My first bacon, need some guidance please, best method for small belly cut

[SmokinEdge]

Yup, looks delicious. Waiting for the cut and final.

 

[kilohertz]

Ok, it will be in the AM when my son comes for a visit, told him I have a special breakfast, although I could cut a slice tonight to test it, make sure it's safe. LOL. It's at 115* now...can you guys wait for an hour or so? he he

 

[DougE]

lol if I didn't have a lot of patience, making bacon would be out, so yeah, I can wait.

 

[kilohertz]

Holy crap! I'm going to have to put Jenny Craig on my speed dial! Damn that's good, I had no idea what to expect.

I used DougE's dry cure recipe and he just nailed it. The taste is like no other bacon I have had. Glad I have 18 pork bellies in the freezer to experiment with. Ha!

Second one is at 143* and will be coming out shortly, that one I will report on in the AM.

Thank you so much to the awesome people here who have helped me on my way to 270 lbs, I mean making great bacon, you guys rock.

More later.

cheers

 

[DougE]

Awesome job on that bacon!!! I may have helped out some, but you are the one who made it happen. I will not, however, provide free gym memberships along with the help lol.

 

[kilohertz]

Bloody hell! Look what we have now! A freakin' blizzard, what else could we get?

Thankfully the second belly hit 145 just after this started. Pics in the morning.

cheers

 

[DougE]

Glad I have a big pole barn that I can run my smokers in when it gets nasty like that. I just crack the door enough for the stack to vent, and I got a heated room right off the main barn to keep an eye on things.

 

[SmokinEdge]

A true dry curing on belly would be worthy of a try. It’s what I do. Basically use Doug’s cure method then only place on a rack, like a cooling wire rack for baking. Drip pan under and let it cure and dry at the same time. This produces incredible bacon flavor, this is mostly how I do my personal bacon.

 

[DougE]

A true dry curing on belly would be worthy of a try. It’s what I do. Basically use Doug’s cure method then only place on a rack, like a cooling wire rack for baking. Drip pan under and let it cure and dry at the same time. This produces incredible bacon flavor, this is mostly how I do my personal bacon.

I have always bagged while curing and I don't really know why I have not tried it this way, but that will change on my next run of bacon. Maybe do one bagged and one not for a side by side.

 

[kilohertz]

A true dry curing on belly would be worthy of a try. It’s what I do. Basically use Doug’s cure method then only place on a rack, like a cooling wire rack for baking. Drip pan under and let it cure and dry at the same time. This produces incredible bacon flavor, this is mostly how I do my personal bacon.

Would this work for back bacon and BBB as well? Cool!

Thanks

 

[DougE]

Would this work for back bacon and BBB as well? Cool!

Thanks

It would work for both belly and buckboard. Loin (Canadian) bacon IDK since it's so lean to start with, it may likely dry out too much.

 

[SmokinEdge]

Would this work for back bacon and BBB as well? Cool!

Thanks

Yes sir, works for all bacon types. Instead of in a plastic bag sitting in its own juices, the meat is able to shed that moisture. This is how bacon was made way back when they cured in the smokehouse on wooden benches. The idea is curing with a dry rub but retaining no moisture. Rather letting that moisture drip off and allow the meat to slightly dry, this concentrates flavor. Makes delicious bacon.

 

[kilohertz]

Yes sir, works for all bacon types. Instead of in a plastic bag sitting in its own juices, the meat is able to shed that moisture. This is how bacon was made way back when they cured in the smokehouse on wooden benches. The idea is curing with a dry rub but retaining no moisture. Rather letting that moisture drip off and allow the meat to slightly dry, this concentrates flavor. Makes delicious bacon.

Okay I am starting the last half of my pork loin this afternoon, I cut it in half and am going to dry cure one my regular way, .25% #1, 1.75% salt and 2.5% demararra sugar, the other Morton's TQ and same sugar as an experiment, both sitting out on a rack in the fridge, no plastic bags.

Cheers

 

[SmokinEdge]

Okay I am starting the last half of my pork loin this afternoon, I cut it in half and am going to dry cure one my regular way, .25% #1, 1.75% salt and 2.5% demararra sugar, the other Morton's TQ and same sugar as an experiment, both sitting out on a rack in the fridge, no plastic bags.

Cheers

Nice, you will enjoy it. I will caution you that depending on your humidity environment that the meat is in, give it 7 days of cure time and use your own judgement on the drying out of the surface of the meat, if it starts to turn dark and real leather like that is dry ring and will stop further drying from the core of the meat. So you may want to bag it after 7 days just to soften the exterior if you are curing for total of 12-14 days, but then you may not need to bag, its all about humidity level where you are.

 

[kilohertz]

Okay thanks for the heads up. It will be in my beer fridge so I'll see it every day. LOL.

Cheers

PS I love my new little scale, $17 Amazon, super easy to measure milligrams.

 

[kilohertz]

Well I suppose I should update my thread title, or start a new one as I am on to batch number 3.

This time cold smoking 2 different types, one is the fresh belly that I bought 2 weeks ago, and the other buckboard bacon from a nice pork shoulder. They were cured 11/13 days and overnight pelicle formation and today I am experimenting with the smoke tube filled with moistened and fluffed and dried hickory pellets stuffed into the tube with a handful of pellets at the open end to get it all going. Half hour now and it's smoking quite nicely. I have a stove element on a t-stat in the bottom of the BGE and have it set for 13C (55F). I have a pizza stone sitting below the main rack to keep any direct heat from interfering.

I have been enjoying the bacon daily, come on tread mill, and have found the second batch a little salty, glad I am able to tell the difference in .5% salt. This method was JCinQC Jeff's 10% brine method which worked very well.

More pictures tomorrow after the hot smoke.

Cheers