True Dry Cured Bacon.

[SmokinEdge]

This is our favorite bacon. Here is a 6.5# slab of belly that I dry rubbed with my usual 1.5% salt, .75% sugar and .25% cure #1. I finish with eyeball amounts of white pepper and gran garlic. This will go on a stainless grate into the fridge with a catch pan underneath. 14 days naked no bag. This extracts the moisture and concentrates the flavors. The end result is delicious. Fries better in a pan too. Sorry for the low quality pictures, from my phone and not buying a fancy camera just for this stuff.

Btw, this goes on the rack meat side down. See you in 14-ish days.

 

[JLeonard]

Dont need a fancy camera to see thats gonna be some good bacon.

Jim

 

[02ebz06]

That is something I have not tried. Looks fairly simple. Nicely done!
When you smoke it, what temp and IT? Curious minds want to know...

 

[DougE]

I'm doing bacon sans bag next go to compare the difference.

 

[SmokinEdge]

Dont need a fancy camera to see thats gonna be some good bacon.

Jim

Thank you for that Jim.

That is something I have not tried. Looks fairly simple. Nicely done!
When you smoke it, what temp and IT? Curious minds want to know...

In my smokehouse I run temps from 120- 140 while smoking then go up to about 170 or so to finish IT at 145.

I'm doing bacon sans bag next go to compare the difference.

I’m hoping you do that Doug. It’s not life changing but produces a firmer bacon that fries much better and the taste difference is good to us. Like the difference of dry aged steak vs fresh.

 

[gmc2003]

Looks like your off to a good start Eric. I do have one question. Why white pepper? Is it just the color or is there a difference in taste.

Along for the two week trip
Chris

 

[Culinary Otter]

Why white pepper? Is it just the color or is there a difference in taste?

Not just color - white pepper is milder. I use it in a lot of my sausages where I don't want the "bite" of a tellicherry or black.

I'm in for the finish, this looks stellar.

 

[indaswamp]

I'm in.....best bacon on the planet is dry cured.

 

[SmokinEdge]

Looks like your off to a good start Eric. I do have one question. Why white pepper? Is it just the color or is there a difference in taste.

Along for the two week trip
Chris

I settled on white pepper Chris because it’s a fine grind, it’s stronger than the black in flavor and more user friendly in the dry cure application, like powdered garlic vs granulated kinda. I feel that the white pepper infuses a better over all pepper taste in the final product. Keep in mind that these aromatics don’t penetrate well at all into the meat, it’s more surface flavor, which on a slice of bacon is very small, that said I do think the white pepper penetrates a bit deeper and in my mind at least does give a subtle flavor change. I’ve been both ways on pepper and way prefer the taste of white in curing but then use fresh black cracked for most everything else cooking.

 

[gmc2003]

I settled on white pepper Chris because it’s a fine grind, it’s stronger than the black in flavor and more user friendly in the dry cure application, like powdered garlic vs granulated kinda. I feel that the white pepper infuses a better over all pepper taste in the final product. Keep in mind that these aromatics don’t penetrate well at all into the meat, it’s more surface flavor, which on a slice of bacon is very small, that said I do think the white pepper penetrates a bit deeper and in my mind at least does give a subtle flavor change. I’ve been both ways on pepper and way prefer the taste of white in curing but then use fresh black cracked for most everything else cooking.

Thanks

Chris

 

[SmokinEdge]

Not just color - white pepper is milder. I use it in a lot of my sausages where I don't want the "bite" of a tellicherry or black.

I'm in for the finish, this looks stellar.

White pepper, in my experience, will penetrate better and leave a stronger pepper taste in curing rather than black, but YMMV.

 

[SmokinEdge]

I'm in.....best bacon on the planet is dry cured.

Yes sir, some folks don’t realize what they are missing.

 

[DougE]

White pepper is more pungent for sure. I prefer it in sausage because it gives a little more pepper hit. Also make sure not to inhale while you're measuring. Trust me on this.

For table fare, I use black pepper for what is on my plate.

 

[Culinary Otter]

White pepper, in my experience, will penetrate better and leave a stronger pepper taste in curing rather than black, but YMMV.

Interesting! My comment stemmed from the fresh sausage side (I always use white in my wursts), in which I find it milder. I usually use a black/white blend in my pepper mill at the table.

I have never tried white in any cures however. I'm definitely going to try it, that makes a lot of sense.

Maybe milder isn't the best word? I find it more "peppery" but without the heat, if that makes sense.

 

[DRKsmoking]

Looks great Eric, i'm in for the 14 day run.

Where this is a dry cure with no bag, do you not lose a little of the rub and in saying that maybe some of the cure #1 .
as in the bag it stays and makes a little liquid and is still with the meat. Or is it so minamal it is no worry.

Thanks

David

 

[indaswamp]

Fun fact....Black pepper and white pepper are made from the same berry. Black pepper is the whole slightly unripe berry, while white pepper is the mature berry with the black husk removed. Black pepper is a little more bitter (being more unripe) while white pepper is a cleaner, yet more pungent pepper bite....

 

[SmokinEdge]

Interesting! My comment stemmed from the fresh sausage side (I always use white in my wursts), in which I find it milder. I usually use a black/white blend in my pepper mill at the table.

I have never tried white in any cures however. I'm definitely going to try it, that makes a lot of sense.

Maybe milder isn't the best word? I find it more "peppery" but without the heat, if that makes sense.

True white pepper is the grind of the hull or husk of the pepper corn only. The black is the nut only. Kind of the same difference between nutmeg and mace. Similar but not the same.

Looks great Eric, i'm in for the 14 day run.

Where this is a dry cure with no bag, do you not lose a little of the rub and in saying that maybe some of the cure #1 .
as in the bag it stays and makes a little liquid and is still with the meat. Or is it so minamal it is no worry.

Thanks

David

Yes David your assumption is correct, you lose a little but trust me there is still plenty of everything there at the end. This is just more old school style when they didn’t have plastic bags and just rubbed the meat down with cure mixture and placed on a shelf to drain. The drain is the key thing here. The drying or lose of weight is the whole point. Flavor is what comes of that. Bacon like from when you were a kid. This is that if you ate bacon from a butcher back in the day.

 

[DRKsmoking]

. The drain is the key thing here. The drying or lose of weight is the whole point. Flavor is what comes of that.

Thank you , ok I understand. I remember before plastic bags , yes I am that old.

So really a dry brine , and air dry also.

Thanks

David

 

[nlife]

Also make sure not to inhale while you're measuring. Trust me on this.

Ha! It makes me and my son sneeze EVERY time we mix up sausage spices using it. Lately he's been pulling his shirt over his nose when we make anything with it.

 

[SmokinEdge]

Thank you , ok I understand. I remember before plastic bags , yes I am that old.

So really a dry brine , and air dry also.

Thanks

David

Correct. In this process you want the water extracted by the salt from the meat to leave the meat entirely. Now, you can bag for a week then remove and place on a grate for another week, but I find this to be counter productive. You will have some dark dry spots on the meat after two weeks but don’t worry it will eat the same. Refrigerator humidity runs about 40% which is low for this kind of curing but it works because the meat is out relatively fast, 12-14 days.