed they have Prague powder listed in their website (same concentration as pink salt), will check again next time, it's two minutes from my local Costco. Returned your Blendtec?canuckland
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I've been wanting to try this too. Couple of questions, if you cold smoke, how long do you cold smoke? Can I cold smoke by putting the meat in the small BGE and lighting the large and join the two with dryer duct? Or vice versa? Do you freeze the bacon right after smoking?
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LBGE,SBGE, and a Mini makes three......Sweet home Alabama........ Stay thirsty my friends .
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shtgunal3 said:I've been wanting to try this too. Couple of questions, if you cold smoke, how long do you cold smoke? Can I cold smoke by putting the meat in the small BGE and lighting the large and join the two with dryer duct? Or vice versa? Do you freeze the bacon right after smoking?
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With the Amazen heat it and the pellets in the oven at around 220 for 20 mins to half an hour. I have done this on their recommendation and never had it go out on me. Other than that listen to CT.Lynnwood WA
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@U_tarded or Cen Tex or somebody. Would it be ok to start with frozen pork belly? Would you thaw it out then cure and smoke and re-freeze?
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LBGE,SBGE, and a Mini makes three......Sweet home Alabama........ Stay thirsty my friends .
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Yep. Thaw, cure, smoke, eat. i dont refreeze- it never lasts long enoughKeepin' It Weird in The ATX FBTX
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Got my belly, pink salt and the pbr... Waiting till tomorrowGreen egg, dead animal and alcohol. The "Boro".. TN
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henapple said:Got my belly, pink salt and the pbr... Waiting till tomorrow
academy?Keepin' It Weird in The ATX FBTX -
Raped the pink salt... They also have the dessicant pouches. I had already ordered some. They did have a good variety of wood chunks. Thanks for the tip.Green egg, dead animal and alcohol. The "Boro".. TN
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henapple said:Raped the pink salt... They also have the dessicant pouches. I had already ordered some. They did have a good variety of wood chunks. Thanks for the tip.
Man, I would hate to be pink salt in your neighborhood.........Keepin' It Weird in The ATX FBTX -
The Cen-Tex Smoker said:henapple said:Raped the pink salt... They also have the dessicant pouches. I had already ordered some. They did have a good variety of wood chunks. Thanks for the tip.
Man, I would hate to be pink salt in your neighborhood.........
Agreed. Watch out henapple. Reactions to that stuff is worse than a STD. Better stick it in some grape jelly to reverse the damage before it falls off. -
On day 6 of my first pork belly cure, following the maple cure recipe from Charcuterie. Using Legg Cure that I got from my local butcher shop, it says 6.25% 1oz per 25 lbs of meat. Hope I didn't ruin my first pork belly?
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