Grab a beer, friends. This is a long one.
When I was in Montana for a curling bonspiel, I found a whole slab of side (belly) bacon in Costco. As it is harder to find here in the Canadian Rockies than a Canadian who doesn't say he's sorry, I bought one and it was obviously time to make bacon.
I have used molasses and maple syrup as sweeteners in my bacon before but I have wanted to try something different. Normally, I mix them into the cure mix to make a slurry. This time, I tried rubbing them on the surface of the pork and letting it sit and then rubbing a dry cure in.
Here's what I did.
The slab was already skinned so I cut it into 3 pieces.
Here was my process for the molasses bacon.
The piece of pork I used weighed 1.7 kg (3 3/4 pounds)
I put the pork on a plate and rubbed it with 15 ml (1 tablespoon) of molasses.
I let it sit while I mixed up:
5 grams (0.176 ounces or 3/4 teaspoon) of Prague powder #1
50 ml (1/4 cup) brown sugar
28 ml (2 tablespoons) kosher salt
I rubbed that mixture onto the pork, catching any that falls off with the plate.
I put the pork in a resealable plastic bag and scraped as much of the material on the plate as possible into the bag and sealed it.
For the maple bacon, the piece of pork weighed 1.6 kg (3.6 pounds).
I put the pork on a plate and rubbed 30 ml (2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon) of maple syrup into the surface of the pork.
I mixed the following together:
4.9 grams (0.172 ounces or 3/4 teaspoon) of Prague powder #1
35 ml (2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons) brown sugar
24 ml (2 tablespoons) kosher salt
I rubbed that mixture into the pork.
I put the pork in a resealable bag and scraped the remnants on the plate into the bag.
For the regular bacon, the piece of pork weighed 1.5 kg or (3 1/3 pounds).
I mixed the following together:
4.5 grams (0.159 ounces or 2/3 teaspoon) Prague Powder #1
60 ml (1/4 cup plus 2 teaspoons) brown sugar
22 ml (1 tablespoon plus 1 1/2 teaspoon) kosher salt
I put the pork on a plate and rubbed the mixture over it.
I put the pork in a resealable bag and scraped the plate to get any remnants in the bag.
The meat was about 1 1/2 inch thick. I kept the bags in the fridge for 8 days, turning occasionally.
I took the pork out and rinsed it very well but did not soak it. I hoped this would leave more surface taste of the syrup and molasses.
I patted it dry and put it in the fridge uncovered overnight. Then I put it in a 145 F oven for an hour. I took the pork pieces out and patted them with paper towels to make sure they were totally dry with a good pellicle.
I fired up the A-Maze-N Pellet Smoker with apple pellets and cold smoked the bacon for 8 hours.
I put the bacon in the fridge overnight.
The next day I fired up my pellet smoker to 180 F with apple pellets. I smoked the bacon to an internal temperature of 130 F.
I cooled the bacon and wrapped it. I put it in the fridge overnight.
The next day, I took it out and sliced it.
Of course, I had to try some for a side by side taste test.
The Verdict
I know many of you have tried maple syrup in your cures before. I mostly hear it doesn't give a maple taste. I believe those who say that are thinking of commercial "maple" products. They are flavoured with extracts and that is the only way you will get that flavour.
If you taste the maple bacon on its own, you won't immediately note a strong maple flavour.
The same with the molasses. It does give more of a different sweet taste and a great colour to the bacon but you won't eat it and immediately think of molasses.
However, if you try them side by side, you will really note the difference.
The regular bacon has a nice sweet/salty balance. You don't really notice much complexity to the sweetness. I had a good well balanced bacon.
The molasses bacon has a rich deep mellow sweetness that makes the bacon seem to have a more pronounced meaty taste.
The maple bacon has a bright sweetness that really comes out at the first bite. It gives a great light sweetness.
As for which is best, I am doomed. I have done similar comparisons in the past with She Who Must Be Obyed and my best friend. We all like a different one best. Sigh. You will just have to try all three and choose the one you like. Sorry.
