SmokinAl
SMF Hall of Fame Pitmaster
Original poster
Staff member
Moderator
OTBS Member
★ Lifetime Premier ★
Well I started this project on June 6th. And today it finally lost 25% of it's weight, which is the recommended weight loss. Actually anywhere between 15% to 25% depending how fatty the belly is. I went with the longer time even though my belly was pretty fat. Sorry guys, but I didn't take any photo's of the process. It's pretty simple though. This is the video that I followed: . And the second half. .
However mine took 6 months to get done, but after sampling a piece, it was definitely worth the wait.
Here are a few photo's of mine. Here is how it looked out of the curing chamber.
I sliced it in the middle to see if it was OK. It looks pretty good & smalls wonderful.
I sliced a few real thin slices off to see how they taste & I am very pleased. The flavor is wonderful.
Now for the final step I'm going to vac pack it for 3 or 4 weeks in the fridge & this will redistribute the moisture throughout the meat.
Well now my curing chamber is empty, so I think I will use it to make some beer. Never done that before, but my Grandson bought me a beer making kit, so why not give it a try.!
Thanks for looking guys!!
Al
However mine took 6 months to get done, but after sampling a piece, it was definitely worth the wait.
Here are a few photo's of mine. Here is how it looked out of the curing chamber.
I sliced it in the middle to see if it was OK. It looks pretty good & smalls wonderful.
I sliced a few real thin slices off to see how they taste & I am very pleased. The flavor is wonderful.
Now for the final step I'm going to vac pack it for 3 or 4 weeks in the fridge & this will redistribute the moisture throughout the meat.
Well now my curing chamber is empty, so I think I will use it to make some beer. Never done that before, but my Grandson bought me a beer making kit, so why not give it a try.!
Thanks for looking guys!!
Al