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Bacon!!!

berrygood
berrygood Posts: 372
edited November -0001 in EggHead Forum
Smoked my cured pork belly today, and it was good for a first attempt. I used the Hi Mountain cure, and it was a bit salty, but tasty overall.

Out of the fridge
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Off the egg
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Sliced
DSC_3339.jpg

Sorry, no plated pics, but we ate a coupla slices, then crumbled some on our pizza. Buckboard Bacon is up next - the butt's in the fridge for the next ten days.
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Comments

  • Hoss
    Hoss Posts: 14,600
    Looks BERRY,BERRY GOOD to me! ;)
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  • Little Chef
    Little Chef Posts: 4,725
    Berry...Did you give the belly a good soak before smoking? I usually soak a couple hours, with a couple or three water changes in that time. Just helps balance out the whole cure process, and remove some of the salt. Then dry uncovered in the fridge 24 hours before smoking. Never had a salty piece of belly yet. (The same applies for butt or loin bacon as well.....)
    Also looks like your Egg temp was a bit high....fat was getting pretty rendered. Smoke at as low a temp as possible. That rendered (cooked) fat will actually cut your shelf life down.
    Excellent cook!! This is when things get really good! Venturing into the 'unknown'.... B) Nicely done, and keep up the great work!
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  • Frank from Houma
    Frank from Houma Posts: 5,755
    BG - I did my first BBB using a butt following the Hi Mountain cure directions and found it way too salty. The next time I cut back to 7 days instead of 10 then rinsed well four times and soaking in water for 30 minutes between rinses. It was much better.

    Since then I have been using pork loins for BBB and like them a lot.

    Good luck with it.
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  • thirdeye
    thirdeye Posts: 7,428
    Like LC mentioned, try a soak out (in cold water - refrigerated),then dried, followed by an overnight rest in the fridge. Everyone has a different threshold for saltiness. I have seen soak times from 2 hours to 10 hours, with 4 to 6 hours being a popular range.
    Happy Trails
    ~thirdeye~

    Barbecue is not rocket surgery
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  • thirdeye
    thirdeye Posts: 7,428
    Frank,

    You can adjust the cure time .... just remember it is based on thickness of the meat (as meat absorbs cure at a given rate). Because of this, reducing the cure time is not a cure all (pun intended) for reducing saltiness. If fact if too short of a cure time is used, it is possible for the cure not to reach the center of the roast.

    Soaking on the other hand will reduce the saltiness. So a longer soak combined with a small adjustment in the cure time might be the right combination for you.

    Without resting the meat overnight and letting the liquids equalize, the levels of salt will not be balanced and you will have a higher concentration of salt closer to the surface. So, your first bite might be saltier.
    Happy Trails
    ~thirdeye~

    Barbecue is not rocket surgery
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  • berrygood
    berrygood Posts: 372
    Thanks for the input. Yes, I did soak it. However, I did NOT have the patience to let it rest in the fridge following the soak, as we used it on our pizza last night. Lesson learned. Another question: currently I have about a five-pound butt curing - in order to cook it myself, I'll need to smoke it on Sunday, after only 7 days. Can I do that or should I let the wife do the deed mid-week?
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  • Big George's BBQ
    Big George's BBQ Posts: 1,152
    Looks good to me
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  • eenie meenie
    eenie meenie Posts: 4,394
    Berry, the bacon looks great. :) You got a nice pork belly. I've yet to make my first rasher of bacon.
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