First Time with Bacon

[JBCWCHS06]

After your first cure, rinse the bacon thoroughly, discard brine and pat dry. Get the sugar of your choice eg. brown sugar, and apply ~2% of weight of the bacon evenly. Set the bacon back in the container for a week flipping a couple times. Take bacon out, do not rinse, discard liquid and place bacon on rack in fridge to dry for 6-12 hours. I cold smoke for 3 sessions with a day of rest inbetween sessions then rest at least a few days always resting bacon around 45 F allowing smoke to mellow out. This will give you a more balanced salt/sugar ratio and caramel flavor from molasses if using brown sugar. Hope this helps.

Oh yeah that definitely helps and almost makes me wanna thaw out another half of a pork belly and give it another try

 

[Capitalist_PIG]

I am a little late to reply this mostly because I just joined. From reading your initial recipe measured in TBSP, I see you were running your salt weight around the 80-100 gram mark for 2.272 kg of meat. That puts your salt content in your cure around 3.5 to 4.5% with a short equilibrium brining time. That is more akin to gradient brining a turkey than equilibrium brining a ham. I second the poster that says weigh everything preferably in a base 10 system like grams and kilograms. Volume measurements are highly inaccurate and produce varying results. But it seems like you are getting the hang of it after all of your other comments. Whether you are a baker or a butcher, a good weigh scale is invaluable. If you don't already have one, I recommend the American weigh scale Precision digital for small batch cure measures. https://www.amazon.com/American-Wei...lja1JlZGlyZWN0JmRvTm90TG9nQ2xpY2s9dHJ1ZQ&th=1

 

[SmokinEdge]

Well finally finished up my second batch and I'm alot happier with this one. Only rested it for 3 days before cutting and tried to cut it a lot thinner then last time. The only thing I would change is maybe cold smoke for 4-5 hours for a couple of days instead of 8 hours one day and maybe let it cure for a little longer. Only thing that I can't figure out is my wife said she wanted it a tad bit sweeter would it make a difference if I added a little more sugar in the cure or some brown sugar on top before cold smoking. Overall a lot happier this time. Thanks everyone for all the help.

Just be careful with the added sugar. It’s fine, but the meat will burn easily in the frying pan. Microwave not as bad, but who wants microwave bacon really?

 

[JBCWCHS06]

Oh

Just be careful with the added sugar. It’s fine, but the meat will burn easily in the frying pan. Microwave not as bad, but who wants microwave bacon really?

Oh I'll probably just go very light on it just honestly trying to get a tad bit sweeter on it. Love the flavor of my last batch the wife just wanted it a bit sweeter but might go a little sweeter with the pellet on the cold smoke. I just really need to also figure out to get it a little thinner.

 

[SmokinEdge]

Oh

Oh I'll probably just go very light on it just honestly trying to get a tad bit sweeter on it. Love the flavor of my last batch the wife just wanted it a bit sweeter but might go a little sweeter with the pellet on the cold smoke. I just really need to also figure out to get it a little thinner.

It’s all good. Just remember that more sugar, no matter how applied, means more burning in the pan When fried.

I run 1.5% salt with .5% sugar. Sometimes I bump that sugar to .75% but it’s starts burning in the pan there. If you want a sweeter bacon I suggest you bake it rather than fry it.

 

[kvn]

Hello,

I did get some great tips on the bacon, I will tell you, its not my recipe, but Amazing ribs.com has 2 great bacon recipes was very impressed on how mine turned out. I did 4 bellies and used the same process.

How To Make Smoked Homemade Bacon - It Is So Much Better Than Store Bought

Homemade bacon is easy and the results are much better than grocery store smoked bacon. Once you have the basic homemade smoked bacon recipe down, you can vary the ingredients to make countless flavor variations.

amazingribs.com

Some may think its cheating to use his recipe, i think it makes sense,

I like to brine in smaller chunks and do for right around 10-20 days

here is a photo of after brining and cold smoking for a day then put into the pit boss,

 

[newbiesmoker]

When I did my bacon I had it in the fridge for 20 days then kept in fridge to form pelicles. Put on smoker for 4hrs 2 days in a row. Put in freezer then sliced.

 

[kilohertz]

I just started making bacon in January of this year and was guided by many of the same fine fellows who have helped you here. I ended up going with DougE method and finalized my ratios at .25%#1 cure salt, 1.5% Kosher and 1-1.5% brown or Demarara sugar. I bought a little 500g scale and use a small stainless bowl, zero the scale then add the sugar, Kosher and finally #1, in that order so that the scale is measuring the smallest amount ingredient in a more accurate range. Then whisk it all together with a mini whisk and rub onto the meat and then right into the zip lock. Within and hour there is moisture being pulled out of the pork and cure process begins. Usually let it go 10-12 days in the fridge then pull it out of the bag, onto a rack and back in the fridge overnight without rinsing. In the winter I would cold smoke for about 4-5 hours (one session of the Amazin Smokin Tube) worth of pellets, mashed up into a powder which burns slower/cooler. Wrap in cling film overnight in the fridge then hot smoke the next day or 2 for about 4 hours at 180*F until internal temp hits 145*, then 2 days in the fridge, again wrapped in plastic, then slice and eat. In the summer I skip the cold smoke step as the outdoor temps are in the 80's and it's hard to keep the meat cold without extra measures.

I have made about 10 batches so far, and all turned out just great.

I again owe my sucess to the fellows here who are also helping you.

Cheers