The Quest for Bacon

[bros]

So we have been trying to make bacon every couple years for around 6 years now with no success. The first time (wet cure), we didn't do enough cure. The second time, it tasted closer to pork chop than bacon. The third time (dry cure), it tasted like really salty ham.

We are hoping that the fourth (and final attempt, if this fails), will be the charm. This time, we are definitely going to dry cure. However, what it comes down to is what recipe to use? We have seen the Steven Raichlen recipe, which only recommends 5 days of curing (and we'd just let it sit for 10-14 days). We've seen the EQ curing sites and calculators that are recommended. We've seen all of the recipes online, so we've having a bit of a recipe overload as to what to do.

We recently set up an ad hoc outdoor kitchen (with a second Masterbuilt smoker - a guy was selling it for $75 because he got it for Father's Day and didn't know how to use it after 3 times trying it!) that has a fridge where we will store the bacon. We're getting the pork belly tomorrow from a butcher (for once, a butcher was cheaper than the store!), we ordered a whole pork belly, boneless, skinned - which will be easier for us.

So, smoking gurus, what do you recommend? Soaking the pork belly after washing off the cure? Forming a pellicle in the fridge for 4 hours before hot smoking? What temp to smoke at? How long to smoke? Easiest way to cut the bacon? Any sage words of wisdom to impart on us?

oh, and i'll post pictures so you can see how this bacon acolyte does

 

[mr_whipple]

I do a basic equilibrium dry cure on my bacon which gives me very predictable and repeatable results.

Using the total weight of the meat in grams I weigh everything on a kitchen scale to these percentages.
1.5 - 1.75% Kosher salt
.25% Cure #1
1% Sugar (white or brown)
Fresh ground pepper

Vacuum seal and into the garage fridge for 14 days. Then I smoke to internal of 145, rest over night then slice, vac seal and freeze.

It's the salt, sugar and especially the cure that gives it the "bacony" taste as opposed to a pork chop or ham.

 

[SmokinEdge]

Dry rub is best for flavor. Here is what I and many here do:

To the weight of meat apply,

1.5% pure salt, like sea salt or canning and pickling salt.

.25% cure #1

.5-.75% sugar.

Mix this up and apply evenly all over. Place the meat in a plastic zip bag or food save container. Flip the meat over every couple days. Cure for 10-14 days at below 40F.

When done no need to rinse, just Pat dry with paper towel (it will not be over salty) and into the smoker at 120F for 30-45 min no smoke to dry then apply smoke. Every hour ramp up the temp 10F to a maximum of 170F IT of bacon should reach 145F and then let it cool. Put in a zip bag and fridge at least a day then slice. Best bacon you have ever eaten.

 

[Brokenhandle]

These guys pretty much have you covered... but I'll add a couple things.
First, if you don't have one get yourself a small digital scale that can accurately measure in grams... it's needed when working with small amounts of cure # 1.
Secondly, always use cure at .25 % as SmokinEdge mentioned... never change that. We are all different in our tastes... so salt and sugar amounts can be adjusted to a point. We like what Edge said... 1.5 % kosher salt, .25 % cure, .75 % sugar. Take good notes so you can look back at what you did if you want to change salt or sugar amounts. I add some onion, and garlic powder to ours as well as a little bit of pepper before smoking. I'll let my bellies sit uncovered in fridge after curing and before smoking for at least a day before smoking...to help dry them and form a pellicle. