A couple years ago I got a friend started making bacon. As we were setting up there was discussion about different flavors to try and he decided to do one slab with my Cajun spice mix. The final product was really good but a bit on the salty side. We didn't take into account the salt in the cure as well as the salt in the spice mix. Lesson learned. Fast forward to a few weeks ago and I decided I wanted to try a batch using our founder Jeff's (
TulsaJeff
) original rub. This time though I took into account the salt content. Both slabs after cutting the belly in half were very close to the same weight so when I calculated the cure amounts I just deducted 3 grams of salt from each slab.
11.3 pound belly cut into two pieces
Cure and seasoning applied
Into the vac seal bags but not vacuumed. Just burped out as much air as I could
After a two week cure, rinsed off and ready for the second application of seasonings. You can really see the color that the meat took on from the spice. One pic of each side
Second round of seasoning applied and into the fridge for two days to get happy
After the two day rest it's formed what should create a nice "bark"
6 hours of cold smoking one day using hickory then 4 hours the next day on the Rec Tec at low temp / extreme smoke. Now back in the fridge for another day to firm up before slicing
Sliced...a nice pan full of bacon. Each stack is about 3" tall
All vac sealed and ready to go into the freezer. Got 11 packs of 8 thick slices per pack.
I'm pretty wells set in bacon for a while. This makes about 30 pounds in the freezer when added to the big batch I wrapped up a couple weeks ago. I will say this bacon is outstanding!!! I've done quite a few different flavors and this is about the best of the bunch. I'd pretty much dialed it in with two flavors we kept on hand which were maple & brown sugar and pepper crusted. This one will be part of the regular rotation, I can promise that. Did BLT's with it a couple nights ago on ciabatta buns and they were fantastic. The nice part is that Tracy loves it too. I had my reservations whether she'd be onboard with the flavor profile but they were unfounded. The aroma of it cooking was enough to make her start liking the stuff. It's certainly a bacon aroma but has an added dimension that makes the house smell wonderful.
Oh well, all done with this one. See y'all next time.
Robert
TulsaJeff
) original rub. This time though I took into account the salt content. Both slabs after cutting the belly in half were very close to the same weight so when I calculated the cure amounts I just deducted 3 grams of salt from each slab.11.3 pound belly cut into two pieces
Cure and seasoning applied
Into the vac seal bags but not vacuumed. Just burped out as much air as I could
After a two week cure, rinsed off and ready for the second application of seasonings. You can really see the color that the meat took on from the spice. One pic of each side
Second round of seasoning applied and into the fridge for two days to get happy
After the two day rest it's formed what should create a nice "bark"
6 hours of cold smoking one day using hickory then 4 hours the next day on the Rec Tec at low temp / extreme smoke. Now back in the fridge for another day to firm up before slicing
Sliced...a nice pan full of bacon. Each stack is about 3" tall
All vac sealed and ready to go into the freezer. Got 11 packs of 8 thick slices per pack.
I'm pretty wells set in bacon for a while. This makes about 30 pounds in the freezer when added to the big batch I wrapped up a couple weeks ago. I will say this bacon is outstanding!!! I've done quite a few different flavors and this is about the best of the bunch. I'd pretty much dialed it in with two flavors we kept on hand which were maple & brown sugar and pepper crusted. This one will be part of the regular rotation, I can promise that. Did BLT's with it a couple nights ago on ciabatta buns and they were fantastic. The nice part is that Tracy loves it too. I had my reservations whether she'd be onboard with the flavor profile but they were unfounded. The aroma of it cooking was enough to make her start liking the stuff. It's certainly a bacon aroma but has an added dimension that makes the house smell wonderful.
Oh well, all done with this one. See y'all next time.
Robert
