Black Bacon

rhvaughn

Newbie

Original poster

Jul 2, 2017

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• Jul 2, 2017

• #1

Hi. I'm RHVaughn, a new member. I live in St. Catharines, ON Canada. I have a Bradley smoker. I have made and smoked sausage, ribs and bacon. I have a problem with my bacon. I cure the belly for a week with Kosher salt, dextrose and cure #1. Then I hickory smoke it to 150F. The problem is that when I fry the sliced bacon, it quickly turns black in the skillet. It tastes alright but it doesn't look too appetizing. Can anyone offer a suggestion as to why this happens? Thankyou

 

submariner

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Apr 24, 2017

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Longview, Texas

• Jul 3, 2017

• #2

Welcome to the Forum and I can't help with the bacon question but I bet someone will be able to!!!!

 

daveomak

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Omak,Washington,U.S.A.

• Jul 3, 2017

• #3

What % dextrose you adding...   too much I think....   It's burning...

 

rhvaughn

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Jul 2, 2017

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• Jul 3, 2017

• #4

I'm mixing the cure in a ratio of 1 lb. Kosher salt/ 13 oz dextrose/ 8 tsp. cure #1. I use 2 oz. of this mixture per 5 lbs. belly.

 

daveomak

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• Jul 3, 2017

• #5

RH morning....   Well it's not the dex...     1.1% dextrose is good...   The salt at  ~1.3% is OK for a low salt diet...  but the cure #1 at ~70 Ppm nitrite is lower than recommended...

EDIT.... I see you are in Canada...  I'm using American ounces...  16 oz. per 454 grams...   28.38 grams per oz...   that could change the numbers....

 

Last edited: Jul 3, 2017

rhvaughn

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Jul 2, 2017

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• Jul 4, 2017

• #6

Thanks Dave. I am using the same ounces as you are. I despise the metric system. I will take a closer look at my cure formula when I make my next batch. I make my own bacon because the stuff from the grocery stores is terrible, full of water. Thanks again. RH

 

daveomak

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• Jul 4, 2017

• #7

RH, morning....   when making your "mix"....  If you have a grams scale, add Salt at ~1.5%, dex at ~1% and cure #1 at about 0.2-0.25% for bacon..    that's ~7 grams salt, 4.5 grams dex and ~0.9-1.1 grams cure #1  per pound..   You can mix up a batch of the mix at those ratios and homogenize it..  then add 7+4.5+1= 12.5 grams of the mix per pound...

If you use the volume measure, 1 tsp. of cure#1 is recommended for 5#'s of meat..  add other ingredients, based on that mix for 5#'s...  You will be golden...

Here's a scale that will serve you well...  for cure, spices etc. to make your recipes repeatable...