Curimg time

[lathrop]

I put 2  2#  chunks in the Fridge yesterday, after applying  the cure.    I was wondering when to add pepper and other flavors.  I used the Marianski dry rub.  How long should I let it cure?  I am seeing  various times.  days per # days per 1/2  inch, etc.  on some of the threads.

Marianski's recipe is 200 ppm sodium nitrite. Cure #1=.05 oz. /#.  Salt 3%=.48 oz./# or 4%=.64 oz./#. Bellies are cured for 10 to 14 days. Then  He says to dry for 1-2 hr. @ 122* F. and smoked for 3 hr. at 130* F. bring internal temp to 132 to 140* F.  He says that the sugar and other flavors can be added with the cure. But no amounts are specified.  Maximum Thickness of my bacon is about 1.5"..

Dave suggested I post the the recipe and my questions on a new thread.

I like the idea of cold smoking and this recipe is for hot smoking. Can I use Bearcarver's smoking schedule?

I use his schedule for smoking Salmon and it works well. However he uses TQ for his cure and that is not available here locally.  I have Cure #1 so I used it. 

georgeL

 

[daveomak]

George, morning...... Thanks for starting a new thread....

Yes you can use Bear's smoking schedule...

About Marianski's recipe..... The USDA/FDA whoever, says "For commercially processed bacon, 120 Ppm max. allowable nitrites. (skin off) skin on, reduce the nitrites 10% as the skin doesn't absorb any appreciable amount of nitrite....AND nitrates are not allowed in bacon.... 120 Ppm nitrite is about 0.9 grams per pound or 0.03 oz cure...

That's out of the way......

If skin off and rubbed on both sides of the meat, the cure will penetrate about 1/4" per day, per side... as long as the temp in the refer is about 38-40 deg. F.... say a 2" slab needs 4 days + a couple extra for insurance.... I would go 8 days.... insurance is cheap... then I would rinse and dry the meat and add pepper or other spices to the surface so it will be incorporated while the pellicle forms.... leave in the refer for a several days to equilibrate.... then place the bacon in front of a fan until the surface is "dry"... shiny looking.... that is the pellicle.... then smoke.....

About the time and equilibrating..... Below is from another thread a couple days ago....
+++++++++++++++

There is no way to know what the concentration of cure, salt etc. is, once it has been dumped...

The method of adding cure, salt, spices etc. to a bag is typically called a "Dry Brine".... the brine comes from the meat and none, or very little, water is added... If my bacon is "dry" after a day or 2, I will add 1/8 cup of water for moisture to make sure the surface get uniformly covered with the ingredients.... Not very often that happens...

About dumping the liquid from cured meats in a bag..........

Cure #1 is 6.25% nitrite which is 62.500 Ppm nitrite.... It is all on the surface of the meat..... If you dump the liquid, you are dumping cure and salt etc......

Lets say none was dumped.. after 3-4 days the nitrite and salt etc. are penetrating the meat... the surface may be 25,000 Ppm while the center of the meat is 0 Ppm.... after the proper time for cure to take place, say that is 8-10 days or so, the center of the meat may be 25 Ppm while the outside is say 200 Ppm..... Now you rinse and dry the meat and let it rest in the refer for 2-5 days to "bloom" or come to equilibrium so the bacon has uniformly absorbed all the salt, cure, spices etc.... then it should be about 120 Ppm throughout... If you have added your salt at a 2% addition, there is no need to do a fry test... the bacon is 2% salt throughout....

Anywho...... that's how it's supposed to work...... says so, in fine print, in physics class...

Hope all that makes sense..... If not, let me know... Dave

 

[lathrop]

Thank You so much. Dave,  That was really helpful.  After rereading  Marianski  I was a little concerned that my 200ppm was at the extreme end of allowable.. And the 120 ppm would  be exceeded.. I did add 1

tbs /# of Maple syrup .. so any other flavors I will do as a rub before smoking. The meat is in ziplock bags in the outside fridge. 

We bought 1/2 a pig from a local farm and it is now in the freezers.  Next project is head cheese as we have all or most of the "nasty bits"  I will also be looking in to making a pate based largely on the liver. We found out that most people don't want the nasty bits so they are available for little or no $. Makes me happy because I like things like pickled pigs feet, Etc. Unfortunately The bacon chunks came without skin. I love to use smoked bacon skin as a flavoring in baked beans. 

georgeL

 

[lathrop]

I was out of  town  off and on for several days, so was not able to flip every day.. yesterday I rinsed the 2 slabs and put them back into zip lock bags.  today I I plan to rub with spice and start the drying process.  My son will be here tomorrow so I plan to smoke while he is here to participate.  I plan to use Bear's graduated smoke rather than Marianski's hot smoke.  I have never attempted a picture upload on this site but I will see if I can manage it after the bacon is smoked.

GeorgeL 

 

[Bearcarver]

George,

Yes, no matter which cure you use, and how long you cure, as long as it's cured properly you can you my temps & times for smoking.

I don't Hot smoke or Cold smoke Bacon.

I "Warm Smoke".

IMHO I get nice color & flavor in half the time as cold smoking, without any fat rendering like with hot smoking.

Try it, you'll love it.

Bear

 

[lathrop]

I did make an attempt to use the time/ temp profile in Bacon extra smoky. When towards the end of the process. I decided to get a check on internal temps based on an intant read T. I found that the probe I was using was reading low by a lot.. So 1 slab read 150* f. The Other Was at 130*.F. 

The 150* slab I have eaten. and altho very flavorful was too sweet and not all that smokey. My cure and post cure flavoring  was to was different then yours.  I am now curing another 2 slabs and am tweaking the cure and the smoke flavor to tone it down a bit. I will tasted the 2nd slab tomorrow. [130* finish] 

 My next projects for curing my pig meat are. # 1.. head cheese.. I specified that I wanted all the "Nasty Bits"  and specifically the head. I have looked at Marianski and Kutas and their general curing information is great. However when it comes to recipes they both assume that we will not have access to the nasty bits. So their actual recipes are not usable. As an Aside My job as a 6 or 7 year old [70 years ago] was to pick all the bits of meat off the boiled skull for the making of head cheese. I of course do not know the recipe or what else was included. So I am on the hunt for a recipe.

# 2  I plan to make a liver based country pate. The Recipes in the above books specify about 25% liver. But may not be quite up to the best in recipes. I find their information on processing and curing to be excellent. the recipes are pretty minimal.

Thanks for the smoking directions. I have used Your Salmon smoking multiple times with excellent results.  I have a new meat probe for my 2 channel digital thermometer on order. Hopefully it will be here for the next bacon smoke.

George

 

[Bearcarver]

Thank You George!!

Don't forget, my main objective is not to get my Bacon to a particular internal temp.

I smoke at my temps until I get good color, which generally means good smoke flavor.

The finished IT varies, usually between 105* and 125*, but seldom any higher because my smoker is set at 130*, and fluctuates between 120* and 140*. 

Glad you liked the Salmon!!

Bear