First bacon belly , wet brined POPS

buckinducks · Apr 15, 2016

Trying out my 1st belly on a new traeger.
Currently sitting in pops brine

image.jpeg

buckinducks
Apr 15, 2016

Have a 2nd smaller chunk sitting on top. Going to try some heavy pepper on that piece maybe even move it to a ziplock with more spices in the brine. Any suggestions ?

Plan is to put on traeger on smoke setting for a few hours then a bit higher to reach 150it. Would love Your opinion on smoker settings? Very little experience with a pellet grill.

Have 2 weeks to make changes to the plan. for now it's sitting safely in pops brine. Stay tuned

foamheart · Apr 15, 2016

My secret for bacon.......... 2 oz. Maple extract in a gal. of brine. You'll believe the bacon was cured with maple syrup or maple sugar.

pc farmer · Apr 15, 2016

Foamheart said:
My secret for bacon.......... 2 oz. Maple extract in a gal. of brine. You'll believe the bacon was cured with maple syrup or maple sugar.

Gonna try this. Thanks

3montes · Apr 16, 2016

Did my first bacon a few weeks back using Pop's wet brine. Followed the instructions to the T and was happy with the results for a first time effort. I brined for 19 days and then sat in the fridge for 3 days to air dry before hitting the smoker. Smoked using maple wood at 120 to 140 for about 6 or 7 hours. Spiced one with cracked black pepper but I should have layed it on heavier. Spiced 2 pieces with a maple garlic blend I get from the spice house. Excellent stuff for bacon. Sweetness of maple sugar with a little garlic kick. Turned out very good and smokey! One piece was pretty fatty and once sliced the pieces had too much fat so next time I will trim a little if need be.

My second attempt will be going in the brine/cure today. Thinking about what I can do to add a little twist to the brine. I like the maple syrup extract idea but I don't have any on hand. I'm thinking peppercorns, bay leaves maybe? Substitute some water with apple juice maybe? Do you run the risk of getting a ropy brine by adding to many other ingredients? Are you better off keeping the brine simple and adding flavor through spices and smoke after the brine/cure process?

buckinducks · Apr 16, 2016

3montes said:
Did my first bacon a few weeks back using Pop's wet brine. Followed the instructions to the T and was happy with the results for a first time effort. I brined for 19 days and then sat in the fridge for 3 days to air dry before hitting the smoker. Smoked using maple wood at 120 to 140 for about 6 or 7 hours. Spiced one with cracked black pepper but I should have layed it on heavier. Spiced 2 pieces with a maple garlic blend I get from the spice house. Excellent stuff for bacon. Sweetness of maple sugar with a little garlic kick. Turned out very good and smokey! One piece was pretty fatty and once sliced the pieces had too much fat so next time I will trim a little if need be.

My second attempt will be going in the brine/cure today. Thinking about what I can do to add a little twist to the brine. I like the maple syrup extract idea but I don't have any on hand. I'm thinking peppercorns, bay leaves maybe? Substitute some water with apple juice maybe? Do you run the risk of getting a ropy brine by adding to many other ingredients? Are you better off keeping the brine simple and adding flavor through spices and smoke after the brine/cure process?

His brine instructions said 10-14 days , I was hoping to go 12-13 then air dry for 1-2 that would leave me smoking on a Saturday or Sunday. Any reason you went extra 5 days ?

Also about fat, it's supposed to be skin off, the meat side looks good, but the other side is solid fat. Should I be scoring it with a knife to allow the brine to work its way in the other side ?

3montes · Apr 16, 2016

I believe you can go up to 45 days using Pops brine which is part of the beauty of it. My schedule changed so I just left it in the brine the extra couple days. I just finished putting mine in the brine buckets and in the fridge. I trimmed some of the fat this time but these bellies were better than first ones I had and I did no trimming on them at all but I should have. I had two bellies so I got two seperate brine buckets going. I did a little experimentation. One bucket I used bottled water. We have one of those office coolers in the house with the 5 gallon jugs on top. I use 2 gallons of water for each belly because I want to be certain there is enough to submerge the belly. In that bucket I also added some peppercorns and a couple bay leaves. No particular reason it's what just sounded good at the moment.

