It seems the trend lately is pork belly smoking! My meat hook up guy said he's ordering some @ $1.99 lb and wanted to know if I was in..tough question to answer.
I studied fpnmf's recipe along with the solid recipes from Bearcarver and Pops6927's .
11 lb belly cleaned up (trimmings kept for soups & my favorite pasta fagioli), split in two with a dry rub cure. Still have a few days of curing and then it's in the smoker at 100°F for about 8 hours or more. I plan on rubbing some pure maple syrup on the outside before smoking it. I didn't put any sugar in the brine (don't like much sweet), just fresh ground black pepper, fresh ground red pepper flakes, MTQ & a little extra non-iodized salt.
Wrapped tight with plastic wrap on the top of the two stacked belly pieces and another layer of plastic on the top of the container.
Rotated slabs each day.
Does nitrate & nitrite really not penetrate pork skin? Even with salt and/or sugar added? I just can't believe that but if anyone would like to explain, I'd love to hear an explanation.
Now I might need to buy a darn slicer!
Extras* more turkey legs Mmmm & another stage down in my 8 - 10 month project...
* Bonus Q-View *
I studied fpnmf's recipe along with the solid recipes from Bearcarver and Pops6927's .
11 lb belly cleaned up (trimmings kept for soups & my favorite pasta fagioli), split in two with a dry rub cure. Still have a few days of curing and then it's in the smoker at 100°F for about 8 hours or more. I plan on rubbing some pure maple syrup on the outside before smoking it. I didn't put any sugar in the brine (don't like much sweet), just fresh ground black pepper, fresh ground red pepper flakes, MTQ & a little extra non-iodized salt.
Wrapped tight with plastic wrap on the top of the two stacked belly pieces and another layer of plastic on the top of the container.
Rotated slabs each day.
Does nitrate & nitrite really not penetrate pork skin? Even with salt and/or sugar added? I just can't believe that but if anyone would like to explain, I'd love to hear an explanation.
Now I might need to buy a darn slicer!
Extras* more turkey legs Mmmm & another stage down in my 8 - 10 month project...
* Bonus Q-View *
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