Chewy bacon

[ACR]

Hi I am new to this site and I have a problem. I wet brine a pork belly and left it in 14 days. I put it in the smoker and smoked at 165 until the internal temp was 145. The bacon is salty. I can adjust for that. But it is also very chewy. Can somebody tell me why this happened or what I can do to avoid it next time thank you very much.

 

[mneeley490]

Hello, and welcome to the forums!

Could be a few things, but the first one that comes to mind is, did you let it dry uncovered on a rack in the fridge for a day or two before smoking? That will help, not only with the texture, but also with forming the pellicule necessary for smoke to adhere.
As for saltiness, many folks here (myself included) swear by Pop's Brine recipe; you can do a search up at the top. It calls for up to 1 cup of Kosher salt per gallon of water, but I have found that the sweet spot for me is 1/3 cup + 1 Tablespoon per gallon.

 

[JLeonard]

^^^^^ for sure.
As far as the chewey......Was it cut against or with the grain?

Jim

 

[SmokinAl]

Dry cure 14 days
Rinse & dry in fridge 4 days uncovered
Cold smoke 10 hours, or multiple days with it in the fridge overnight
Dry uncovered in fridge for 4 days
Freeze for 3 hours & slice against the grain
Al

 

[kilo charlie]

If you were following something like Pops Brine.. even after you hot smoke it, it still needs to be fried in a pan to get it crispy.

 

[SmokyMose]

It may have something to do with how thin you're slicing it.
I can't get really thin slices with my slicer and "thick sliced" is the best I can do, but when fried enough the chewiness isn't as noticeable.

 

[ACR]

Hello, and welcome to the forums!

Could be a few things, but the first one that comes to mind is, did you let it dry uncovered on a rack in the fridge for a day or two before smoking? That will help, not only with the texture, but also with forming the pellicule necessary for smoke to adhere.
As for saltiness, many folks here (myself included) swear by Pop's Brine recipe; you can do a search up at the top. It calls for up to 1 cup of Kosher salt per gallon of water, but I have found that the sweet spot for me is 1/3 cup + 1 Tablespoon per gallon.

It may have something to do with how thin you're slicing it.
I can't get really thin slices with my slicer and "thick sliced" is the best I can do, but when fried enough the chewiness isn't as noticeable.

Ok thank you

 

[south bend bacon]

Cutting across the slab is important for tender bacon but in my opinion bacon is not meant for wet brine or hot smoking

 

[pit 4 brains]

You got the good info here. All I can add is do a few more bellies, use one standard (like Pop's brine)try different methods of restin / drying and slicing. Take notes of what you've done.
Lastly, don't compare your bacon with the store bought stuff.
Thanks for reminding me, I have two bellies and some BBB to slice today..

 

[SmokinEdge]

Some good advice has already been given, I will only add that the age of the animal has a large part in this as well, nothing saying you didn’t buy a piece of belly that was from an old sow. We butcher a few old sows every year. We keep the fresh side for bacon and grind the rest for sausage. The bacon is delicious but very chewy, so we slice it thin and crisp it in the pan . We suffer through but we know why it’s tough but it still needs to be used up.

 

[ACR]

Cutting across the slab is important for tender bacon but in my opinion bacon is not meant for wet brine or hot smoking

Thank you for your reply.

 

[ACR]

You got the good info here. All I can add is do a few more bellies, use one standard (like Pop's brine)try different methods of restin / drying and slicing. Take notes of what you've done.
Lastly, don't compare your bacon with the store bought stuff.
Thanks for reminding me, I have two bellies and some BBB to slice today..

Good advice thank you

 

[SmokyMose]

don't compare your bacon with the store bought stuff.

I second that ^^^

 

[ACR]

I would like mine to be better than store bought. But this is my first attempt at bacon.

 

[gmc2003]

Dry cure 14 days
Rinse & dry in fridge 4 days uncovered
Cold smoke 10 hours, or multiple days with it in the fridge overnight
Dry uncovered in fridge for 4 days
Freeze for 3 hours & slice against the grain
Al

This right here^^^

I would like mine to be better than store bought. But this is my first attempt at bacon.

My first attempt at bacon tasted hammy. It needed more smoke. So the next time I made bacon I smoked it for 8 hours. It was better, but still had a slight hammy taste. Now I go 10 plus hours of cold smoking, and it makes all the difference in the world.

Chris

 

[pit 4 brains]

It will be..

 

[Fueling Around]

I would like mine to be better than store bought. But this is my first attempt at bacon.

What are you wanting "better" than store bought?
What recipe did you use for the first batch?
Most commercial bacon is injection brined and that process is almost a Jaccard in terms of tenderizing the belly. A tumble cure adds to the meat tenderizing.
Home cured bacon should have a pleasing chew.

 

[ACR]

What are you wanting "better" than store bought?
What recipe did you use for the first batch?
Most commercial bacon is injection brined and that process is almost a Jaccard in terms of tenderizing the belly. A tumble cure adds to the meat tenderizing.
Home cured bacon should have a pleasing chew.

One gal water one cup salt and one ounce insta cure #1. Thank you

 

[mneeley490]

One gal water one cup salt and one ounce insta cure #1. Thank you

No sugar to balance the salt? Pop's brine uses a cup each of white and brown sugar.

 

[Fueling Around]

I use 1% salt and no sugar often. Just have to cure longer as the salt is a catalyst for the nitrite.