Curing sliced pork belly question

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tedh

Newbie
Original poster
Feb 28, 2015
3
10
I'm not sure if this has been discussed here before. my brother-in-law is a chef when he received his pork last week he received 10 pounds of sliced pork belly by accident. It is un cured and he gave it to me. Is there any suggestions on how to cure and smoke this bacon? I have been told by a few it's not possible but I yet to believe that. Does anyone have suggestions? Thanks in advance and I'm glad to be a part of the forum.
 
A couple days soaking in a brine would cure it. Then a good rinse, let it dry and cold smoke for a few hours should get you bacon. It'll take a lot of smoker space as you'd wanna lay out the slices flat.
But first... Are you absolutely sure its not cured already? I've heard of cured, unsmoked pork belly being sold sliced, but I've never heard of green belly being sliced before being sold.
Have you tried a fry test? Also, put up some pics up so we can have a look.
 
The belly is uncured. I know asian restaurants use uncured belly sometimes. Not sure why the butcher did it an we received a refund and got the belly free. I thought about using cooking twine and reforming it in somewhat of a slab and smoking it that way. I dont want it to got waste. I have been smoking and curing meat for years but never had this experience. thanks for all the tips.
 
I have a few. I have a weber smokey mountain and a mes electric 30. I will most likely use the mes as I just ordered the cold smoke attachment.
 
I would put a quick smoke on it, using a medium density pale blue smoke a half hour should do it.  Wrap and freeze treating it as you would any other pork product.  Curing is used to keep the fat from going rancid, no need here.

2 cent's.

Tom
 
I've run across this before.  You can stack some slices together, about 2-3 inches high, and tie them together with butcher twine in 3 places along the length.  Take the bundles and soak in the curing brine, then smoke them as bundles; when done and cooled, just cut the strings and separate and fry!.  No such thing as can't!
 
 
I would put a quick smoke on it, using a medium density pale blue smoke a half hour should do it.  Wrap and freeze treating it as you would any other pork product.  Curing is used to keep the fat from going rancid, no need here.

2 cent's.

Tom
Curing does a lot more than just keep the fat rancid (I've never really heard this though). It changes the flavor of the cured product completely. If it's not cured, it's not bacon, and that's what the OP is trying to get out of these slices.

Follow Pop's guide and you'll be good.
 
 
Use a 24 hour soak in Pops Brine and cold smoke. Stir to re-position the slices a couple of times.You can just loosely pile it on the racks and put a couple hours of cold smoke on it. The color may be patchy but the flavor will be fine...JJ

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/110799/pops6927s-wet-curing-brine
 
I've run across this before.  You can stack some slices together, about 2-3 inches high, and tie them together with butcher twine in 3 places along the length.  Take the bundles and soak in the curing brine, then smoke them as bundles; when done and cooled, just cut the strings and separate and fry!.  No such thing as can't!
Either of the above methods would do the job just fine. IMHO

Bear
 
 
Curing does a lot more than just keep the fat rancid (I've never really heard this though). It changes the flavor of the cured product completely. If it's not cured, it's not bacon, and that's what the OP is trying to get out of these slices.

Follow Pop's guide and you'll be good.
All is quite understood.  Maybe I should have been more explicit in my quote and mentioned there are many ways to use uncured pork belly.

T
 
 
I've run across this before.  You can stack some slices together, about 2-3 inches high, and tie them together with butcher twine in 3 places along the length.  Take the bundles and soak in the curing brine, then smoke them as bundles; when done and cooled, just cut the strings and separate and fry!.  No such thing as can't!
Great advice Pops
 
I've run across this before. You can stack some slices together, about 2-3 inches high, and tie them together with butcher twine in 3 places along the length. Take the bundles and soak in the curing brine, then smoke them as bundles; when done and cooled, just cut the strings and separate and fry!. No such thing as can't!
How long do you cure the stacks? And how long would you smoke them?
 
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