I have made belly bacon in the Cookshack #55 once with great results, now trying to refine my process and keep up with family and friends requests for more.
In hindsight I probably shouldn't have given any of my first batch away :)
I picked up a frozen case of 4 skinned slabs average weight about 12 lbs each. I pulled 2 slabs out and thawed, cut them roughly in half and did a dry rub using Alblancher's Dry Cured Bacon Calculator
I did two at 3% salt & two at 4% using brown sugar on two and maple sugar on the other two.
Piece #1 (4% salt):
6lb 5.5oz (6.344lb)
115g Kosher Salt
9.2g Cure #1
43.1g Maple Sugar
Piece #2 (4% salt):
4lb 14.8oz (4.925lb)
89.1g Kosher Salt
7.1g Cure #1
33.5g Dark Brown Sugar
Piece #3 (3% salt):
6lb 8oz (6.5lb)
88.4g Kosher Salt
9.43g Cure #1
44.2g Maple Sugar
Piece #4 (3% salt):
4lb 14.8oz (6.34lb)
86.4g Kosher Salt
9.13g Cure #1
43.2g Dark Brown Sugar
Since I was going to be out of town for 6 days I applied all the cure and vacuum sealed them, they were flipped and massaged every day, 10 days total.
I rinsed them and tried a couple slices from the 3% and 4% and thought the 4% was slightly too salty but not enough to soak, will see how it ends up after smoking and resting.
I marked and hung the slabs in my garage beer fridge for 1.5 days to develop a nice pellicle.
I pulled slab #1 and Slab #4 out and brushed #1 with a 75/25 mix of maple syrup and molasses, slab#4 went in the smoker commando.
I filled the A-MAZE-N-TUBE-SMOKER with Pitmaster's Choice pellets 1/3 Hickory/Cherry/Maple Let it go till it burned out (5.5 hours) then I filled the A-MAZE-N-PELLET-SMOKER with the same pellets and lit both ends.
After 5.5 hours:
Outside temps today were 72º at start up and 84º now. The smoker cabinet temp started at 100º and has got as high as 134º
I am thinking of leaving the remaining two slabs dry age a week or two more before smoking.
Update: The AMPS lit on both ends burned for 4.5 hours the temp got as high as 150º the bacon ended up at 120º internal
Left in the fridge overnight and sampled.
They both tasted great, #1 that had the maple sugar and was brushed with the maple - molasses wins by a nose.
The 4% cured piece was just a touch saltier and I will probably use the 3% calculator from now on, it was by no means excessive though.
Got the old trusty craigslist Hobart slicer out and sliced them nice and thick.
All sealed up, now I still have the last 2 pieces hanging in the beer fridge, maybe Sunday I will smoke them up.
In hindsight I probably shouldn't have given any of my first batch away :)
I picked up a frozen case of 4 skinned slabs average weight about 12 lbs each. I pulled 2 slabs out and thawed, cut them roughly in half and did a dry rub using Alblancher's Dry Cured Bacon Calculator
I did two at 3% salt & two at 4% using brown sugar on two and maple sugar on the other two.
Piece #1 (4% salt):
6lb 5.5oz (6.344lb)
115g Kosher Salt
9.2g Cure #1
43.1g Maple Sugar
Piece #2 (4% salt):
4lb 14.8oz (4.925lb)
89.1g Kosher Salt
7.1g Cure #1
33.5g Dark Brown Sugar
Piece #3 (3% salt):
6lb 8oz (6.5lb)
88.4g Kosher Salt
9.43g Cure #1
44.2g Maple Sugar
Piece #4 (3% salt):
4lb 14.8oz (6.34lb)
86.4g Kosher Salt
9.13g Cure #1
43.2g Dark Brown Sugar
Since I was going to be out of town for 6 days I applied all the cure and vacuum sealed them, they were flipped and massaged every day, 10 days total.
I rinsed them and tried a couple slices from the 3% and 4% and thought the 4% was slightly too salty but not enough to soak, will see how it ends up after smoking and resting.
I marked and hung the slabs in my garage beer fridge for 1.5 days to develop a nice pellicle.
I pulled slab #1 and Slab #4 out and brushed #1 with a 75/25 mix of maple syrup and molasses, slab#4 went in the smoker commando.
I filled the A-MAZE-N-TUBE-SMOKER with Pitmaster's Choice pellets 1/3 Hickory/Cherry/Maple Let it go till it burned out (5.5 hours) then I filled the A-MAZE-N-PELLET-SMOKER with the same pellets and lit both ends.
After 5.5 hours:
Outside temps today were 72º at start up and 84º now. The smoker cabinet temp started at 100º and has got as high as 134º
I am thinking of leaving the remaining two slabs dry age a week or two more before smoking.
Update: The AMPS lit on both ends burned for 4.5 hours the temp got as high as 150º the bacon ended up at 120º internal
Left in the fridge overnight and sampled.
They both tasted great, #1 that had the maple sugar and was brushed with the maple - molasses wins by a nose.
The 4% cured piece was just a touch saltier and I will probably use the 3% calculator from now on, it was by no means excessive though.
Got the old trusty craigslist Hobart slicer out and sliced them nice and thick.
All sealed up, now I still have the last 2 pieces hanging in the beer fridge, maybe Sunday I will smoke them up.