The second bucket was just straight water out of the tap and no spices. See what happens.

torp3t3d0 · Apr 16, 2016

if you want the BEST maple extract check out Mapleine (http://www.walmart.com/ip/Crescent-Mapleine-Imitation-Maple-Flavor-2-fl-oz-Pack-of-6/29473368)

My mom only used it for making maple sugar when I was a kid (too poor for any store bought stuff) and I've used it for over 40 years.....use a tablespoon per gallon in my maple brown sugar bacon.... works great

mapleine.jpg

torp3t3d0
Apr 16, 2016

SmokinAl · Apr 16, 2016

I just use Pops brine with added gran garlic, gran onion, CBP, 1/4 cup each.

I also rub the belly before smoking with the same GOP.

Al

buckinducks · Apr 21, 2016

Going on 7 days so far now, plan is to take out next Friday, air dry in fridge until Sunday smoke.
My first wet cure process but
Color of belly seems to look good still , kind of bland looking or losing colour best way I could describe it. No funny smells or smell at all for that matter so I'll assume everything is working as it should

pc farmer · Apr 21, 2016

Yup. Bland is normal for a wet cure.

SmokyMose · Apr 29, 2016

SmokinAl said:
I just use Pops brine with added gran garlic, gran onion, CBP, 1/4 cup each.

I also rub the belly before smoking with the same GOP.

Al

I'm looking at two different posts from Pops with his basic recipe. One calls for Sea Salt and one calls for non-iodized table salt..(?)

What do you use, Al?

SmokinAl · Apr 29, 2016

SmokeyMose said:
I'm looking at two different posts from Pops with his basic recipe. One calls for Sea Salt and one calls for non-iodized table salt..(?)

What do you use, Al?

I use pickling salt, but Kosher salt will work too.

Or any salt that is non-iodized.

Al

SmokyMose · Apr 29, 2016

SmokinAl said:
I use pickling salt, but Kosher salt will work too.

Or any salt that is non-iodized.

Al

Thanks. I'll just use whatever I have the most of :-)

Dan

foamheart · Apr 29, 2016

SmokeyMose said:
Thanks. I'll just use whatever I have the most of :-)

Dan

If you use the pickling salt, I reduce the amount by approx. 20%. Pickling salt is about weight and not volumme. Its a finer grind so you get more salt per a dry measure. It does dissolve far easier though.

SmokyMose · Apr 29, 2016

Foamheart said:
If you use the pickling salt, I reduce the amount by approx. 20%. Pickling salt is about weight and not volumme. Its a finer grind so you get more salt per a dry measure. It does dissolve far easier though.

Thanks, Foam. I think I'll go with Sea Salt. I don't care for too much salty taste...

foamheart · Apr 29, 2016

SmokeyMose said:
Thanks, Foam. I think I'll go with Sea Salt. I don't care for too much salty taste...

You just have to adjust for it. Its all I every use because it dissolves so easy.

buckinducks · Apr 29, 2016

image.jpeg

buckinducks
Apr 29, 2016

Took it out of brine to dry, realizing now I probably should have rinsed them. Will go do that. Smoke on Sunday

buckinducks · Apr 30, 2016

Well test fried a little piece today, although it doesn't taste excacty like bacon yet it was very sugary, almost tasted caramalized. I believe once it's smoked it will be very good.

SmokyMose · Apr 30, 2016

buckinducks said:
Well test fried a little piece today, although it doesn't taste excacty like bacon yet it was very sugary, almost tasted caramalized. I believe once it's smoked it will be very good.

Patience, buck! [emoji]128521[/emoji]
I'm putting my first try at bacon in the brine today, so I'm watching this.
How are you planning to smoke it?

Dan

buckinducks · Apr 30, 2016

SmokeyMose said:
Patience, buck! [emoji]128521[/emoji]
I'm putting my first try at bacon in the brine today, so I'm watching this.
How are you planning to smoke it?

Dan

Well trying a first "smoke" on new Treager, it has worked well grilling so far but has a smoke setting I've yet to try. So putting it on smoke and hoping it won't get to hot to quick. Smoking to it of 150

First bacon belly , wet brined POPS

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