Disco
When I was in Montana for a curling bonspiel, I found a whole slab of side (belly) bacon in Costco. As it is harder to find here in the Canadian Rockies than a Canadian who doesn't say he's sorry, I bought one and it was obviously time to make bacon.
I have used molasses and maple syrup as sweeteners in my bacon before but I have wanted to try something different. Normally, I mix them into the cure mix to make a slurry. This time, I tried rubbing them on the surface of the pork and letting it sit and then rubbing a dry cure in.
Here's what I did.
The slab was already skinned so I cut it into 3 pieces.
Here was my process for the molasses bacon.
The piece of pork I used weighed 1.7 kg (3 3/4 pounds)
I put the pork on a plate and rubbed it with 15 ml (1 tablespoon) of molasses.
I let it sit while I mixed up:
5 grams (0.176 ounces or 3/4 teaspoon) of Prague powder #1
50 ml (1/4 cup) brown sugar
28 ml (2 tablespoons) kosher salt
I rubbed that mixture onto the pork, catching any that falls off with the plate.
I put the pork in a resealable plastic bag and scraped as much of the material on the plate as possible into the bag and sealed it.
For the maple bacon, the piece of pork weighed 1.6 kg (3.6 pounds).
I put the pork on a plate and rubbed 30 ml (2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon) of maple syrup into the surface of the pork.
I mixed the following together:
4.9 grams (0.172 ounces or 3/4 teaspoon) of Prague powder #1
35 ml (2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons) brown sugar
24 ml (2 tablespoons) kosher salt
I rubbed that mixture into the pork.
I put the pork in a resealable bag and scraped the remnants on the plate into the bag.
For the regular bacon, the piece of pork weighed 1.5 kg or (3 1/3 pounds).
I mixed the following together:
4.5 grams (0.159 ounces or 2/3 teaspoon) Prague Powder #1
60 ml (1/4 cup plus 2 teaspoons) brown sugar
22 ml (1 tablespoon plus 1 1/2 teaspoon) kosher salt
I put the pork on a plate and rubbed the mixture over it.
I put the pork in a resealable bag and scraped the plate to get any remnants in the bag.
The meat was about 1 1/2 inch thick. I kept the bags in the fridge for 8 days, turning occasionally.
I took the pork out and rinsed it very well but did not soak it. I hoped this would leave more surface taste of the syrup and molasses.
I patted it dry and put it in the fridge uncovered overnight. Then I put it in a 145 F oven for an hour. I took the pork pieces out and patted them with paper towels to make sure they were totally dry with a good pellicle.
I fired up the A-Maze-N Pellet Smoker with apple pellets and cold smoked the bacon for 8 hours.
I put the bacon in the fridge overnight.
The next day I fired up my pellet smoker to 180 F with apple pellets. I smoked the bacon to an internal temperature of 130 F.
I cooled the bacon and wrapped it. I put it in the fridge overnight.
The next day, I took it out and sliced it.
Of course, I had to try some for a side by side taste test.
The Verdict
I know many of you have tried maple syrup in your cures before. I mostly hear it doesn't give a maple taste. I believe those who say that are thinking of commercial "maple" products. They are flavoured with extracts and that is the only way you will get that flavour.
If you taste the maple bacon on its own, you won't immediately note a strong maple flavour.
The same with the molasses. It does give more of a different sweet taste and a great colour to the bacon but you won't eat it and immediately think of molasses.
However, if you try them side by side, you will really note the difference.
The regular bacon has a nice sweet/salty balance. You don't really notice much complexity to the sweetness. I had a good well balanced bacon.
The molasses bacon has a rich deep mellow sweetness that makes the bacon seem to have a more pronounced meaty taste.
The maple bacon has a bright sweetness that really comes out at the first bite. It gives a great light sweetness.
As for which is best, I am doomed. I have done similar comparisons in the past with She Who Must Be Obyed and my best friend. We all like a different one best. Sigh. You will just have to try all three and choose the one you like. Sorry.
Disco
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