I've made bacon only once before and that was a couple years ago so I went through and pretty much read everyone's bacon posts to get reacquainted. I used the Digging Dog Farm calculator for my salt, sugar, and cure measurements on an 8 pound belly cut in half. One half is just salt, sugar and cure and the other half has is the same plus garlic powder, black pepper, sage, and marjoram. The halves are probably 1.75 inches in the thickest part (there is not much thick fat on them) and they've been curing for 8 days. A lot of folks mention that while the belly is cured by x amount of days (based on their preferred curing time calculation), they like to keep it curing for 12-14 days. So my question is, are the extra days of curing just to be absolutely sure that the belly is cured all the way through, or does the extra time curing do something to the overall flavor? Also, would cold or hot smoking affect whether or not the bacon should stay curing for 14 days even though it's technically cured by 8?
Thanks for any input. We have a ton of rain in the forecast with a couple dry days here and there which is why I'm thinking about getting the bacon smoked soon than later.
Thanks for any input. We have a ton of rain in the forecast with a couple dry days here and there which is why I'm thinking about getting the bacon smoked soon than later.