Bacon first timer help!

kitteny said:

Found a recipe online, which said to take our pork belly (skin on) and equal parts of kosher salt and brown sugar into it and place into a container in the fridge, draining the liquid every day and adding more salt as needed for about 7 days.

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• One 3 to 5 lb. slab pork belly, preferably with skin on

• Basic Dry Cure for dredging, about a 1/4 cup:
• 1 lb. or 450 grams kosher salt
• 8 oz. or 225 grams granulated sugar OR 13 oz./425 grams dextrose
• 2 oz. or 75 grams pink salt (aka Curing Salt #1)

• Optional: For sweeter bacon, and 1/2 C maple syrup or 1/2 C maple sugar or packed dark brown sugar; for more savory bacon, add 5 smashed cloves of garlic, 3 crushed bay leaves, and 1 T cracked black peppercorns

1. Trim the belly so edges are neat and square. Spread dry cure on a baking sheet or container large enough to accommodate belly. Press all sides of the belly into the cure to give it a thick uniform coating over the entire surface.
2. Place the belly in a 2-gallon Ziploc bag or a covered nonreactive container just large enough to hold it. The pork will release a lot of liquid as it cures, and it's important that the meat and container are a good fit sot that the cure remains in contact with the meat. Refrigerate the belly for 7 days, flipping the bag or meat to redistribute the cure liquid ever other day.
3. After 7 days, check the belly for firmness. If it feels firm at its thickest point, it's cured. One week should be enough, but if it still feels squishy refrigerate for up to 2 more days (it should feel roughly like your palm by your thumb when your thumb and forefinger are touching).
4. Remove belly from cure and rinse thoroughly. Pat dry and discard cure liquid. Let the bacon rest, covered, for 1 to 3 days in the fridge. Cover only lightly if you are going to smoke it, so it can get a bit dry and tacky.
5. Preheat oven or smoker to 200 degrees F. Put the belly in a roasting pan, preferably on a rack (for roasting) or on the smoker and cook to 150 degrees F, about 2 hours (begin checking at 1 1/2 hours). Once hot, cut off the skin, if included. At this point, you can eat it, or let cool and then wrap tightly and refrigerate until ready to slice or to dice into lardons.
6. If the bacon is too salty (remember, the ends will be saltier than the center), you can blanch the bacon in simmering water for 1 minute before cooking.

kitteny said:

Hello all,

Just bought a smoker (Masterbuilt 30" electric) and our first experiment in smoking was bacon. Found a recipe online, which said to take our pork belly (skin on) and equal parts of kosher salt and brown sugar into it and place into a container in the fridge, draining the liquid every day and adding more salt as needed for about 7 days. Then rinsed it all off with cold water, pat it dry and let it sit in the fridge for a day before smoking it at 200 degrees until it reaches an internal temperature of 150 (which we did with hickory).

It looked good, it smelled good; but when we cooked it it was uber salty. I prefer not to use nitrates in bacon. I've looked on this forum about bacon (holy huge amount of posts on this glorious meat!), and see that there are many different ways of making it. I'd like to try different flavours too, like garlic, maple, etc.

So please tell me, what is the best way to get a good flavoured, not too salty bacon? Thanks in advance!

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krusem05 said:

I disagree that 7 days is too short, it's exactly what I do for a roughly 5 pound belly, with no need to soak afterward.

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krusem05 said:

"If the bacon is too salty (remember, the ends will be saltier than the center), you can blanch the bacon in simmering water for 1 minute before cooking."

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Carhoplady said:

I use a wet cure for my bacon, I generally make a maple bacon. It's a pretty simple recipe but works every single time. It is for 8 lbs of belly. 2Cups Kosher Salt, 1 Cup Dark brown sugar, 1 TBS tenderquick, 1 Gallon of water, 1 quart pure maple syrup. Mix all together. Drop your belly's in the "brine" (i use 2 4 lb pcs in 2 seperate containers) Weight it because it floats, fridge for 7-10 days turning once a day. After  7 - 10 days remove, pat dry, place in fridge for about 1 hr and smoke away!

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