Be gentile, I'm a virgin... at dry curing and makin' bacon

[DougE]

Just get most of it in with each piece.

 

[SmokinEdge]

Your wish is my command...

View attachment 691669

Not easy distributing the mix evenly and some stays on the board due to sugar/salt melting.

Looks good, and no worries. You will be rewarded shortly.

 

[indaswamp]

Late to the party....but you got this! Trust the process and it should be awesome!

 

[JLeonard]

Seeing some awesome eggs and bacon and BLTs in your future. Nothing like some home smoked bacon.

Jim

 

[JckDanls 07]

What I like to do (just to satisfy myself)... After mixing all the spices together I will weigh the batch... Then split that in half (by weight) and use half on one side of the belly and the other half on the other side... All this is done inside the zip lock baggy so it all ends up in the bag ...

Good luck with your new adventure...

 

[SmokinEdge]

In a technical sense, about 3/4 of the cure should be applied to the meat side and the rest on the fat cap. Fat takes salt and cure slower. But we are in a bag and on the internet, so carry on.

 

[indaswamp]

In a technical sense, about 3/4 of the cure should be applied to the meat side and the rest on the fat cap. Fat takes salt and cure slower. But we are in a bag and on the internet, so carry on.

One of the finer details I missed when I first started out dry curing salumi. It matters a LOT when curing Culatello the traditional way...the fat side is set in a bed of pure salt for maximum salt infusion since the uptake through fat is very slow and minimal. But in this case, it's a thin belly that will be flipped often....so, true.....will all even out with the flipping......

 

[JckDanls 07]

In a technical sense, about 3/4 of the cure should be applied to the meat side and the rest on the fat cap. Fat takes salt and cure slower. But we are in a bag and on the internet, so carry on.

I like that... Never thought about the fat side...

 

[SmokinEdge]

It’s not a huge issue in a bag and flipping, but I do most of my dry cures, generally naked, no bag and no flipping. So the salt distribution matters. Where it is is where it stays. Just my o2.

 

[mike243]

Think I have read to rinse it off when taking it out of the bag? seen no mention of that so maybe my memory is foggy today lol

 

[02ebz06]

Thanks for all the tips everyone.
I will make notes for next time.
Day 1 flip just happened.

 

[SmokinEdge]

Think I have read to rinse it off when taking it out of the bag? seen no mention of that so maybe my memory is foggy today lol

With the 1.5% salt it’s not at all necessary to rinse. You can but I just blot it dry with a paper towel if there is liquid in the bag, then air dry just a bit and smoke.

 

[02ebz06]

All true, but that’s IF your pit is running at 150. I’ve seen very few pellet machines that run that low, most hover at about 200F on the low setting. So know your grate temps people.

I have an aftermarket controller (Savannah Stoker) in the CampChef that goes down to 150 and holds temps pretty well.

The LSG has a "cold smoke" mode that keeps temp pretty low.
It fills the burn pot with pellets and once lit, it shuts the fan off.
You close the damper almost all the way. Lasts 3-4 hours.

Actually thinking about that now, I did cheese in the LSG with the cold-smoke mode and had no melting issues, so it didn't get that hot.
I should be able to use it to smoke, then turn temp up to get the IT up.

Maybe I'll do one half in each. Should get done twice as fast that way.

 

[02ebz06]

So, I've taken the tips and put them together for this time and future times.

Do these look pretty accurate ?

Directions:
Cut the belly in half so the pieces will fit in a 2.5 gal zip-lock bag
Weigh each piece and enter amounts in boxes above
(this statement refers to the part of the spreadsheet that does the spice calculations)

Mix all the ingredients thoroughly

Put one piece of the belly in a zip-lock bag
Rub 3/4 of the spices on the meat side of the belly in the bag
Rub the remaining 1/4 on the fat side

Repeat for other piece of belly and put both in the fridge

Flip each piece daily for 12 days
Day 13 remove from bags, blot dry, and let sit naked in fridge overnight

Day 14 - Smoke
For CampChef - Smoke at 150 for 4 hours with smoke box added
Then raise temp to 225 and continue to smoke until IT reaches 145

For LSG - put in "cold smoke" mode and close damper most of the way
Once "cold smoke" mode shuts off, remove & dump burn pot, replace and start smoker at 225
Continue smoking until IT reaches 145

 

[Hijack73]

I took heart to something someone posted a while back about letting it dry outside of the bag much longer. I had 2 roughly 5lb pieces in a bag at the time (about a week) and I took them out of the bag and let them finish dry for a week. It is damn good bacon. I will probably do it all that way now - some time in a bag to make sure the cure gets in (shouldn't take more than a day or 3) and let finish dry. It took smoke like no other bacon I've done yet has, and I'm forced to run my pellet on 215 or it flames out and refires.

I'm thinking next time I'll just cold smoke ~6 hours (my tube goes about 6 hrs) since I've finally got this tube figured out then let it ride in the oven at 170 until it's done.

I'm not at all opposed to the 215 hot smoked bacon. It's so freaking good compared to store bought, but if I can up it a little - why not?

 

[SmokinEdge]

I took heart to something someone posted a while back about letting it dry outside of the bag much longer. I had 2 roughly 5lb pieces in a bag at the time (about a week) and I took them out of the bag and let them finish dry for a week. It is damn good bacon. I will probably do it all that way now - some time in a bag to make sure the cure gets in (shouldn't take more than a day or 3) and let finish dry. It took smoke like no other bacon I've done yet has, and I'm forced to run my pellet on 215 or it flames out and refires.

I'm thinking next time I'll just cold smoke ~6 hours (my tube goes about 6 hrs) since I've finally got this tube figured out then let it ride in the oven at 170 until it's done.

I'm not at all opposed to the 215 hot smoked bacon. It's so freaking good compared to store bought, but if I can up it a little - why not?

Glad you like it.

 

[Hijack73]

Glad you like it.

You are a good teacher!

 

[02ebz06]

Made it through the bag brining.
Starting naked phase.

So, from what I see above, 5 or 6 days out of the bags is better than one ?

 

[02ebz06]

OK. it's smoke day.
Going in for cold smoke shortly.

Another question (or 2).
Once removed from smoker with IT at 145f, do you partially freeze it before slicing?
I know whenever I'm slicing for jerky, I partially freeze the meat.

Then do you vacuum seal and freeze right away or does it need to sit before that?

 

[JckDanls 07]

Yes.. I partially freeze first....

Yes... I vacuum seal right away... I lay it out nice and neat just like store bought...