My Bacon Process..

[chef jimmyj]

Lou, I just confirmed with Martin that if you leave the Skin On you need to reduce the Weight of the Meat you enter in his Cure Calculator by 10%. This is because Skin does no take cure so you use less so as not to put too much on the meat...Thanks again for confirming Martin...JJ

 

[louballs]

Lou, I just confirmed with Martin that if you leave the Skin On you need to reduce the Weight of the Meat you enter in his Cure Calculator by 10%. This is because Skin does no take cure so you use less so as not to put too much on the meat...Thanks again for confirming Martin...JJ

Great tip!! Thanks again! Excited for the trial.

 

[louballs]

Well it has begun!

My knife wasn't really good enough to make good work of the skin so I decided to just leave it on this go around. I made three different types:

Chocolate Chipotle:

Chocolate Chipotle
with skin on	1741g
after 10% deduction	1566.9g
chipotle powder	9g
cocoa powder	9g
cure #1	3.91g
kosher salt	27.67g
brown sugar	15.67g

Smoked Paprika Garlic Pepper:

with skin on	1847g
after 10% deduction	1662.3g
smoked paprika	8g
gran garlic	8g
black pepper	8g
cure #1	4.05g
kosher salt	28.65g
brown sugar	16.22g

Brown Sugar Maple (maple extract to be added after some water gets pulled out):

with skin on	1768g
after 10% deduction	1591.2g
cure# 1	3.97g
kosher salt	28.1g
brown sugar	15.91g

Here are some photos so far:

IMG_20130315_184758.jpg

• louballs
• Mar 15, 2013

IMG_20130315_193836.jpg

• louballs
• Mar 15, 2013

Now my next question. I know to flip these everyday, how do I tell when they are fully cured?? Any surefire ways?

Thanks!!

 

[diggingdogfarm]

There's no surefire way to tell if it's fully cured.
There will be changes in the meat, it'll firm up and change color, but neither are a reliable way too tell if it's completely cured.
You need to allow sufficient time for the salt and cure to penetrate and equalize throughout the meat.
I allow 6-7 per inch of total thickness when applying a dry mix.

HTH

~Martin

 

[louballs]

Thanks! So a 2 inch piece is about 12-14 days then? Is is possible to over do it? If i let it cure for too long does it have any negative effects? I figured better safe than sorry...

 

[louballs]

Well added two of my three slabs to the smoker today. One is a bit thicker so I'm letting it cure a little more. I'll be honest, during my salt test I would have hoped the bacon took on more of the spices I put on it. Was barely noticeable. Ran into another snag today. The AMNS does NOT fit well in the smoker at all so I had to prop it up crooked. I had it going for a little while then left for work. Came home to discover that it went out not long after I lit it! So I just relit and left the door open a crack and used some masking tape to hold it shut. Hopefully the extra air will do the trick! Below are some pics

IMG_20130327_224826.jpg

• louballs
• Mar 28, 2013

IMG_20130326_195505.jpg

• louballs
• Mar 28, 2013

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• louballs
• Mar 28, 2013

 

[louballs]

Well I finally sliced up and ate my bacon! Its awesome!! I was a little surprised on how little the meat absorbed the spices that I put on them, but still its awesome!!! Thanks everyone for their help!!

IMG_20130413_133009.jpg

• louballs
• Apr 14, 2013

IMG_20130413_134523.jpg

• louballs
• Apr 14, 2013

 

[daveomak]

lou, morning...... Your bacon looks MY-T-FINE to me.....  good job.... 

 ...  Dave

 

[Bearcarver]

Looks Great Lou!!!

Now you're hooked!!

I have found putting spices like Garlic Powder, CBP, Onion Powder, and Paprika works better after curing, before forming pellicle, than putting it in with the cure. The only thing I add to my TQ Cure is Brown Sugar.

Bear

 

[louballs]

Looks Great Lou!!!

Now you're hooked!!

I have found putting spices like Garlic Powder, CBP, Onion Powder, and Paprika works better after curing, before forming pellicle, than putting it in with the cure. The only thing I add to my TQ Cure is Brown Sugar.

Bear

Thanks for the suggestion, will try that next time!