Salty bacon and soak question

[dfvellone]

Just pulled, rinsed and test fried the bacon I cured using Steven Raichlen's recipe and it's way too salty. So, I'm soaking to hopefully correct it before I put it in the smoker. My question is, can I modify the final soak (after a change or two) to make it a sweet soak with maple syrup, brown sugar, etc. to impart some more sweetness to the bacon? The level of sweet in the recipe's outcome is too low and I'm wondering if, since the bacon has plenty salt content and is cured, I can treat the soak as a kind of modified brine minus the salt but with the sugar. Or would I be further ahead just soaking then adding sweetener to the bacon sides after pulling from the soak and before I smoke? That seems to just be a surface treatment that won't penetrate the bacon side.

 

[daveomak]

Steven Raichlen's recipes call for too much salt, too much cure #1 and not long enough for the cure to work properly.... I would not use his recipe.....

 

[dfvellone]

Thanks, I'll certainly keep your advice in mind next time around. Unfortunately, it's too late now so... I did soak for 8 hours changing the water several times. Drained and let dry overnight before a test fry, and the bacon is excellent. These sides came from my own hogs and it would've been a shame to have blown the bacon.

 

[oregon smoker]

Great News that you were able to salvage this adventure.

Rrun the search bar in the upper left corner and you will find some excellent wet and dry cure methods that are tried and true winners every time.

Keep on smoking ,

OS

 

[wesleyt]

Did you end up trying to make the soak sweet or did you put some maple/sugar on after the soak? I am soaking mine right now and am curious if putting some sugar in the water would do anything.