Looking for Low Salt Bacon Recipes

[nascott]

Greetings all and hoping you can help. Working on a new diet for my father who needs to significantly limit his sodium intake. He loves bacon, but obviously it's a red flag food for him.

Now, I know asking about a low salt bacon recipe may sound a little paradoxical, but I'm just curious if anyone else has embarked on this task and come up with a really good cure for slabs of pork belly that is as low on salt as possible but high on flavor.

Thanks in advance!

 

[daspyknows]

There is Pops low salt bacon recipe on here that I have been making. Do a search. I'd post the link which is saved at home but traveling now and you should be able to find it faster or someone can post it.

 

[thirdeye]

From a dry cure perspective, my typical recipe is 1.5% (or sometimes 1.75%) salt and 1% sugar, and of course the standard 0.25% Cure #1. I always use cracked pepper. The lowest I've gone is 1% salt. Salt is necessary, so at some point the curing process will suffer if you keep reducing the salt percentage.

Another option is trying fresh side pork, which is un-cured pork belly. You basically slice it and fry (or bake) it, but you season it before frying. You can add as little salt as you want, and other seasoning options are up to you.

One more option is streak-o-lean, which is cured side pork, but it's not smoked. You can read about it here:

Streak O' Lean ~aka~ Side Meat ~aka~ Salt Pork

It goes by several names, and if you come from the South you may have had it (if you're old enough).... or if your kinfolk still cook with the old ways. With me it's definitely a Grandpa thing. Streak O' Lean is cured but un-smoked pork belly, in other words, think fresh side pork that has...

www.smokingmeatforums.com

 

[smokerjim]

Not real familiar with the dry brine method but I have used pops quite a few times as mentioned he has a low salt version then after you cured it you can soak in fresh water to get more of the salt out.

 

[mneeley490]

There is Pops low salt bacon recipe on here that I have been making. Do a search. I'd post the link which is saved at home but traveling now and you should be able to find it faster or someone can post it.

I think Pop's recipe calls for up to 1 cup of salt per gallon. My sweet spot has always been just a smidge over 1/3 cup of salt per gallon.

 

[Hijack73]

You can safely wet brine is an extremely low salt environment. I am not experienced enough on dry brining to make a call on that, but thirdeye is giving you good advice on that subject.

Pop's extra lo salt wet brine is as follows below. 1/4 cup is more than enough to keep it safe but this MUST be kept chilly. You can also safely remove even more salt after the cure with a 24 hour soak in cold/iced water as per smokerjim . Bland bacon is a damn sight better than no bacon, and I would think that soaking it would make it pretty bland.

Pops or someone once experimented with curing with only the salt in the curing salt (#1) but it's probably buried so deeply in a post that I'd never find it. I remember only that it did cure.


I am now using my low salt curing brine with pork and beef

as well as poultry.

To each gallon of water, add:

1 heaping tbsp pink salt #1

¼ - ½ cup salt

½ cup white sugar or sugar substitute

½ cup brown sugar or substitute

any other flavorings you would like, such as maple extract, whiskey, pickling spices (corned beef, pastrami, etc.).



Stir thoroughly. Do NOT heat. Pour over meat until submerged and weight down in a container or food safe* container.

 

[SmokinEdge]

Low salt bacon really should be done with a dry rub. Can anyone who wet brines or cover pickles their meat tell me how much salt is in the meat? Well can you? No you cannot. With a dry rub you will know exactly how much salt is in the meat. You will apply the salt in percentage to the meat and all of that salt will act on the meat. With a brine it’s all about uptake to the meat. If my brine is 6% salt, then how much of that salt will go into the meat? It’s really unknown. At best it’s variable.