Makin bacon

[lemans]

So on my vacation to Virginia I was able to score this awesome pork belly at an awesome country store called Games in Hampton Va.. they had every cut of pork and beef you could want.. anyhow I got a 8lb pork belly with the skin on!! So I am curing it right now with maple sugar and curing salt for 7 days. I will keep you
On the journey...

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• lemans
• Jul 5, 2017

 

[lemans]

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• lemans
• Jul 5, 2017

 

[lemans]

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• lemans
• Jul 5, 2017

 

[SmokinAl]

Looks good so far!

Al

 

[lemans]

So .. being my first belly. I did not remove the skin but I did score it criss/cross before applying the cure.. the thickest part is like 2 " thick and I was planning 7 days
Before I opened them up .. should I go longer?

 

[tropics]

Lemans what is in the curing salt?

With the skin on it will not absorb the cure as much as it should even scored.

Richie

 

[lemans]

Should I leave it in the cure 14 days???

 

[tropics]

Should I leave it in the cure 14 days???

Lemans What is in the curing salt ? That info would help,I can not tell you it would be okay not knowing the cure

Richie

 

[daveomak]

Cure...  It is recommended that 7 days per inch of thickness for adequate penetration...   I'd let it go for 14 days...  Also, sugar molecules are fairly large and take longer to penetrate than the salt..... 

 

[lemans]

image.jpg

• lemans
• Jul 6, 2017

So this is what I am using.. since it has been less than 24 hours , should I start over wash off the cure and skin it??

 

[daveomak]

That's real close to the commercial blend that I use....    Do they recommend adding at a rate of 2% of the weight of the meat ??

With a concentration of 0.7% nitrite, that translates to 154  140 Ppm nitrite, when added at 2%...   Perfect for bacon...  The salt might be a little low...   after your first batch, a taste test will let you know..   I find the salt not noticeable and don't add any extra...  that could be done at the start of the batch or at the table if you want to up the salt..

Anywho...   enjoy...   sure looks good in the bag....

 

[tropics]

image.jpg

• lemans
• Jul 6, 2017

So this is what I am using.. since it has been less than 24 hours , should I start over wash off the cure and skin it??

I do not know that product

If you have cure #1 I would recommend washing it off and make your own cure,according to the weight off each piece.

Richie 

http://www.diggingdogfarm.com/page2.html

 

[daveomak]

 

image.jpg

• lemans
• Jul 6, 2017

So this is what I am using.. since it has been less than 24 hours , should I start over wash off the cure and skin it??

I do not know that product

If you have cure #1 I would recommend washing it off and make your own cure,according to the weight off each piece.

Richie 

http://www.diggingdogfarm.com/page2.html

Richie, morning....   Just curious...  Why would you wash off that product ??  It appears to be a good product ??

Dave

 

[tropics]

 

 

image.jpg

• lemans
• Jul 6, 2017

So this is what I am using.. since it has been less than 24 hours , should I start over wash off the cure and skin it??

I do not know that product

If you have cure #1 I would recommend washing it off and make your own cure,according to the weight off each piece.

Richie 

http://www.diggingdogfarm.com/page2.html

Richie, morning....   Just curious...  Why would you wash off that product ??  It appears to be a good product ??

Dave

I do not know the % of the sodium nitrite in the bag!

Richie

 

[daveomak]

Sodium nitrite is 0.7%...   on the label....  basically it is a commercial mix packaged for home use....

If you have 1000 grams of meat and add 2% of the mix, that addition would be 20 grams.... 

20 grams X 0.007 % nitrite = 140 Ppm nitrite in the meat...  

Well, I see I screwed up the calculation in my previous post....   I'll have to correct that.....

 

[tropics]

 
Sodium nitrite is 0.7%...   on the label....  basically it is a commercial mix packaged for home use....

If you have 1000 grams of meat and add 2% of the mix, that addition would be 20 grams.... 

20 grams X 0.007 % nitrite = 140 Ppm nitrite in the meat...  

Well, I see I screwed up the calculation in my previous post....   I'll have to correct that.....

Guess that is why I use the digidog calc.

Because 0.7% of what? I don't know how big that bag is,just trying to help.

Richie

I have seen you questions mixes before  

 

[lemans]

Dave
What about the fact that I didn't take the skin off..
Each piece is approximately 4 lbs each. So what do you think 7-10 days?

 

[SmokyMose]

I'm curious how the skin will affect it. I didn't know you could cure with the skin on, but I'm by no means expert....

Were you planning to smoke with the skin on?

 

[link]

I am most definitely not an expert, but when I make my bacon (skin off) I always go 14 days to be safe. This has always worked for me.   

I have not used a store bought cure before but that one sounds good. 

Good luck

Link

 

[daveomak]

Skin doesn't absorb cure, or so someone says, so it may not penetrate from the skin side...  leaving a full 2" to travel...   Thickness is how we gauge length of time for curing...

Probably not a big deal...  folks here usually do 7-10 day cure....   about 2 years ago, I started curing 2-3 weeks and I find a big improvement in the flavor...   

Just because you take it out of the bag, doesn't mean the curing has stopped...   If you rinse and hang or refer again to "bloom" the meat is still curing...    It will cure until you cook it, or freeze it...  flavors will mingle...  taste will improve..

Commercial folks inject and smoke the next morning..   or add liquid smoke and cook in a steam chamber...

Anything you do makes better bacon than those folks..,.,.