Finally found pork belly at Costco a couple weeks back (they carry it infrequently around here it seems) and decided to give it a go at making some bacon. Got two 9ish pound slabs, cut them into thirds, and used Bear's TQ recipe.
After the requisite amount of time curing (about 9 days), the fry test was conducted and was pleased to find it wasn't salty at all. I decided to use equal parts brown sugar to TQ, so if anything the sugar peeked through a bit. After sitting overnight in the fridge topped with black pepper, garlic and onion powder, they went into the MES30 with hickory smoke for a full 12 hours.
They came out looking fantastic, and were sliced after setting for two days in the fridge. Originally intended to use a 9" slicer I found on an Amazon lightning deal, but decided to just use the knife instead and save some money. They aren't grocery store thin, but I like it a bit thicker anyways.
It turned out absolutely great! Much thanks to bear and others who have paved the way on this! It tasted much better than store bought, and cleaner (if that makes sense?). The smoke was there but not overpowering, and I was able to actually taste the pork. Looking back it's not that store bought tasted bad, but in comparison it strikes me as tasting much more processed. Will be vac sealing a lot of it tonight, but I'm sure I will have to do another batch before too long!
After the requisite amount of time curing (about 9 days), the fry test was conducted and was pleased to find it wasn't salty at all. I decided to use equal parts brown sugar to TQ, so if anything the sugar peeked through a bit. After sitting overnight in the fridge topped with black pepper, garlic and onion powder, they went into the MES30 with hickory smoke for a full 12 hours.
They came out looking fantastic, and were sliced after setting for two days in the fridge. Originally intended to use a 9" slicer I found on an Amazon lightning deal, but decided to just use the knife instead and save some money. They aren't grocery store thin, but I like it a bit thicker anyways.
It turned out absolutely great! Much thanks to bear and others who have paved the way on this! It tasted much better than store bought, and cleaner (if that makes sense?). The smoke was there but not overpowering, and I was able to actually taste the pork. Looking back it's not that store bought tasted bad, but in comparison it strikes me as tasting much more processed. Will be vac sealing a lot of it tonight, but I'm sure I will have to do another batch before too long!
