Bacon...

[Retired Spook]

All sliced and put into a 1-gallon Ziploc as a gift to the friend I mentioned that I will rely on for a more objective opinion - he has a few mouths to feed so I know it will not go to waste either way!

It was actually a very nice belly - very good meat to fat ratio - one of the best I have ever seen from HEB.

As for me, I am going to buy a new belly and start over.

 

[Retired Spook]

Interesting old index card find while digging around...

 

[tallbm]

I've always smoked my bacon with hickory. I often omitted the honey and as I went along I started adding granulated garlic and granulated onion to the recipe. It was, however, always a little too salty and I would soak the slab in ice water for a bit after curing to cut back on the salt.

Going forward I will use my old recipe but I will adjust for 1.65% salt as the salt in this last slab is perfect. Also, I am going to revert to a lower smoking temperature and a lower finished temperature as I would do in the past - 4-hours at ≤165-degrees.

Really frustrating because I used to be able to recall the recipe from memory and I guess those days are gone , but I did want to try this more precise cure/salt/sugar calculation scheme to satisfy my own curiosity. I used that old recipe for 10-years before I discovered this site a couple years ago.

Thank you for all of your help!

PS. Without listing a bunch of confusing information the difference between digging dog and my old recipe in terms of salt and sugar, is substantial, but the cure is very close to the same. It is interesting that the first thing I noticed about this slab of bacon was the lack of sweetness...

It sounds like you are getting a good start on figuring out what you want for the next attempt.
More sugar and sweetness seems to be a no brainer for you :D

 

[Retired Spook]

It sounds like you are getting a good start on figuring out what you want for the next attempt.
More sugar and sweetness seems to be a no brainer for you :D

Interesting that my old recipe started off with 1/2-cup of salt but I reduced that to 1/4-cup of salt after a few too-salty slabs, but I do enjoy a sweeter bacon so the 1/2-cup of dark brown sugar will be my go-to, and, I will also include the 1-teaspoon of granulated garlic and 1-teaspoon of granulated onion. I am going to buy another belly tomorrow and start curing it because I promised a friend that had a heart transplant last year that I would make him some.

I am going to measure out 1/4-cup of Kosher salt and weigh it so that I have an idea what the gram weight is vs. the default 2% / 40-grams and your 1.65% / 32-grams of salt at diggingdog for 5-lbs of meat.

For me, all of this is only worth it if the bacon is substantially better than store-bought bacon, which it has always been for me.

 

[tallbm]

Interesting that my old recipe started off with 1/2-cup of salt but I reduced that to 1/4-cup of salt after a few too-salty slabs, but I do enjoy a sweeter bacon so the 1/2-cup of dark brown sugar will be my go-to, and, I will also include the 1-teaspoon of granulated garlic and 1-teaspoon of granulated onion. I am going to buy another belly tomorrow and start curing it because I promised a friend that had a heart transplant last year that I would make him some.

I am going to measure out 1/4-cup of Kosher salt and weigh it so that I have an idea what the gram weight is vs. the default 2% / 40-grams and your 1.65% / 32-grams of salt at diggingdog for 5-lbs of meat.

For me, all of this is only worth it if the bacon is substantially better than store-bought bacon, which it has always been for me.

Sounds like a good plan and yeah... substantially better than store bought bacon in my case as well :D

 

[Fueling Around]

...
For me, all of this is only worth it if the bacon is substantially better than store-bought bacon, which it has always been for me.

Hopefully, you get to try cold smoked before the winter passes on to the north.
Cold smoked is a fond memory from my youth and was my last slab.

 

[Retired Spook]

Hopefully, you get to try cold smoked before the winter passes on to the north.
Cold smoked is a fond memory from my youth and was my last slab.

"Cold" smoke is just a dream here in the Ninth Circle of Hell.

Cool smoke I can do - I am going to keep smoke temperature as close to 165-degrees as I can for 4-hours.

 

[Retired Spook]

Sounds like a good plan and yeah... substantially better than store bought bacon in my case as well :D

1/4-cup of Morton's Kosher salt is roughly 69-70 grams on my scale (average using a 1/4-cup stainless steel measure leveled off) - roughly double your 1.65% (32.11-grams) recommendation.

Quite a difference indeed.

To say that the 1/2-cup of salt in the original recipe I used, is "salty," has to be the understatement of all time.

I am going to stick with the 1.65%.

 

[Retired Spook]

Round 2 started.

5.7-pound HEB Natural pork belly
6.45-grams InstaCure#1
40-grams Kosher salt (I went for 1.75%)
1/2-cup organic dark brown sugar
1-teaspoon granulated garlic, and
1-teaspoon granulated onion

In the fridge

See ya in 7-days plus 1.

 

[millerbuilds]

Slices
View attachment 686037

Breakfast
View attachment 686038

Delicious, though I did cook it slightly more than I should have. Nevertheless, some of the thicker portions that did not cook as much, and still retained that hickory smoked fatty deliciousness, were perfect!

That looks perfect! Great looking bacon.

- Jason

 

[nlife]

Hopefully, you get to try cold smoked before the winter passes on to the north.
Cold smoked is a fond memory from my youth and was my last slab.

I'm not sure what you mean "passes on to the north". It's always cold up here!