Please be gentle with me 
I don’t have a massive love of meat curing like some, but i love processing our own homegrown meat so I’m looking for some easy reliable options.
were getting ready to butcher 5 pigs at once. Last year I screwed up our bacon cure and it was kind of high in pink salt. I don’t want to do that again! I only butcher once a year, I’m no professional and I don’t really even remember what I did last year so I’m here for help from experts BEFORE I screw up. Typically I throw all the hams and bacon in the same brine- in barrels and cure. Id like to do that with the hams still but I’m going to do the bacon in smaller batches this year. I would really love some recommendations on recipes. If anyone has a recipe using maple sugar or maple syrup, that’d be a bonus (we make our own and I’ve got about 70 gallons on the shelf!). Otherwise, other sweeteners are ok too. For reference- I’m pro pink curing salt (prefer that to use celery powder or whatnot) and I have some pretty strong botulism/health anxieties, so I’m not really looking for any old fashioned methods or cold smoking techniques. Now that I rambled forever, what are your preferred brines/recipes? Thanks in advance!
I don’t have a massive love of meat curing like some, but i love processing our own homegrown meat so I’m looking for some easy reliable options. were getting ready to butcher 5 pigs at once. Last year I screwed up our bacon cure and it was kind of high in pink salt. I don’t want to do that again! I only butcher once a year, I’m no professional and I don’t really even remember what I did last year so I’m here for help from experts BEFORE I screw up. Typically I throw all the hams and bacon in the same brine- in barrels and cure. Id like to do that with the hams still but I’m going to do the bacon in smaller batches this year. I would really love some recommendations on recipes. If anyone has a recipe using maple sugar or maple syrup, that’d be a bonus (we make our own and I’ve got about 70 gallons on the shelf!). Otherwise, other sweeteners are ok too. For reference- I’m pro pink curing salt (prefer that to use celery powder or whatnot) and I have some pretty strong botulism/health anxieties, so I’m not really looking for any old fashioned methods or cold smoking techniques. Now that I rambled forever, what are your preferred brines/recipes? Thanks in advance!
