Pork Belly Cure Calculator and Sugar Amounts?

[diggingdogfarm]

There's no need to wash it off and start over, it's fine the way that it is.
That small amount of maple syrup won't hurt anything, there's nothing to worry about.


~Martin

 

[gretscher]

I don't like it too sweet, I agree. I made my first batch of bacon a month ago and it was brined but I made it too sweet.  Tasted like Honey Baked Ham which is not bad if you want HBH but not for my bacon in my opinion. This time I'm doing a dry cure.  I don't mind sweet if it's the right kind such as a maple flavor but if it's just regular sugar and over powering then no good.  I think al was saying it's hard for sugar to penetrate the meat unlike salt doses so I figure it can't taste too sweet. But then again maybe it does. Navigator, a member here did his with 1/4 cup of syrup and 1/4 cup of maple sugar and I think he liked his results. He did not say it was too sweet. 

Sweet bacon...yuck!

 

[alblancher]

The most important question is the equal distribution of the cure.  Like Diggy said, if you bag it and keep it massaged you should be fine.  You are doing a kind of sorta Dry cure.  Maybe after 5 or 6 days you can remove it from the bag and place on a rack in the fridge so it can start drying out for you.

 

[daveomak]

gretscher, morning.... Diggy has you covered..... After the 7-10 days of sitting in the refer, rinse well and do a taste test....  The bacon can always be used in beans....  I have many "valuable learning experiences" since joining this forum... Creativity comes into play when experimenting with food....  Dave

 

[gretscher]

al, good tip.  I will take it out of the bag in 5 days or so and let it dry out but until then I'll massage it to distribute the cure. 

The most important question is the equal distribution of the cure.  Like Diggy said, if you bag it and keep it massaged you should be fine.  You are doing a kind of sorta Dry cure.  Maybe after 5 or 6 days you can remove it from the bag and place on a rack in the fridge so it can start drying out for you.

 

[gretscher]

Diggie, thanks for the info. I'll do that.  Glad that I did not miss things up.  Dave, I'll check it in 7 to 10 days but I'll do like al said I'll let it dry out. Dave thanks for the help too.

gretscher, morning.... Diggy has you covered..... After the 7-10 days of sitting in the refer, rinse well and do a taste test....  The bacon can always be used in beans....  I have many "valuable learning experiences" since joining this forum... Creativity comes into play when experimenting with food....  Dave

 

[gretscher]

It's been on for about almost a day now.  Would it be too late to wash it off and start over?  

 

[alblancher]

Leave it alone you'll be fine

 

[gretscher]

Thanks.  I look forward to smoking it in about 10 days.  I'll give you guys an update when it's done how it is.

Leave it alone you'll be fine

 

[navigator]

Mine turned out great, you could smell and taste the maple, the current batch I used exactly what the calculator said and tried using maple sugar but you could not really taste any difference between the maple sugar and brown sugar versions. Next time I will add the syrup again after it is cured and let it sit a few days as abalancher recommended.

 

[gretscher]

Navigator, I think mine has been curing for 8 days now.  I want to do half of it cold and half of it hot smoked.  I know hot smoking bacon is not well received here but since this is the second time only that I have made bacon and the first was all cold smoke, I would like to hot smoke for scientific or test purposes only to compare how they both go and compare the results.  I'll post my results.  If this works out great then I will continue the same way of curing but I'll try like you are doing as al says to do with the syrup after. 

So you could not tell the diff between the maple and the brown sugar so in that case in future bacon are you gonna just use brown or just use maple sugar?  I can't find maple sugar but maybe if I go to Whole Foods or Bristal Farms I could or online.  So far it's only brown sugar for me.  

Mine turned out great, you could smell and taste the maple, the current batch I used exactly what the calculator said and tried using maple sugar but you could not really taste any difference between the maple sugar and brown sugar versions. Next time I will add the syrup again after it is cured and let it sit a few days as abalancher recommended.

 

[navigator]

Navigator, I think mine has been curing for 8 days now.  I want to do half of it cold and half of it hot smoked.  I know hot smoking bacon is not well received here but since this is the second time only that I have made bacon and the first was all cold smoke, I would like to hot smoke for scientific or test purposes only to compare how they both go and compare the results.  I'll post my results.  If this works out great then I will continue the same way of curing but I'll try like you are doing as al says to do with the syrup after. 

So you could not tell the diff between the maple and the brown sugar so in that case in future bacon are you gonna just use brown or just use maple sugar?  I can't find maple sugar but maybe if I go to Whole Foods or Bristal Farms I could or online.  So far it's only brown sugar for me.  

No I could not tell, I had bought the maple sugar from a well known spice house and it was stronger maple tasting than the grocery store maple sugars I have tried.

I will just use brown since its so much cheaper.