Cherrywood bacon

[NoobNoob]

hey everyone. I posted this before but because the thread was railroaded I deleted the content and the SMF staff subsequently deleted the thread which I do appreciate. At any rate I chose to go with a tenderquick cure because I am experimenting between that and #1. I’ve done both, I seem to told toward TQ although because it has some sugar in it it changes how the flavor turns out with identical recipes. The recipe I use is simple, the 5.3lb belly had for each pound 1tbsp of TQ, 1tbsp BS, and 1tsp of cracked BP. Rub it all over, put it in a 2 gallon zip bag and put in fridge. I went 10 days. I know a lot of recipes are shorter than that. Maybe 6-8 days. I like 10, I never end up with soft spots that way. Flip and work every day. This time around I used cherrywood to smoke. I won’t do it with TQ again: cherrywood is a good smoke wood for things that can be smoked light and take on a little sweetness. With the added sugar of the tenderquick and the precise amount of brown sugar I added, there wasn’t a harsh enough smoke flavor to offset it in my opinion. So I wound up with a bacon that is mildly sweet without the real smoked bacony flavor. It has great color. And it does taste good and Smokey, it just doesn’t taste like typical bacon. So my next experiment will be to use cherrywood again, but with #1 cure instead. Without the added sugar in the cure I’m expecting to get closer to a traditional flavor but with that good cherrywood sweetness without being overkill.

 

[SmokinVOLfan]

Hell yeah that bacon looks great! I need to pick up a couple bellies and get some more going myself.

 

[GaryHibbert]

Beautiful chunk of belly there. I've never tried cherry with bacon--I'm a diehard hickory fan when it comes to bacon.
Should be some great eating in your near future.
Gary

 

[drdon]

Well......if you don't like it.....I'll be happy to dispose of it for you! I think it looks spot on. You may think it's not up to par, but you DO get to eat the evidence.
Don