Buck board bacon advice

[bigbuck]

Pops brine looks like it did not cure all the way through, i cut salt in half this time around and injected brine into middle, it was a 20 day soak fully submerged in brine is it still ok?
,

 

[smokerjim]

Why dont you think it cured all the way

 

[bigbuck]

Still had some red spots where it was on bottom of container and where i had it submerged with a plate on top to keep it all the way in brine, hopefully its ok I'm putting some smoke to it as we speak

 

[SmokinEdge]

Still had some red spots where it was on bottom of container and where i had it submerged with a plate on top to keep it all the way in brine, hopefully its ok I'm putting some smoke to it as we speak

The spots are just oxidation. Often meat gets a blotchy look in brine, no worries. Once cooked the color will be bright and even.

 

[bigbuck]

The spots are just oxidation. Often meat gets a blotchy look in brine, no worries. Once cooked the color will be bright and even.

Awsome thank you!!

 

[smokerjim]

Agree with smokinedge, your good to go.

 

[bigbuck]

 

[bigbuck]

Not sure i like the brown sugar in the brine, wife said it's too smokey, can i take brown sugar out of brine and maybe use liquid smoke in the brining process instead of smoking it? Thanks

 

[SmokinEdge]

Not sure i like the brown sugar in the brine, wife said it's too smokey, can i take brown sugar out of brine and maybe use liquid smoke in the brining process instead of smoking it? Thanks

After smoking (not sure of your method) you should bag the bacon and refrigerate for at least 24 hours, the smoke will mellow a bunch.

Brown sugar can absolutely be left out. Often when brining long as in 30-40 days, brown sugar can be a contributing factor for brine becoming ropey because of the impurities in brown sugar. Some folks just use white sugar, me included I don’t care for brown sugar on cured meat.

Not much I can tell you about liquid smoke in brine other than there is a processor in the next town down from us who started using it in his brine, I do not care for the taste at all and done buy any products from him because of it.

 

[bigbuck]

I'll try leaving brown sugar out next try, as far as the smoker goes i used to be a welder by trade and built my own that works well, only put smoke to it for an hour with straight kingsford charcoal

 

[SmokinEdge]

I'll try leaving brown sugar out next try, as far as the smoker goes i used to be a welder by trade and built my own that works well, only put smoke to it for an hour with straight kingsford charcoal

Better yet, you should try going with a dry rub next time. In this way you apply exactly the amount of salt, cure #1 and sugar to the meat, it will cure faster and have better flavor.
On the smoke, let it rest a day or two, that smoke will mellow, also using fruit wood like apple or cherry helps keep it mellow as well.

 

[bigbuck]

Ive never calculated dry cure before, not real sure how to do it that way honestly lol

 

[SmokinEdge]

Ive never calculated dry cure before, not real sure how to do it that way honestly lol

Weigh the meat in pounds then multiply that weight by 454, this will give you grams.
I like 1.5% salt, .25% cure #1 and .75% sugar, you can adjust the salt and sugar but leave the cure 1 at .25%

If we have a 5 pound piece of meat, 5 x 454= 2270 grams.
To solve for salt we will multiply 2270 x .015= 34.05g salt.
Cure #1 solve, 2270 x .0025= 5.6g ( cure #1 for a target of 156ppm is applied at 1.1g per pound.

To solve for sugar, 2270 x .0075= 17g

Now mix this together in a bowl and rub all sides of the meat and use all of the cure mix. Place meat in a plastic zip bag and refrigerate turning every other day for about 10-12 days, rinse, dry and smoke. I try to make my total time at 14 days, that’s cure, smoke and rest time before slicing.

This is a very simple process and takes up much less space in the fridge, plus makes a superior product flavor wise. It’s completely predictable and repeatable. You can also use one of the online curing calculators for plug and play. The math just isn’t that difficult though, and learning it you can write down your formula and always have it.