Complete virgin to curing meat, in this case it is going to be belly bacon.............NEED help with a dry cure recipe PLEASE!!!

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The Digging Dog calculator, Bearcarver's step by step and mine are all fine methods. Trust me, if you just stick to the steps, it will be great!
 
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Thank you all very much.

I've got a week of PORK planned, last night I couldn't sleep once again, so I marinated two pork butts with OJ LOTS of garlic 2 whole bulbs to be exact, and a tamale seasoning packet of spices that I get at the Mexican store all blended with 3/4 cup of Canola oil and pored and rubbed all over the butts.
I'll either smoke or braise them either tonight or tomorrow and make tamales either Tue or Wed.

If the restaurant supply has Tender Quick I'll pick up a bag this afternoon and start in on
"Bear's Famous Bacon" with in the next day or two

Thanks a bunch Bear for some reason I have a fear of destroying this chunk of belly/ it's a nice thick one that I picked out at Costco the other day. ( Mainly because I know how awesome it is BBQ'd)

To have it all laid out step by step like you guys have done for me is a HUGE confidence booster for me.
Normally I don't worry about messing up because I can normally get things pretty close to what I expect out such a nice chunk of meat but this whole cure thing being so new too me has me a little flustered. LOL.


I'll make sure to take pictures as it goes too share with everyone that has helped me and for people that are worried about curing their own bacon.

Thanks again.
Dan
 
Do you think if I added a 1/4 cup of good maple syrup to each individual bag of bacon cure that it would be ok?
Look at me... I can't seem to leave well enough alone, once again I always have to put my twist on things.
I can't help it, I was raised to cook to taste and I absolutely love Maple smoke bacon.:emoji_joy:

Thanks a bunch.
Dan:emoji_thumbsup:
 
While I've got you all here can you help me pick out a slicer that won't break the bank on Amazon?
I don't want to spend very much maybe $150 less would be better but I don't want absolute junk either.

My last slicer was a cheap'O that I bought at the flea market for $15 I mainly bought it for slicing Abalone back when we used to be able to dive for them here in the Republic of Californistan and when we moved I tossed it into the dumpster. (It was garbage).

Thank you very much.
Dan
 
Do you think if I added a 1/4 cup of good maple syrup to each individual bag of bacon cure that it would be ok?
Look at me... I can't seem to leave well enough alone, once again I always have to put my twist on things.
I can't help it, I was raised to cook to taste and I absolutely love Maple smoke bacon.:emoji_joy:

Thanks a bunch.
Dan:emoji_thumbsup:


I'm not sure, but I think Disco might have had some success with getting Maple flavor in some Bacon. Check with him.
I tried numerous times, by putting real Maple Syrup in the bags with my TQ.
I even bought a container of Maple Sugar & tried that.
And since I didn't want my Bacon all sticky by putting Syrup on it after curing, before smoking, I just said "The Heck with it!"

Bear
 
Do you think if I added a 1/4 cup of good maple syrup to each individual bag of bacon cure that it would be ok?

You absolutely CAN do this. From day one, I've made bacon Disco style and one flavor is maple and brown sugar. I rub the bellies with maple syrup, add the cure and rub it in, then rub brown sugar on top of all that (both sides). Once the cure time is finished, rinse the bellies in cool water and pat dry with paper towels. Then rub a bit more maple syrup and brown sugar on them, sit in fridge overnight, and smoke. You are unlimited in the flavors you can add to the bacon. Done many different profiles and all have been great. One of my favorites was Cajun. The only caveat is that you get the correct amount of cure on the meat. Outside of that, just go for it!!

Robert
 
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I picked up a bag of T.Q. this afternoon while I was in the store I ran into a guy that runs one of our local butcher shops, they have awesome bacon and sausage. I asked him for a few tips on how they get their maple flavor into their bacon and sausage, and he pointed to the spice section and said maple extract and a little extra brown sugar during the curing process. I figured since this is my first attempt that I'm going to stick with the original recipe, I'll try adding the maple on my second batch if I feel the need to change things up.

Thanks guys.
Dan
 
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With Bearcarver Bearcarver as my bacon mentor and answering my many questions last night I cured up 14lbs of bacon. I figured that I'd save the pictures for when the bacon comes out of the cure IE: that means I got lazy and didn't take before pictures. LOL
I'll make sure to take some when they come out of the cure and before and after the smoker.

Thanks a bunch to everyone that has posted up and offered to help me, I really appreciate that.
By the way so far it was much easier than I expected, it might have taken me 40 minutes total because i was double and triple checking my Tender Quick measurements. The brown sugar measurements I used a teaspoon and a half per pound and I also added 1/2 teaspoon coarse black pepper to each 3 to 3 1/2 pound chunk, that one was on me John adds his pepper after the bacon comes out of the bag. We keep strange hours in our house because my wife works nights and I got bored and decided to go for it, so I winged the pepper thing before John was able to answer my question about adding it before or after it is cured, oop's. :emoji_joy:

Thanks again.
Dan
 
I also added 1/2 teaspoon coarse black pepper to each 3 to 3 1/2 pound chunk, that one was on me John adds his pepper after the bacon comes out of the bag.

Dan...glad it all came out for you....so far anyway. Based on how careful you were I have all the faith that it'll be perfect. I took a different route and used a different mentor and was continually being assured that it was very easy but you did well going with John's tutelage. It's still kind of intimidating the first time. It'll be a cakewalk from now on though.

