Duroc Pork Belly

[mr_whipple]

I've never had the Duroc or any other heritage pig that I know of, so when I noticed it at the local Kroger I asked if they had whole belly for sale. Yes and no... the pieces he had in the cryovac were all around 4-5 lbs so I took the best looking of what he had on hand at 4.25 lbs and a price that I wasn't liking but what the hey.... I've been looking online at different things like heritage breed pork collars and such so I guess all things considered it wasn't all that bad. Hopefully this makes some good bacon. We shall see.


Out of the bag wiped down and weighed 1887 grams

Gave both sides a nice grind of my fave peppercorn melange.

Applied the salt, cure and sugar. Vac sealed and stashed in the garage fridge for a long rest. See you in a few weeks.

 

[JLeonard]

I've gotten the duroc belly from my Kroger. Its pretty good. Look forward to your bacon cook.

Jim

 

[SmokinEdge]

The guy I buy whole pigs from raises Duroc Berkshire crosses. They are delicious, best pork I’ve ever eaten. You will enjoy that bacon.

 

[mr_whipple]

The guy I buy whole pigs from raises Duroc Berkshire crosses. They are delicious, best pork I’ve ever eaten. You will enjoy that bacon.

For the price I hope so!

 

[indaswamp]

In for the ride...

I really like the heritage breed pork. I get berkshire from a local butcher shop and it is great! The pancettas I made were done with berkshire. Great flavor!

 

[Brokenhandle]

I think you'll like it... most of what I buy is Duroc pork belly!
In for a ride to flavortown!

Ryan

 

[jcam222]

Ours used to have Berkshire bellies often and around $4 a lbs.

 

[SmokinEdge]

The meat from heritage breeds is tender as you would expect and has a wonderful flavor but that all depends on how and what they are fed. That said if done right the fat will have a buttery flavor and is the biggest difference on over all flavor.

 

[mr_whipple]

I'm lovin' this. So... Tuesday was 14 days in the vac seal cure but weather did not permit smoking until Friday. Got off work very early on Friday so I tossed this on the smoker as soon as I got home and got the yard mowed among other things.

Fresh outta the vac seal and heading to the pellet pooper. Awesome color!

Coming along nicely. Lo smoke setting on the camp chef. its 160 and I think smoke level 3. Cabela's cherry pellets. I still don't know who makes them for Cabela's / Bass Pro.

Took a little over 3 hours or so. Let it cool on a rack in a cold oven, then transferred to the garage fridge. Until yesterday. Pulled it to slice.

This was not a whole belly so I was at the mercy of whoever divided it up. I had to cut it this way to make it both fit the slicer,and to have the correct cut in relation to the grain. We'll have somewhart shorter bacon pieces but I can think of far worse problems to have.

I'll say this... the flavor is way above and beyond my normal $ 2.99/lb Costco Swift belly bacon. In fact its ridiculously good. @SmokinEdge you are spot on with the flavor of the fat. Not sure if I'll spend this much to make bacon again, but if I ever try my hand at rolling a Pancetta I won't hesitate. Thanks for looking and enjoy the holiday.

 

[SmokinEdge]

Excellent work. I’m glad your happy with the results. That slab won’t last long Lol.

 

[indaswamp]

Beautiful! Awesome job there!