Plan for first time bacon - sound right?

[illini40]

Hello

I picked up a pork belly from Costco today, and I’m going to try my first attempt at hot smoked bacon.

Does the following sound like a good plan?

- 4-5 lbs of pork belly
- 1 cup kosher salt
- 1 cup brown sugar
- cover the belly and seal
- fridge for at least 7 days (flipping occasionally)
- rinse and dry off
- smoke to IT of 150* ish

Is 7 days ok in the fridge, or should I plan for shorter / longer?

Before smoking, do you add anything (more sugar, other seasonings, etc)?

I’ve seen references to using maple syrup in the brine / cure. Can you simply just add some syrup to the salt and sugar mix?

 

[Hawging It]

I am curious as to the responses. I want to try bacon smoking. I'll be waiting as well.

 

[jaxrmrjmr]

That's a good place to start. I assume you are dry brining? If so, flip it everyday.

Also, let a good pellicle form rather than just drying it off. I put mine on a rack on top a cookie sheet and set it in the fridge uncovered overnight. After smoking, let it sit for a few days to a week before slicing and eating - the smoke will be absorbed into meat and mellow for a much better product.

 

[TomKnollRFV]

I don't see curing salt in this. Are you going for an old school pure salt cure?

 

[jaxrmrjmr]

I don't see curing salt in this. Are you going for an old school pure salt cure?

Good catch. If you are not using cure then keep in mind that you will need to handle both your raw and finished product differently.

 

[TomKnollRFV]

Hopefully the original poster clarifies, hate to offer bad advice based off assumptions!

 

[Tex1911]

I think you need to search a little more and make sure your cure is spot-on. Too much, or too little can be very bad.

 

[illini40]

Thanks for all of the quick replies everyone!

To clarify - I am not planning on using a curing salt. I was simply planning to brine in a 1:1 ratio of kosher salt and brown sugar. Maybe I should not have used the term “cure”? Is this ok?

How specifically do I need to be handling the raw and finished product differently?

What specifically do I need to be searching more on?

 

[SonnyE]

I would advise you do some studying here before jumping willie-nellie on a sow belly.

Oh, never mind. Just have fun and be careful.

 

[TomKnollRFV]

Thanks for all of the quick replies everyone!

To clarify - I am not planning on using a curing salt. I was simply planning to brine in a 1:1 ratio of kosher salt and brown sugar. Maybe I should not have used the term “cure”? Is this ok?

How specifically do I need to be handling the raw and finished product differently?

What specifically do I need to be searching more on?

To be fair, I don't know much about old style salt curing. I've only read about it briefly and never attempted it. Your numbers look appropriate from what I've read..but I don't know any thing about salt only cure with bacon. Be careful is all I can say!

 

[illini40]

Good catch. If you are not using cure then keep in mind that you will need to handle both your raw and finished product differently.

I would advise you do some studying here before jumping willie-nellie on a sow belly.

Oh, never mind. Just have fun and be careful.

To be fair, I don't know much about old style salt curing. I've only read about it briefly and never attempted it. Your numbers look appropriate from what I've read..but I don't know any thing about salt only cure with bacon. Be careful is all I can say!

Hmm...so now I’m a little nervous that I’m really headed down the wrong path? Help me understand - just brining in the salt/sugar, then hot smoking to 150*/160*ish IT, and then freezing until ready to fry and eat, is not the best approach?

I thought that hot smoking would not require the use of a pink curing salt.

 

[pc farmer]

You are correct, your hot smoking so it will be safe without the use of cure. It might be really salty thou.

 

[TomKnollRFV]

It should be safe, but the curing salt adds not only flavour <and the colour> but also an added level of safety. When you smoke a cured product, the temperatures used are not super high. If you crank the heat to high, it renders the fat, which you want to avoid, so it can take 6-12 hours to meat the IT you want. <I've had buckboard bacon on for 10 hours before>.

There isn't really a reason to use the old fashion method IMO. I mean it is a neat heritage type thing, but if you don't know your science behind it sort of deal, it can stray into dangerous territory. Now assuming the pork you got isn't near expiration <I would think it isn't> 7 days will be fine. If it'll end up to salty etc like PC farmer said? You got me. A week though is safe. It's past this point where I'd no longer trust meat in a fridge with out curing agents.

You can do some googling to get an idea..heck if Townsend has any videos on this, watch his stuff on youtube, he does heritage recipes etc. He's effectively lives the life style that used this method!

 

[illini40]

You are correct, your hot smoking so it will be safe without the use of cure. It might be really salty thou.

Thanks for the input. Suggestions on ensuring it is not too salty?

It should be safe, but the curing salt adds not only flavour <and the colour> but also an added level of safety. When you smoke a cured product, the temperatures used are not super high. If you crank the heat to high, it renders the fat, which you want to avoid, so it can take 6-12 hours to meat the IT you want. <I've had buckboard bacon on for 10 hours before>.

There isn't really a reason to use the old fashion method IMO. I mean it is a neat heritage type thing, but if you don't know your science behind it sort of deal, it can stray into dangerous territory. Now assuming the pork you got isn't near expiration <I would think it isn't> 7 days will be fine. If it'll end up to salty etc like PC farmer said? You got me. A week though is safe. It's past this point where I'd no longer trust meat in a fridge with out curing agents.