Insofar as the pepper goes, one of the two flavors of bacon I make is a pepper crusted. I coat the entire slab after the cure is applied then into the fridge to cure. After curing time I rinse the slabs off, then add another massive coating of pepper then let sit a day or two in the fridge uncovered before smoking it. You'll be fine the way you went about your process....but things will not be fine going forward. Like so many other people, you're going to be addicted from the very first bite and you'll never want store bought bacon again. You'll also never want to order breakfast at a restaurant with bacon or a BLT that you don't make yourself. There is no cure for the addiction and no 12-step program. You're a dedicated bacon maker for life, I can just about promise you that.

Robert
 
Dan...glad it all came out for you....so far anyway. Based on how careful you were I have all the faith that it'll be perfect. I took a different route and used a different mentor and was continually being assured that it was very easy but you did well going with John's tutelage. It's still kind of intimidating the first time. It'll be a cakewalk from now on though.

Insofar as the pepper goes, one of the two flavors of bacon I make is a pepper crusted. I coat the entire slab after the cure is applied then into the fridge to cure. After curing time I rinse the slabs off, then add another massive coating of pepper then let sit a day or two in the fridge uncovered before smoking it. You'll be fine the way you went about your process....but things will not be fine going forward. Like so many other people, you're going to be addicted from the very first bite and you'll never want store bought bacon again. You'll also never want to order breakfast at a restaurant with bacon or a BLT that you don't make yourself. There is no cure for the addiction and no 12-step program. You're a dedicated bacon maker for life, I can just about promise you that.

Robert

Oh good, so I didn't totally choke....lol

I almost didn't plant a garden this year because my back has been acting up horribly.
At the last minute I decided to plant 3 tom's an eggplant. 4 peppers and 6 basil , oregano, thyme and rosemary. Much smaller than my normal garden but at least I will have some fresh tom's for BLT's.
 
Thursday will be day 7 of my T.Q. bacon cure I got four 3-4 lb chunks curing. At day 2 of the cure I decided to add 2 oz of pure maple syrup to two of the slabs so I can do a taste test between the two. I plan on pulling them out of the brine bags Sunday morning which will be day 10 of the cure. Then I plan on rinsing them well and putting them back in the refer uncovered for a day or two depending on how well the pellicle has formed.
Then I'll load them into my barrel with blend of hickory and apple wood pellets in the Amazin Smoke tube. I'll burn the whole tube then back into the refer overnight then add a little heat and another smoke tube full of the same hickory/apple blend then back into the refer once again. Depending on how it looks it may of may not be done, if it needs more color I will run another tube in the cold smoker.

I am very excited about this bacon, I already have more bellies waiting for 2.0 bacon attempt. Next time I will do half in Pop's brine and half with the T.Q. again to see which one the little lady and I prefer. My family will benefit from my bacon testing. LOL They already use me as their own personal grill master, not that I think that I am a master of the grill but all that counts is they do, and they keep my beer fridge stocked. LOL

Once again, thank you all very much the curing part of making bacon was so much easier than I expected.

I'll make sure to post up some before the smoke and after the smoke pic's.
Dan
 
Bear's assisted Tender Quick bacon. You can't tell which had maple syrup and which didn't.
And all the pepper washed off..
Im hoping the flavors shine through after it's smoked.

Depending on what I have going on is going to regulate how many days it sits in the refer drying out a bit.


So far so good!!!

Thank you all for your help I really appreciate it a bunch.
Dan

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k.
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Bacon is in the UDS smoker/ cold smoker today.

I stuck the Maze full of hickory apple wood dust in the bottom of my drum and with all the vents open it's working well as a cold smoker.
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Bacon is in the UDS smoker/ cold smoker today.

I stuck the Maze full of hickory apple wood dust in the bottom of my drum and with all the vents open it's working well as a cold smoker.View attachment 447929
6 hrs in the cold smoker, then back into the refer for round 2 tommorow. Getting close to BLT's
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Bear guidance bacon with a maple twist.
I added black pepper and 2 OZ of pure maple syrup to the cure.
Subtle but it was there.

All I can say is it is freak'in good stuff. The next batch I will round down instead of up on the T.Q. the thick hand cut slices were a but salty. Not bad, just a touch.

good stuff man, thank you.
Dan.
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Well I tried to fix my salty bacon by soaking it for 4-5 hrs nope still salty. Next time I will not round up on the T.Q.
and I'll cut back on the sugar because it burns super easily.
I will use this bacon in beans, soups and pasta. I have 6 lbs to use up, which won't be a problem. I'm loving my new 10" Lem slicer although it only slices 7-3/4" which is kinda dumb for a 10" slicer.

here's the bacon sliced and ready to freeze.
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Well I tried to fix my salty bacon by soaking it for 4-5 hrs nope still salty. Next time I will not round up on the T.Q.
and I'll cut back on the sugar because it burns super easily.
I will use this bacon in beans, soups and pasta. I have 6 lbs to use up, which won't be a problem. I'm loving my new 10" Lem slicer although it only slices 7-3/4" which is kinda dumb for a 10" slicer.

here's the bacon sliced and ready to freeze.View attachment 449030View attachment 449031


Yup---I never round "Up" with TQ---I Round Down.
If I'm using Cure #1, I will Round "Up", if at all.
Looks Great though!!

Bear
 
Yup---I never round "Up" with TQ---I Round Down.
If I'm using Cure #1, I will Round "Up", if at all.
Looks Great though!!

Bear
Oh, it's good.......4 people have offered to take it all from me, I just don't like salty food.
A lot of store bought bacon is too salty for me but seeing this was my first slab I wanted to make sure I didn't kill anybody. LOL!!! I'm going to try the cure 1 next, that way I can control the saltiness a little better.
I'll also back of on the sugar as this slab seems to burn before the fat is rendered down as much as I like it to be. I find myself cooking it at a much lower temp that I normally do with store bought bacon.
 
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