With the allure of the Labor Day holiday, I was prompted to purchase a whole beef brisket and transform it into beef bacon!
Because the brisket is thin on the flat end and thick on the point end, I split it in half, across the grain:
Then, I made up a batch of curing brine:
....................................................................................................................................................
http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/a/pops6927s-curing-brines-regular-and-lo-salt
[h1]Pops6927's Curing Brines - Regular and Lo-Salt[/h1]
By: Pops6927
Posted 10/27/14 • Last updated 10/27/14 • 2,554 views • 1 comment
These are my Curing brines for pork, beef (corned and dried), poultry, and so on.
Regular Curing Brine:
1 gallon of clean water
1 cup plain, regular non-iodized table salt
1 cup sugar or sucrolose
1 cup brown sugar or sucrolose equiv.
1 tablespoon of Cure#1
Lo-Salt Curing Brine:
1 gallon of clean water
½ cup plain, regular non-iodized rable salt
½ cup sugar or sucrolose
½ cup brown sugar or sucrolose equiv.
1 tablespoon of Cure #1
mix in food-safe container, stir until clear.
Add meat. Do not add different species of meats, but you can add pieces of the same species.
Refrigerate 1 to 21 days, depending on thickness of meat.
Up to 2 inches, 1-10 days.
2 - 4 inches, 5 - 15 days, may require injecting to cure from the inside-out as well as from the outside-in.
4 inches and larger. 15 - 21 days, requires injecting.
Injecting - use a Morton's injection 4 oz. manual injection pump with the Broadcast needle.
or equivalent.
Brine can become frothy (ropy). It has both salt and sugar in it. It also is inputting curing ingredients into the meat and oozing out blood and plasma. Just dump the brine and make up fresh and continue curing should that happen. Make sure you keep it at 38° - 40°.
Weigh down meat into curing brine with half-filled ziploc bags of water on top.
No further mixing or stirring required, let it cure until done. Meats will come out of the brine wish a distinct grayish look. This is normal.
Cure #1:
I use this as reference:
Computing equivalency, for 100 gallons of curing brine, you add 24 lbs. of curing salt to 100 gallons of water and mix.
That is .24 lbs, or 3.84 oz. of curing salt to 1 gallon of water maximum.
My recipe calls for 1 tablespoon of curing salt to 1 gallon of water. A level tablespoon is .88 of an ounce. Heaping is approx. 1 ounce. Either is fine. Neither comes close to the maximum amount allowed, but just enough to do the job. Curing at Maximum, plus with injection, requires 48 hours of cure time maximum. This process uses less than one third the curing salt and a longer curing time to tenderize and flavor the meat.
You must cover the product until it floats off the bottom of the container, then weight it down to stay submersed in the brine, leaving no area to be exposed to air. You must keep at 38° to 40° until curing time is over. Remove from brine, put or hang in smokehouse or smoker. I personally go from refrigeration to heat with no wait time myself. There is different thoughts, whether to allow a pellicle to form or not.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pellicle_(cooking)
A pellicle is mainly, to my knowledge, allowed to form on fish prior to smoking. We were only 30 miles from Salmon River in Pulaski, NY, a very well known salmon run. We had many bring us their salmon to process and usually allowed a pellicle to form But, pork and beef are not tender like fish.
Anything I have left out or any questions, be sure to PM me! Don't hesitate!
........................................................................................................................
Lo-Salt, of course!
Also, my curing brine is ¼ (one quarter) the maximum strength allowed by the Federal Gov't specifications. My dad proved to the government that he could effectively cure meats at a much, much lower concentration by soaking it longer, and independent tests have repeatedly confirmed it. Instead of 3 days at maximum strength, his curing brine is from 1 week to 4 weeks, depending on the thickness, etc.
Anyways, back to the thread.
I used my 4 oz. Morton's injector to inject brine every 2 inches into the point, and a few times into the meatier part of the flat. When done, I put them in the bucket, and put it out in the back 'curing' fridge with a plate on top to hold the meat down. I will let it cure until Monday, 09/18 (Cowboys game and Nascar races on Sunday!), then pull the pieces out of the brine, sack and smoke them until 150° internal!
.............................................................................................................................................................
Normally, I used to use beef plate, which was next to the brisket:
http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/a/cured-and-smoked-beef-bacon-and-pastrami
[h1]Cured and Smoked Beef Bacon and Pastrami[/h1]
By: Pops6927
Posted 12/17/14 • Last updated 3/1/15 • 1,144 views • 2 comments
As this is the beginning of Hanukkah, in honor of the Jewish communities, there is such a thing as Beef Bacon.
Beef Bacon comes from the belly of beef cattle forequarters. This section is called a Plate. It is the lower section from the rib:
The beef plate is separated from the beef rib along the line as shown, then the ribs are removed as one piece, just like removing the spare rib section on a hog. Square up the edge and you have a boneless beef plate.
Put the boneless beef plate in curing brine for 14-21 days (more towards the latter than the former, depending on the thickness of the lean strips). Once cured, hang or place in your smoker and smoke to min. 135°. Done! This would be partially cooked, 146° would be fully cooked. Slice and fry through, from cooked to crisp, however you like!
Also, adjacent to the plate is the brisket:
Just like curing the beef plate, you can bone out and cure the brisket. Once cured, it now becomes "Corned Beef", you can also add pickling spices to the curing brine for flavor. Then, you can also go to the next step and smoke and cook it; then it is known as Pastrami!
