First Bacon Recipe Concern

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skandic

Fire Starter
Original poster


Ok, I do have a concern with the recipe that I have used to cure my pork belly. At first there was liquids coming out of the belly but it seems to have absorbed back into the meat, and there is no liquid in the bag now. Is this a problem? Also,I was confident at first with the recipe I used but now I have some doubts as it did not seem to be enough rub to put on the meat.

1040 gram pork belly
16 grams salt
8 grams brown sugar
2 grams insta cure #1 (6.25%)

According to my calculations, works out to 116.79 PPM

But I left the skin on. I read somewhere on this forum that we should reduce the cure by 10% if we leave the skin on.

So really the PPM 129.42?

Does anyone see any concerns with this? Because it gets a little confusing when talking dry cure vs brine.

In Solidarity,

Skandic
 
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I noticed my current dry curing bacon has done the same as yours and absorbed back most of the liquid. Only my second time curing bacon so I'll wait for the more experienced to drop some wisdom on us.
 
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The easiest thing to remember when dry curing bacon (I do it all the time) is to use 2% salt and .25% cure #1 per kg

As for the liquid in the bag disappearing back into the meat .... do not worry about this as there is no problem ..

As for leaving the rind on ... again not a concern .. I do 2/3rds salt/cure on the meat side and 1/3rd on the rind side

As for experience ... I do it for a living :)   
 
When doing a dry rub, FDA allows up to 200 Ppm nitrite, skinless, maximum... You are fine... there is enough nitrite to do the job...
 
The liquid going back into, and out of, the meat is an osmosis situation.  Depending upon the fat content of the meat, porosity of the cut, and the ingredients you use, this will vary each time you make a dry cured bacon (or other meats).  The osmosis effect can also occur during temperature fluctuations. 

Now, as the gents above mentioned, you're in great shape!  Cure on and smoke!  We want to see pics when done!
 


Ok, thanks for all the advice. I am now proud to present my latest creation. Let's see if I can get the qview working.

The first two pics at the top of the thread are when the bacon was curing. Had them cure for 7 days ( belly was not thick) and dry for 3 day in fridge. The next pics hopefully in order are the:
1. Test fry - good saltiness for my liking
2. Pellicle forming
3. My smoker - the original element had no temperature control so I took it out and put a hot plate in there. Had this done for years and no issues. I will wear this into the ground before buying a new one.
4. Used two pans of Apple wood.
5. Bacon skin side up then down.

I cut off the skin and will use it for future beans and stews. Right now I am cooling down the bacon before slicing. I can barley contain myself from eating it now.

Oh, and there is a pic of my backyard today - a great day for smoking, I sure do enjoy the winter.

That's it for now. Thanks for help and be talking soon.

In Solidarity,

Skandic
 
Looks like you have it going on!

After smoke, how do you plan to package it?  If you can vac pack, or get into a ziplock with most of the air removed, let it sit for a few days and then slice.  Yummy stuff coming!
 
 
The easiest thing to remember when dry curing bacon (I do it all the time) is to use 2% salt and .25% cure #1 per kg

As for the liquid in the bag disappearing back into the meat .... do not worry about this as there is no problem ..

As for leaving the rind on ... again not a concern .. I do 2/3rds salt/cure on the meat side and 1/3rd on the rind side

As for experience ... I do it for a living :)   
Hi Brican,

Wonder if you could answer a question for me.  When I've done dry cured (dry brined, to some) bacon using 2.25% salt or less, I've had trouble getting even enough coverage of the salt over the belly to avoid molding in some areas of the belly.  2% or 2.25% salt isn't very much by volume, and I've had trouble with leaving bare spots on the belly.  Hence, I switched over to wet brining at 2.25% salt level, as that at least ensured even coverage of the belly.  However, I greatly prefer the texture and flavor of dry cured/brined.  Any tricks on how you ensure even coverage at a 2% salt level??

Thanks so much for any insight or assistance!
Clarissa
 
Hi CrankyBuzzard,

Well, I do have a vac PAC but I find that this really drives the price skyward. I usually reserve this for smoked fish as it is a bit more delicate. Anyways, seeing tis is a small belly, I won't worry about it cause it won't last long. But I see that most people slice it prior to freezing, my take is that I would cut into serving sized pieces and freeze and when time to cook I will slice.

In solidarity,

Skandic
 
Hi Brican,

Wonder if you could answer a question for me.  When I've done dry cured (dry brined, to some) bacon using 2.25% salt or less, I've had trouble getting even enough coverage of the salt over the belly to avoid molding in some areas of the belly.  2% or 2.25% salt isn't very much by volume, and I've had trouble with leaving bare spots on the belly.  Hence, I switched over to wet brining at 2.25% salt level, as that at least ensured even coverage of the belly.  However, I greatly prefer the texture and flavor of dry cured/brined.  Any tricks on how you ensure even coverage at a 2% salt level??

Thanks so much for any insight or assistance!

Clarissa

Have you tried mortar and pestaling the ingredients to make a finer powder? It could work IMHO.

In solidarity,

Skandic
 
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