Soaking your bacon

[magnum3672]

I was curious to find out if people are soaking their bacon to achieve a piece of bacon thats less salty than store bought.  When I did my fry test on my first batch of bacon it was about as salty but then it occurred to me a lot of you guys soak no matter what.  So I didn't know if I was missing out on something or if my first batch was about on par.

Thanks

 

[tjohnson]

IMHO - Use "Less Salt" and the end product is "Less Salty"

I don't soak my bacon, because I don't use a cure recipe that's heavy in salt.  I rinse off thoroughly and that's it

Todd

 

[daveomak]

Magnum, morning...... When I started curing, I turned out product that was not consistent.. Now that I am here, I have learned to weigh all my spices and use in relation to pounds of meat being cured.... basically "grams of X per pound of meat".  On beef I use 6 grams of salt / pound.... On bacon I use 10 grams of salt per pound... This has allowed me to taylor my tastes to the amount of spices...  Works well for me and a written record makes for adjustements in the future controlled...

Hope this helps and good smokin'... Dave

PS... I use cure #1 as it has less salt than the Morten line of products and allows me to control the salt easier to my liking...

everyone has their own methods and none are wrong.. just different

 

[bluebombersfan]

I always use Mortons TQ.  Then I rinse it off and soak for one hour before smoking.  It always turns out just the way I like it!

Brian

 

[tjohnson]

Dave has a great point....There are different methods of curing bacon.

Basically, there are (2) methods, Dry Curing and Brine Curing.  Within these methods, guys will vary their curing salts, spices and procedures. 

Try a Brine Cure and Dry Cure to see which you prefer.  You can add spices to your liking.

I previously used Morton's TQ, but found it too salty for my taste.  I also made my own curing recipe that include Cure #1.  Now I've settled on Country Brown Cure, and add extra brown sugar and a few spices.  It's taken 2 years of trial and error, but each batch improved a little, until I got the flavor I wanted.  Remember to keep a log, so you can track your smokes

Another thing to consider is the wood you will smoke with, the temp and the length of time.  I could smoke for 12 hours with Apple.

Todd

 

[jeff 1]

I wet cure with pops recipe,  I only rinse.  its perfect and not to salty imo