Maple bacon

[Jimmy Loos]

Good morning and thank you for letting me join. I've made bacon a number of times in the past but I've never flavored it with anything other than smoke. Until just recently I always cold smoked the bellies. A couple of weeks ago I tried hot smoking bellies and I am very impressed. I use a store bought cure and smoke in a Masterbuilt electric smoker. For me it works fantastic. I'd like to try and flavor the bacon with maple. Has anyone ever used maple extract as a flavoring agent? If so please explain the process.

Thank you
Jimmy (Don't touch my tongs) Loos
The Big daddio of the Patio
The Sultan of Smoke

 

[sawhorseray]

Welcome from Gilbert, AZ Jimmy! I've been making maple bacon for about 20 years now Jimmy, sometimes even add a little honey. Here's a thread on a batch I made a little while back, think this one I used some Mapeliene along with good Grade A syrup. Check it out and see if it works for you.



Maple-Honey, again, but a little different. | Smoking Meat Forums - The Best Barbecue Discussion Forum On Earth!

This one's more recent Jimmy. The maple flavor is there, tho not overpowering

Applewood Smoked Maple Bacon (illustrated) | Smoking Meat Forums - The Best Barbecue Discussion Forum On Earth!

I recently made a batch of breakfast sausage using a maple mix from PS Seasonings, if you're looking for a strong maple flavor try this stuff. RAY

No. 274 Maple Sausage Seasoning – PS Seasoning

 

[Coreymacc]

Maple bacon is simple. 1/4 cup kosher salt,1/4 cup maple syrup,1/4 cup maple sugar, 2 tsp cure for 5 lbs. Mix it all together and slather it on, cure for 5.to 7 days for the salt test you like. I've done hundreds of pounds with this recipe, awesome maple taste

Corey

 

[kruizer]

Welcome to SMF from Minnesota.

 

[Brokenhandle]

Welcome from Iowa!

Ryan

 

[Jimmy Loos]

Welcome from Gilbert, AZ Jimmy! I've been making maple bacon for about 20 years now Jimmy, sometimes even add a little honey. Here's a thread on a batch I made a little while back, think this one I used some Mapeliene along with good Grade A syrup. Check it out and see if it works for you.



Maple-Honey, again, but a little different. | Smoking Meat Forums - The Best Barbecue Discussion Forum On Earth!

This one's more recent Jimmy. The maple flavor is there, tho not overpowering

Applewood Smoked Maple Bacon (illustrated) | Smoking Meat Forums - The Best Barbecue Discussion Forum On Earth!

I recently made a batch of breakfast sausage using a maple mix from PS Seasonings, if you're looking for a strong maple flavor try this stuff. RAY

No. 274 Maple Sausage Seasoning – PS Seasoning

thanks for your help!!

 

[pc farmer]

Maple sugar is what I use. Replace the sugar with maple sugar. Cure for 2 weeks. Remove from the cure and add maple sugar again for a week. Then hang to dry then smoke.

 

[daspyknows]

I need to try this.

 

[mrq]

I'm another bacon newbie and greatly appreciate the recipes. If someone could add times and temp, I'd appreciate it. I tried making 1lb with applewood today. Tasty, but needed a little more salt. I rinsed it off after the brine. Should I have just gone from brine to smoker?

 

[ironhorse07]

Maple bacon is simple. 1/4 cup kosher salt,1/4 cup maple syrup,1/4 cup maple sugar, 2 tsp cure for 5 lbs. Mix it all together and slather it on, cure for 5.to 7 days for the salt test you like. I've done hundreds of pounds with this recipe, awesome maple taste

Corey

whoa, 2 tsp cure for 5 lbs? that's over 300 ppm

 

[Coreymacc]

Most people on here use 1 tsp of cure for 5 lbs and let the bacon stew for over 10 days for the salt to permeate the meat to get a level of salt and cure in. I use 2 tsp but only let the meat sit for 4 to5 days. When I pull mine at 5 days there is just a hint of salt flavor. It perfect for my tastes. If I let it sit for 10 days as most other people do it would be insane for salt. I stand by my recipe.

Corey

 

[DanMcG]

If you went 3 tsp would it be done in a couple days?

 

[SmokinEdge]

Most people on here use 1 tsp of cure for 5 lbs and let the bacon stew for over 10 days for the salt to permeate the meat to get a level of salt and cure in. I use 2 tsp but only let the meat sit for 4 to5 days. When I pull mine at 5 days there is just a hint of salt flavor. It perfect for my tastes. If I let it sit for 10 days as most other people do it would be insane for salt. I stand by my recipe.

Corey

Corey, why not apply salt, cure and sugar by percentage to meat weight? That way you know exactly how salty, sweet the meat will be and repeatable every single time. No matter if it sits for 5 days or 14 days.
I like 1.5% salt so I first convert pounds to grams. (454 grams per pound) 454x0.015=6.81g per pound of meat.
I like 1.0% sugar so, 454x0,01=4.54 grams per pound.
Do yourself a favor and stick with 1tsp cure #1 per 5 pounds or 1.1 grams per pound. This gives you a basic cure that is in equilibrium with the meat weight. If you prefer 2.0% salt and 1.5% sugar then adjust for that and weigh these ingredients. Your bacon will be perfectly cured, salted and sweetened every single time. Absolute repeatability.

 

[Coreymacc]

I searched the net a bunch on cure amount and I find some recipes that say 1tsp for 5 lbs and some that say 2 tsp for 5 lbs. I got my recipe out of a meat curing book years ago, seem either things have changed or the book was wrong or something. Agreed- I'll re-evaluate the recipe and sort this out by weight. .

Corey

 

[SmokinEdge]

Good plan. Be careful about what you read on the interwebs. Even some books for that matter.
The USDA allows no more than 156ppm cure #1 for dry rub cured bacon. Just so you can see how to get there, I will give you the math. Remember 1 pound is 454 grams, so;

454x0.000156 (the allowed parts per million) divided by 0.0625 (the amount of nitrite in cure #1) looks like this per pound.
454x0.000156=0.070824 divided by 0.0625=1.13 grams cure #1 per pound of meat. It is generally accepted that 1tsp per 5 pounds is safe, although may not be exactly 5.5 grams and every brand of teaspoon has a slightly different volume. Measure how you like, but this is how you know to be safe with Cure #1. Be safe and good luck.

 

[ironhorse07]

more cure does not make it penetrate the meat faster

 

[JckDanls 07]

more cure does not make it penetrate the meat faster

I agree with this ...

I also agree that 2 tsp per 5lbs is WAYYY to much ....