Newbie Bacon Experiment (Q-view)

[karabelb]

Well here we go... my bacon experiment.  I have tried dry curing/hot smoking bacon in the past and it turned out too salty.  It was great on BLT's, but not a breakfast side.  Through reading some of the posts in the forum, I decided to experiment with brining and give dry curing another try.  I talked to my butcher about the dry curing issue and he made some suggestions through the charcuterie classes he took in culinary school. 

(2) Pork Belly's in a brine with Nitrite (1 to be hot smoked and 1 to be cold smoked).  

(1) Pork Belly in a dry cure without Nitrite (to be hot smoked). 

Here is the beginning... Today is day 3 in the cure / brine.

Cold Smoking with a modified MES (avatar)

Hot Smoking with a GOSM

karabelb

1. Setup.JPG

• karabelb
• Jan 5, 2013

 

[dirtsailor2003]

What's in your brine and rub?

 

[tjohnson]

This is gonna be interesting.....

I too did a dry cure and brine cure side-by-side

We preferred the dry cured bacon

The other issue you may be having

When you hot smoke bacon, you're rendering out some of the fat, and also drying the bacon slab itself.  This will intensify the salt and other flavors.  For this reason, I only cold smoke bacon.

Post your recipe

Maybe you can cut some salt

I cut back on salt in most of my recipes

Todd

 

[karabelb]

I used a brine reipe that I found in the forum from Pops?  I have never brined bacon before so I decided not to re-invent the wheel.

I did, however, add black peppercorns and dehydrated garlic to the brine.

Brine Recipe:

1 Gallon	Water
1 cup	Kosher salt
1 cup	granulated sugar
1 cup	brown sugar
1 tbsp	cure no. 1 pink salt

Cure Recipe: 

5 pounds	pork belly
1/4 cup	kosher salt
4 tablespoons	coarsely ground black pepper
1/4 cup	Maple syrup
5 cloves or 1 tsp	garlic, smashed or garlic powder
1 tablespoon	brown mustard seed

I am hot smoking at 175 degrees to an internal temp of 150 (about 4 hours) so the temp isn't high enough to render off alot of the fat.

karabelb

 

[dirtsailor2003]

Thanks for the recipes and process you are using. That will help us all follow along and better be able to make recommendations!

 

[diggingdogfarm]

What brand of kosher salt are you using?
1 tsp. of Cure#1 in the dry mix, correct?



~Martin

 

[njfoses]

You can use 1/3 - 1 cup of salt per gallon of water with pops wet brine.  I recently made bacon myself with his wet brine and only used 1/2 a cup salt per gallon and it turned out great with just the right amount of salt flavor for my taste.

 

[shoneyboy]

 

[karabelb]

Morton Coarse Kosher Salt

 

[karabelb]

What brand of kosher salt are you using?
1 tsp. of Cure#1 in the dry mix, correct?
~Martin

Morton Coarse Kosher Salt.

No Cure #1 in the dry mix.  I am hot smoking the dry mix to a safe temperature.

karabelb

 

[smokinhusker]

What brand of kosher salt are you using?
1 tsp. of Cure#1 in the dry mix, correct?



~Martin

Martin, he's not using any Cure #1 in his dry cure because he intends to hot smoke it at 175* to an IT of 150*. I use Cure #1 in all my curing and have yet to have any taste salty, however I don't add any salt or very little. I also dry cure as I don't have room for wet brine/cure container. I also cold smoke my bacon for about 12-18 hrs. Good luck and keep us posted!

 

[diggingdogfarm]

So, cure in the brine, but not the dry mix....hmmmm.

Anyway, the best way to tame the salt is to use a calculated amount.
It's best to go with weight measurements rather than volume.
The 1/4 cup of Morton Kosher Salt in the dry mix equates to ~62 grams of salt which means ~2.73% salt.in the bacon.
A tad on the high side for many folks.
I would cut the salt back to ~2% and adjust from there.

~Martin

 

[diggingdogfarm]

No Cure #1 in the dry mix.  I am hot smoking the dry mix to a safe temperature.

karabelb

Okay, yes, I noticed the temperature.
Most folks use cure regardless.