You can do some googling to get an idea..heck if Townsend has any videos on this, watch his stuff on youtube, he does heritage recipes etc. He's effectively lives the life style that used this method!

Thanks for the input. So curing salt can be used when still hot smoking? I had the perception that using a curing salt would be difficult or only be used with a cold smoke process that would be more risky.

I am not confident that I could run my smoker at temps much below 175*-180*, thus I was thinking that a hot smoke would be best.

What are the cons of using a curing salt (assuming this is referencing curing salt #1)?

Is the concern more of brining the belly in the fridge, without a curing salt, for that long?

I realize Traeger recipes are not the source of all truth, however I found the following bacon recipe that they published that has no curing salt. I would assume it has to be relatively safe for Traeger to publish.

https://www.traegergrills.com/recipes/pork/applewood-smoked-bacon

 

[SonnyE]

For my first batch of bacon, I did some Belly, with cure, and a good plan.
At the same time, I did some Buckboard Bacon with a Salt and Sugar dry brine.

Both are called "dry brine's", but they actually draw the moisture out of the meat, then at the end days that moisture gets reabsorbed into the bacon. For me, I see that occurring the 11th-14th day.

My test bed Bacon's both acted that way. The belly Bacon came out nice and tasty. My buckboard bacon (Boston Butt) came out very salty, to my taste.
Since I like good tasting bacon, I haven't repeated my mistake of Sugar/Salt brining again.

I do use a 1 to 1 for my Salmon Dry Brineing. But that is a different kettle of fish.

 

[jaxrmrjmr]

Handling the meat raw... A good salt content should keep anything from growing but keep your temps under 40. I have kept hog casings for a year or so packed in salt and in the frig with no problem.

A good rule of thumb is 40-to-140-in-4. Without cure, you only want your meat to be above 40 degrees and below 140 degrees for 4 hours or less. This decreases the chances of bacterial growth. Without curing salt, try and get your internal temperature to 150-155 within 4 hours of pulling it out of the frig. Then refrigerating it or freezing it would be fine.

One thing to remember is that you will want to eat that bacon within about 5 days once you thaw it out. It can't sit in the frig for a week or two like cured bacon.

You are not doing anything "wrong" but most of us use some curing salt to ensure safety. It just gives you a bigger margin of error.

 

[SmokinAl]

I think I would just make pork belly burnt ends with this belly.
Then get yourself some cure#1, and an AMNPS.
The tray with sawdust works best for cold smoking, & the tube with pellets is best for hot smoking.
https://www.amazenproducts.com/Default.asp
Al

 

[illini40]

Thanks again for all of the replies. Appreciate it!

I went ahead and ordered some prague powder #1. This is what I ordered - to confirm, this is the right stuff?

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008X6KE0E/?tag=smokingmeatforums-20

I think I am going to hold off on trying some bacon until I can get the cure #1 and get a little more confidence on an approach. It sounds like my original plan above would likely work, but may not be the best option.

With this change of plans, new questions:

1) if I froze this belly that I just got yesterday, would it be ok to thaw out and use for curing for bacon later?
2) to confirm, I can still hot smoke while using cure #1, correct? I am not going to cold smoke. I have a AMNPS Tube.
3) can you please direct me to a simple and trusted guide on doing a first batch using the cure #1? I’ve just seen lots of little bits info here and there.

 

[WillRunForQue]

I'll jump in and am sure others will too, you will see there are lots of preferences but that's because everyone loves home cured and smoked bacon.

0) Yep, that's the right stuff.
1) Yes, freezing is fine. I do it often with bellies from Costco like you got, theirs are my favorite.
2) Yes, you can hot smoke with cure 1. I usually hot smoke for around 4 hours to an internal of 145 but you don't have to go that high.
3) There are 2 main options: dry cure or wet. I use wet because it's easy and what I'm used to, but dry is great and easy too. The wet cure I use is Pop's brine: https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/threads/pops6927s-wet-curing-brine.110799/

A gallon is good for a single belly, but it really depends on what container you use. I go full strength... 1 cup each of white sugar, brown sugar, and kosher salt. I cut mine in thirds to fit the bucket I use, make sure the meat stays submerged, and leave it in the fridge for a couple of weeks... then smoke, slice, vac seal, and freeze.
Enjoy learning the ropes, it is really pretty easy and impresses folks!

 

[rexster314]

Hello

I picked up a pork belly from Costco today, and I’m going to try my first attempt at hot smoked bacon.

Does the following sound like a good plan?

- 4-5 lbs of pork belly
- 1 cup kosher salt
- 1 cup brown sugar
- cover the belly and seal
- fridge for at least 7 days (flipping occasionally)
- rinse and dry off
- smoke to IT of 150* ish

Is 7 days ok in the fridge, or should I plan for shorter / longer?

Before smoking, do you add anything (more sugar, other seasonings, etc)?

I’ve seen references to using maple syrup in the brine / cure. Can you simply just add some syrup to the salt and sugar mix?

Without a cure involved in your seasonings, you're gonna wind up with an aged, BBQ'd pork belly, barely a cousin to bacon