Smoked some bacon yesterday

[TerpMan]

Did a wet brine on both. Added a couple splashes of bourbon to the brine on the left one. I used this recipe for the brine:

1.5 cups of Tender Quick salt mix*
4 tbsp coarsely ground black pepper
3 tbsp granulated garlic
2 tbsp paprika
2 tbsp chili powder
3 tbsp brown sugar
6 cups of water

Tender Quick salt mix

• 1 pound pickling salt
• 8 ounces granulated sugar
• 2.4 ounces pink salt

They were brined in individual ziplock bags for 7 days.

Both are way too salty. Can't even taste the bacon, just the salt. Any ideas on fixing that? I see so many saying 8-14 days for the brine, I can't imagine how salty that must taste.

 

[BigW.]

Here is a recent bacon thread with lots of info. I do a dry cure myself. Sorry the TQ didn't turn out well. I'd add the bacon to beans...soup etc.

The Quest for Bacon

So we have been trying to make bacon every couple years for around 6 years now with no success. The first time (wet cure), we didn't do enough cure. The second time, it tasted closer to pork chop than bacon. The third time (dry cure), it tasted like really salty ham. We are hoping that the...

www.smokingmeatforums.com

 

[chopsaw]

1.5 cups of Tender Quick salt mix*

Tender Quick salt mix

I'm a fan of Tender Quick as it has it's uses in my opinion .
The pumping pickle / wet brine is for short curing times , and it's way to much salt . I used it once at HALF the ratio of salt and upped the water and it was still salty . So I never use it in a wet cure .
I use it to dry cure . In the correct amounts it's never been to salty for me and makes a great finished product .

Not sure if you can soak the salt out at this point or not , but your trouble started with the TQ wet brine . If nothing else maybe you can save some small hunks for beans and such .

 

[Brokenhandle]

I'll add that if you would do a fry test after curing and before smoking you could have soaked them in water, changing the water out several times to help with the saltiness... but once smoked, there's nothing you can do. Except as mentioned, cut it up and use in other dishes... just don't add any salt to them. Pot of baked beans, green beans...

Ryan

 

[indaswamp]

Got a link to the recipe?

 

[tallbm]

View attachment 671438

Did a wet brine on both. Added a couple splashes of bourbon to the brine on the left one. I used this recipe for the brine:

1.5 cups of Tender Quick salt mix*
4 tbsp coarsely ground black pepper
3 tbsp granulated garlic
2 tbsp paprika
2 tbsp chili powder
3 tbsp brown sugar
6 cups of water

Tender Quick salt mix

• 1 pound pickling salt
• 8 ounces granulated sugar
• 2.4 ounces pink salt

They were brined in individual ziplock bags for 7 days.

Both are way too salty. Can't even taste the bacon, just the salt. Any ideas on fixing that? I see so many saying 8-14 days for the brine, I can't imagine how salty that must taste.

Hi there and welcome!

You can likely fix these by soaking in ice water and changing the water out every 3-4 hours.
Salt always wants to equalize so the idea is the salt will travel out of the bacon and into the water. This should work quite well to help with the salt.

I would suggest checking out Equilibrium brines/cures and asking questions about that method. The idea is that you will measure out and have the exact amount of salt needed so it is equal across the meat and water when brining (hence equilibrium).
This method means you can cure something for a ton of time and it will never get too salty because the salt can never go over a certain percent.
I like my salt percent at 1.65% including the salt in the cure#1.

I hope this info helps :)

 

[DougE]

Easiest and most reliable way to get consistent bacon is to dry cure.

Based on meat weight in grams:
0.25% cure#1 (do not change this)
1.5% salt ...... you can play around some with this, but I wouldn't go much lower.
0.75% sugar ....... You can play some here too, but risk burnt bacon in the skillet with too much sugar.

Cure about 14 days for best results ...... it will never get too salty because it is an equilibrium cure and can't get any saltier than what you added.

 

[02ebz06]

Easiest and most reliable way to get consistent bacon is to dry cure.

Based on meat weight in grams:
0.25% cure#1 (do not change this)
1.5% salt ...... you can play around some with this, but I wouldn't go much lower.
0.75% sugar ....... You can play some here too, but risk burnt bacon in the skillet with too much sugar.

Cure about 14 days for best results ...... it will never get too salty because it is an equilibrium cure and can't get any saltier than what you added.

Planning on getting a belly next time at Coscto, so how exactly do you do the dry cure ?
Rub, vacuum seal, and into fridge? Or how ?

 

[DougE]

Planning on getting a belly next time at Coscto, so how exactly do you do the dry cure ?
Rub, vacuum seal, and into fridge? Or how ?

Weigh each piece of meat and mix a separate batch of cure for each piece. Apply about half per side. From there I just put them in zip lock bags and into the fridge, massaging and flipping every day or two. Some just apply the cure and leave on an open rack with a pan under to catch any liquid, but I bag mine. I run 2 weeks in cure regardless of thickness ...... the additional time allows for flavor development.

 

[DougE]

If you want to cheap out for practice, grab a boston butt on sale and cut some 1.5~2 inch slabs off the end opposite the bone and cure the same way. It's buckboard bacon and many prefer it because it's a bit meatier.

 

[thirdeye]

Tender Quick salt mix

• 1 pound pickling salt
• 8 ounces granulated sugar
• 2.4 ounces pink salt

I'm confused about your curing mix. Is Tender Quick used, or did you try to make a cross-over cure using Cure #1? And how did you arrive at 1 pound of pickling salt?

 

[hondabbq]

2 words.

POPS BRINE

 

[TKOBBQ1]

2 words.

POPS BRINE

That's what I've used in the past but don't hear much chatter here about it.

 

[Brokenhandle]

Pop's brine is good! Especially because it's easy. And a good place to start... especially if you are new to curing! Some don't like it but it's a proven way for curing... Pop's dad used it for years!

Ryan

 

[mneeley490]

I always recommend Pop's Brine to newbies. It's foolproof, and once you get that down, then you can start experimenting with dry cures.

 

[DougE]

I go against the grain and get slammed for it. If pops brine is a great way to introduce noobs to curing, who will later go on to better methods such as equilibrium dry cures, why not just start them out on the equilibrium cures from the get go and eliminate the training wheels? There is nothing hard about dry cures ...... I learned that way.

 

[Brokenhandle]

So they can choose for themselves which way they prefer. I use pop's brine on some things, have used Dave Omaks method, and dry cure... I'm glad I learned all 3 methods, gives me more options.

Ryan

 

[daspyknows]

I use the low salt version of pops brine for 7 days, then I flavor it for 24 hours and put back in the brine for 7 days. Finally I season it again and smoke it. I brought a cooler of the bacon slaps to friends on the east coast and 2 of my friends want me to buy yeti coolers so I can ship them more. I bought 2 more pork bellies at Costco today.