~Martin

 

[karabelb]

So, cure in the brine, but not the dry mix....hmmmm.
Anyway, the best way to tame the salt is to use a calculated amount.
It's best to go with weight measurements rather than volume.
The 1/4 cup of Morton Kosher Salt in the dry mix equates to ~62 grams of salt which means ~2.73% salt.in the bacon.
A tad on the high side for many folks.
I would cut the salt back to ~2% and adjust from there.
~Martin

Martin,

Isn't the salt content also time dependant?  Time in the cure.

Brian

 

[fagesbp]

The cure affects the taste alot. You won't be getting a true side by side comparison. They should both be good though.

 

[shannon127]

What Martin said x100.  I am very wary of any dry cure without cure.  It's kinda in the name!

 

[shannon127]

Here is my dry cure recipe, feel free to use it if you wish

Meats	Gr/Kg
Pork belly	1000
Cure #1	2.125
salt	22.5
Brown Sugar	8.5
Coarse Pepper	2

Coat the entire outside with dry cure.  Place in a ziplock or glad bag (no Chinese bags) for 5 days for each inch in thickness.  Remove from bag rinse then soak in cold water for 30 minutes.  Remove pat dry and hang in a cold dry place for overnight.  Cold smoke with maple or apple pellets for 4-6 hours.  Hang for a minimum of 1 week.

 

[diggingdogfarm]

Martin,
Isn't the salt content also time dependant?  Time in the cure.

Brian

I'm not sure I understand exactly what you're asking.
It can be time dependent as far as final salt % goes if you're not using a specific amount of salt/cure.
Curing in a high degree brine is an example, if you cure too long, the bacon will be too salty.
But when you're using just 2% salt, it's impossible to over cure (assuming that one finds 2% salt an acceptable level).


~Martin

 

[karabelb]

Results for the Dry Cured / Hot Smoked Pork Bellw

The PB cured for 4 days and then rested in the fridge for 1 day.

2. DC - Cured.JPG

• karabelb
• Jan 12, 2013

Test Fry... Good flavor could have stayed in the cure a bit longer, but I know smoke changes flavor.

3. DC - Test Fry.JPG

• karabelb
• Jan 12, 2013

All smoked up and ready for packaging.  Smoked with Michigan Cherry Wood for about 3.5 hours at 175 degrees to an internal temp of 150.

4. DC - Money Shot.JPG

• karabelb
• Jan 12, 2013

All packed up for when the boys come over on Friday Night for Happy Hour.

5. DC - Ready.JPG

• karabelb
• Jan 12, 2013

 

[karabelb]

It's been a crazy week... Sorry I didn't post the results of the Brining portion of the experiment sooner.  But here you go...

All brined up, one ready for the Hot Smoker, one for the Cold Smoker.

7. BRINE - Forming Pellicle.JPG

• karabelb
• Jan 18, 2013

Both Smokers in Action....

6. BRINE - Smokers in action.JPG

• karabelb
• Jan 18, 2013

Hot Smoked Deliciousness... Smoked with Michigan Cherry Wood for about 3.5 hours at 175 degrees to an internal temp of 150.

8. BRINE - HS Deliciousness.JPG

• karabelb
• Jan 18, 2013

Tastes even better... might cut the sugar just a bit next time... but in all it turned out great.

9. BRINE - HS Cooked.JPG

• karabelb
• Jan 18, 2013

Here's the cold smoked version.  Had a little trouble slicing it and then remembered a tip about putting it in the freezer for a while.  Much easier to slice then.

I didn't notice much of a taste difference between the hot smoked and cold smoked bacon though.  It was more appearance...  both good though.

Smoked with Michigan Cherry Wood for about 18 hours total over 3 days.

Funny thing is... I need to start on another batch of bacon.  I gave most of it away to the boys when they were over.

10. BRINE - CS Sliced.JPG

• karabelb
• Jan 18, 2013

BONUS.... Sunday's dinner.  Picked up a beautiful rack of lamb last week and grilled the whole rack for dinner. 

My wife's first introduction to lamb... I think she's a fan now.

11. Sunday Dinner.JPG

• karabelb
• Jan 18, 2013