...........................................................................................................................................
Stay tuned! More to come!
Because the brisket is thin on the flat end and thick on the point end, I split it in half, across the grain:
Then, I made up a batch of curing brine:
....................................................................................................................................................
http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/a/pops6927s-curing-brines-regular-and-lo-salt
[h1]Pops6927's Curing Brines - Regular and Lo-Salt[/h1]
By: Pops6927
Posted 10/27/14 • Last updated 10/27/14 • 2,554 views • 1 comment
These are my Curing brines for pork, beef (corned and dried), poultry, and so on.
Regular Curing Brine:
1 gallon of clean water
1 cup plain, regular non-iodized table salt
1 cup sugar or sucrolose
1 cup brown sugar or sucrolose equiv.
1 tablespoon of Cure#1
Lo-Salt Curing Brine:
1 gallon of clean water
½ cup plain, regular non-iodized rable salt
½ cup sugar or sucrolose
½ cup brown sugar or sucrolose equiv.
1 tablespoon of Cure #1
mix in food-safe container, stir until clear.
Add meat. Do not add different species of meats, but you can add pieces of the same species.
Refrigerate 1 to 21 days, depending on thickness of meat.
Up to 2 inches, 1-10 days.
2 - 4 inches, 5 - 15 days, may require injecting to cure from the inside-out as well as from the outside-in.
4 inches and larger. 15 - 21 days, requires injecting.
Injecting - use a Morton's injection 4 oz. manual injection pump with the Broadcast needle.
or equivalent.
Brine can become frothy (ropy). It has both salt and sugar in it. It also is inputting curing ingredients into the meat and oozing out blood and plasma. Just dump the brine and make up fresh and continue curing should that happen. Make sure you keep it at 38° - 40°.
Weigh down meat into curing brine with half-filled ziploc bags of water on top.
No further mixing or stirring required, let it cure until done. Meats will come out of the brine wish a distinct grayish look. This is normal.
Cure #1:
I use this as reference:
Computing equivalency, for 100 gallons of curing brine, you add 24 lbs. of curing salt to 100 gallons of water and mix.
That is .24 lbs, or 3.84 oz. of curing salt to 1 gallon of water maximum.
My recipe calls for 1 tablespoon of curing salt to 1 gallon of water. A level tablespoon is .88 of an ounce. Heaping is approx. 1 ounce. Either is fine. Neither comes close to the maximum amount allowed, but just enough to do the job. Curing at Maximum, plus with injection, requires 48 hours of cure time maximum. This process uses less than one third the curing salt and a longer curing time to tenderize and flavor the meat.
You must cover the product until it floats off the bottom of the container, then weight it down to stay submersed in the brine, leaving no area to be exposed to air. You must keep at 38° to 40° until curing time is over. Remove from brine, put or hang in smokehouse or smoker. I personally go from refrigeration to heat with no wait time myself. There is different thoughts, whether to allow a pellicle to form or not.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pellicle_(cooking)
A pellicle is mainly, to my knowledge, allowed to form on fish prior to smoking. We were only 30 miles from Salmon River in Pulaski, NY, a very well known salmon run. We had many bring us their salmon to process and usually allowed a pellicle to form But, pork and beef are not tender like fish.
Anything I have left out or any questions, be sure to PM me! Don't hesitate!
........................................................................................................................
Lo-Salt, of course!
Also, my curing brine is ¼ (one quarter) the maximum strength allowed by the Federal Gov't specifications. My dad proved to the government that he could effectively cure meats at a much, much lower concentration by soaking it longer, and independent tests have repeatedly confirmed it. Instead of 3 days at maximum strength, his curing brine is from 1 week to 4 weeks, depending on the thickness, etc.
Anyways, back to the thread.
I used my 4 oz. Morton's injector to inject brine every 2 inches into the point, and a few times into the meatier part of the flat. When done, I put them in the bucket, and put it out in the back 'curing' fridge with a plate on top to hold the meat down. I will let it cure until Monday, 09/18 (Cowboys game and Nascar races on Sunday!), then pull the pieces out of the brine, sack and smoke them until 150° internal!
.............................................................................................................................................................
Normally, I used to use beef plate, which was next to the brisket:
http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/a/cured-and-smoked-beef-bacon-and-pastrami
[h1]Cured and Smoked Beef Bacon and Pastrami[/h1]
By: Pops6927
Posted 12/17/14 • Last updated 3/1/15 • 1,144 views • 2 comments
As this is the beginning of Hanukkah, in honor of the Jewish communities, there is such a thing as Beef Bacon.
Beef Bacon comes from the belly of beef cattle forequarters. This section is called a Plate. It is the lower section from the rib:
The beef plate is separated from the beef rib along the line as shown, then the ribs are removed as one piece, just like removing the spare rib section on a hog. Square up the edge and you have a boneless beef plate.
Put the boneless beef plate in curing brine for 14-21 days (more towards the latter than the former, depending on the thickness of the lean strips). Once cured, hang or place in your smoker and smoke to min. 135°. Done! This would be partially cooked, 146° would be fully cooked. Slice and fry through, from cooked to crisp, however you like!
Also, adjacent to the plate is the brisket:
Just like curing the beef plate, you can bone out and cure the brisket. Once cured, it now becomes "Corned Beef", you can also add pickling spices to the curing brine for flavor. Then, you can also go to the next step and smoke and cook it; then it is known as Pastrami!
...........................................................................................................................................
Stay tuned! More to come!
