New Member - First Bacon - Feedback welcome

[we meat again]

I started with approx. 20 lbs of pork belly (6 3.5lb pieces) - I already know I'm going to weigh everything out EQ style next time (wish I had found this forum about 10 days ago :)

5 tsp Prague #1
20 tbsp course kosher salt
20 tbsp light brown sugar
6 tbsp maple syrup
6 tbsp grape molasses
12 tbsp table grind black pepper
5 tsp red pepper flakes
healthy dollop of Sugar Bob's Maple Habenero Sauce

Used every last bit of the dry brine coating all sides of the 6 pieces
Vacuum sealed and in the fridge (40 F) for 8 days, flipped and man-handled once per day. Nice and firm and pinked up all the way through (I cut two of them in half to check) last night.
Rinsed and towel dried.
Spent overnight in my Smokin' Tex airing out to get a pellicle (34 F last night).
Currently in my homemade wine barrel cold smoker (Smokai tube) with Traeger Apple pellets. I'm planning on 6-8 hours of smoke and then ... back into vac bags and into the freezer.

I'd be mighty grateful for any feedback! Happy to be here.

 

[SmokinEdge]

That recipe will make bacon. For me you are a little heavy on cure 1 and way heavy on salt. But like you said use EQ next time. Enjoy.

 

[we meat again]

That recipe will make bacon. For me you are a little heavy on cure 1 and way heavy on salt. But like you said use EQ next time. Enjoy.

Thanks! Like I said, I found this forum just a little too late. When I do the EQ, should I weigh and make up the brine for each individual piece or the total meat weight?

 

[SmokinEdge]

Thanks! Like I said, I found this forum just a little too late. When I do the EQ, should I weigh and make up the brine for each individual piece or the total meat weight?

You can do either, but it’s best to mix for each piece. Best way is to leave them whole mix and apply cure then cut into pieces. It all works though. Just more consistent piece by piece.

 

[we meat again]

An update on this first bacon ...

If it was a little heavy on the cure I'm not sure how to tell by either taste or texture.

After the comments, I was expecting to be displeased by saltiness but nobody who ate some found it to be salty at all. Maybe the saltiness was offset by how sweet it was?

It was kind of sugar heavy, which wasn't a negative on flavor but sure did make a mess of the pan. As I gave it away for Christmas presents I strongly recommended parchment paper and a baking sheet.

I ended up doing two 8-hour apple cold smokes with a 12 hour rest in between. A little heavy on the smoke for my wife but hopefully it will mellow some.

All in all the reports (mine included) were that it tasted fantastic. Gonna try something more savory next time and give the EQ a whirl.

 

[Fueling Around]

Didn't check the numbers as SmokinEdge already said the nitrite was a bit high.
There is no "taste" to indicate nitrite level. Under cured meat will have pale center

An update on this first bacon ...

If it was a little heavy on the cure I'm not sure how to tell by either taste or texture.

After the comments, I was expecting to be displeased by saltiness but nobody who ate some found it to be salty at all. Maybe the saltiness was offset by how sweet it was?

It was kind of sugar heavy, which wasn't a negative on flavor but sure did make a mess of the pan. As I gave it away for Christmas presents I strongly recommended parchment paper and a baking sheet.

I ended up doing two 8-hour apple cold smokes with a 12 hour rest in between. A little heavy on the smoke for my wife but hopefully it will mellow some.

All in all the reports (mine included) were that it tasted fantastic. Gonna try something more savory next time and give the EQ a whirl.

Sugar is added to balance the saltiness of the brine/cure.
My wife is not a smoke fan
This is normally posted in the bacon threads.
Introduce yourself in a new thread

 

[pineywoods]

Welcome to SMF I agree with what the others have said and weigh each piece to mix the right amount of cure. I'm sure not every piece was 3.5 lbs it seems they never all weigh the same.
The smoke flavor should mellow with a few days in the fridge. I usually cold smoke mine for 8-12 hours just basically going by the color I'm getting on it then I put it back in the fridge for 3 or 4 days then take it out and slice it before vacuum packing and freezing. I'm sureit tastes good I need to make some more myself

 

[we meat again]

Welcome to SMF I agree with what the others have said and weigh each piece to mix the right amount of cure. I'm sure not every piece was 3.5 lbs it seems they never all weigh the same.
The smoke flavor should mellow with a few days in the fridge. I usually cold smoke mine for 8-12 hours just basically going by the color I'm getting on it then I put it back in the fridge for 3 or 4 days then take it out and slice it before vacuum packing and freezing. I'm sureit tastes good I need to make some more myself

Thanks, and Yep. Definitely some variation in weight piece by piece.