First Bacon Attempt - Kinda Pale?

TedR said:

 
So I recently made my first attempt at bacon.  I was a bit spooked by it all, so I kept my process very simple:

• 12lbs 'dressed' belly, skin removed and cut into 6 portions, approx 2-3 lbs each.
• 8 days wet cure in 150ppm Prague #1 brine solution (6tsp per 3 gallons water). No other additives to brine, just powder & water.
• Chunks were just plain soaked, no pumping/injection. Lots of room in container, fully immersed. I did pull & knead them every day or two.
• Patted damp-dry, rubbed w/ (dry) goodies, then wrapped tightly and refrigerated for 24hrs.
• 3 racks, 2pcs each, top 3 positions in MES 30. Only let 'em 'dry' for 40ish minutes, while MES 30 was preheating to 225*F (with chips/smoke last 10 minutes). 
• About 45 minutes at 225*F, but IT was rising quicker than I expected (maybe cold weather was causing heat to cycle frequently?). So I backed heat off to 200*F.
• IT reached 165*F after 2.5 hrs...again, quicker than I expected, but it was my first attempt, so no comparative data. Full smoke for the entire duration (50/50 Hickory/Apple)

I cooled it, sliced some off, and fried it up...Tasty!  A bit bland, but I was quite happy with my baseline trial...and that I didn't seem to ruin $40 worth of meat or make myself sick.
There is definitely room for improvement, though. Lots of room. Looking forward to that.

So now my question. To my eye, the pink color is much lighter than I anticipated. The meat color does become richer as it is fried, but not much.
Based on my boring brine and quick, hot smoke profile, does the color look "appropriate" to those more well-versed on bacon-smithing?
Comments welcome!

Cheers, Ted

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DaveOmak said:

 
Ted, evening...   Good job for you first attempt.....   The cure, salt and sugar was a little light as Al mentioned...  

May I suggest, when you  brine cure, you weigh the water, all ingredients and the meat...   cure #1 should be used at a rate of 1.1 grams per pound or 1 tsp. per 5 pounds or total weight times 0.25%... all 3 are the same calculation...   water about 8.3 #"s per gallon...  meat at 12#'s ...  you had 37#'s of stuff + any salt and sugar which brought the total around 40#'s...   that's 8 tsp. cure...  so you were close enough...

Then add salt and sugar...      If you like 2 % salt, add 1.75% salt because the cure is adding 0.25%......   sugar, I suggest 1% to help offset the salt...  you can make adjustments on the next batch for personal preference.. 

In the bucket time.... minimum 2 weeks so the sugar has time to penetrate the meat...   sugar is a bigger molecule and takes longer to move around in the meat...  
 

You are good to go....  enjoy your new addictive hobby... 

May I suggest trying cold smoking your bacon at least once to taste the difference.....

Dave

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