Had to Try it

striper · Jul 12, 2011

Since everyone else seems to be Makin Bacon, I had to get on the Bandwagon. A while back I picked up a nice looking Pork Belly then cut it into rough 3rd's and froze it. Took a package out last week and got started. Now come the question, these pieces were the thin part of the belly and measured 1 inch thick. If I'm thinking right I need 4 days plus 1 day for good measure before I Rinse, Soak, Fry Test, then continue with Smoking. Am I on the right track here????

All laid out and ready to take the skin off

Skinned, rubbed with TQ and Brown Sugar, ready for the Fridge.

I also added a bit of Apple Juice to 1 package, have massaged and turned them each day also. The Skin is being processed for Pork Rinds, I hope.

fpnmf · Jul 12, 2011

Looks good!

How do plan on making the pork rinds??

Craig

SmokinAl · Jul 12, 2011

Looks good so far.

Bearcarver · Jul 12, 2011

Striper,

Sounds like you got it.

Yes I would say the minimum time in cure would be 4 days, but I usually add 1 to 3 extra days, depending on which day would be most convenient for me to smoke.

So if it was mine, I'd cure it for 5, 6, or 7 days.

You're gonna love it !!

Bear

striper · Jul 12, 2011

Craig,

So far I've Boiled the skins and removed the fat, then dryed them and will try deep frying them probably tomorrow. If they come out I'll post about that process, if they don't I'also post about the failure.

Joe

fpnmf said:
Looks good!

How do plan on making the pork rinds??

Craig

striper · Jul 12, 2011

Bear,

Thanks, think I'll give it an extra day then. Make it 6 days in cure and I'm really hoping it comes out.

Joe

Bearcarver said:
Striper,

Sounds like you got it.

Yes I would say the minimum time in cure would be 4 days, but I usually add 1 to 3 extra days, depending on which day would be most convenient for me to smoke.

So if it was mine, I'd cure it for 5, 6, or 7 days.

You're gonna love it !!

Bear

fpnmf · Jul 12, 2011

Striper said:
Craig,

So far I've Boiled the skins and removed the fat, then dryed them and will try deep frying them probably tomorrow. If they come out I'll post about that process, if they don't I'also post about the failure.

Joe

Thanks..I haven't had much luck with skins..

I found a new recipe that is similar to yours...get the fat off then salt and dry in the dehydrator..

Craig

Bearcarver · Jul 12, 2011

Striper said:
Bear,

Thanks, think I'll give it an extra day then. Make it 6 days in cure and I'm really hoping it comes out.

Joe

No problemo, just do your short soak & fry-test, like in your plan above.

Then if in the very rare occasion you can taste salt, soak it some more.

I always have Mrs Bear taste it too, just to be sure. I think she has a Bacon DVD that says "Tastes Good To Me", "Tastes Good To Me".

I never had to soak anything I did with TQ longer than the customary 1/2 hour or 1 hour I do before I test it, but you never know, especially one so thin.

Bear

tjohnson · Jul 12, 2011

Pics won't load, but I trust your bacon is awesome!

Dave wouldn't let you screw up!!!

LOL!!!

Todd

meateater · Jul 12, 2011

Looking forward to another makin bacon. The rinds when I can find them I cut off as much fat as possible cut into 2x2 pieces and deep fry them in lard. Watch it as they will explode while deep frying, best to do it outside. Give them a little sea salt and enjoy. There called Chicharron .

striper · Jul 13, 2011

Bear, Thanks again. I'm looking foreard to try this. I still have 2/3 of the belly in the freezer to process.

Todd, sorry the pic's don't load for you. Dave is on a Road Trip now though so from that point I'm on my own.

Meat, Thanks for the tip. I'll probably give that way a try next time.

Whatever happens with both the Bacon and the Skin, I'll be making more of each. Might even have some of it come out edible.

Joe

striper · Jul 14, 2011

I did some more with the skin yesterday. Since the end product came out REALLY good here is what I've done with it. Sorry not a lot of pic's.

After cutting the skin off the belly pieces I boiled it for about an hour. Then put it on a cooling rack and into the fridge for a couple of hours. I put a cookie sheet under them to catch any drippings and save a mess in the fridge. Then took them out and with a spoon I removed the remaining fat from the skin. Not a hard procees, but a bit messy. Then since I don't have a dehydrator I put them into the oven with the temperature set at 170, lowest mine will go. Again I had them on the cooling rack with a Cookie Sheet under it to catch the drippings. Took about 10 hours to dry them till they were hard and brittle. Bagged them and into the fridge till I had time to mess with them. So late yesterday morning I poured a bit of Peanut Oil into the Fry Daddy and commenced to playing with them.

1 piece broken up ready to start frying, fryed 3 to 4 pieces at a time, they really blow up in size.

Part way done, found the Bamboo Tongs worked better than the wire dip. As they came out I added a bit of Sea Salt to them, 1 in 3 never made it into the bowl.

The final product. After eating at least a third of them I ended up with about 4 oz of Pork Rinds. That's about the same size as a bag you would buy in the store. Only these were way better.

Craig I can recommend this way of doing them, I will be doing more, way more.

Meat, thanks for the suggestion about the Sea Salt. That worked out FANTASTIC on these.

Ok, back to my Bacon. It comes out of the cure today, so will be soaking and fry testing later with a 5-6 hour cold smoke scheduled for tomorrow.

Joe

alelover · Jul 14, 2011

Those look like chicharrons to me. Nice job.

roller · Jul 14, 2011

Those Pork Rines look great...never heard of that other word they are using for them...nice job..

alelover · Jul 14, 2011

It's spanish for cracklin.

roller · Jul 14, 2011

O Thanks I dont speak much spanish...except Taco and Burrito...

alelover · Jul 14, 2011

Me either. I put into the google translator.

sunman76 · Jul 14, 2011

wow

Bearcarver · Jul 14, 2011

alelover said:
Me either. I put into the google translator.

Roller said:
O Thanks I dont speak much spanish...except Taco and Burrito...

LOL---You guys are cracking me up!!!------My Spanish???----As long as you have less that 11 of them, I can count them, but I can't tell you what they are!

Bear

meateater · Jul 14, 2011

Great looking chicharrons! Where's the hot sauce?

Had to Try it

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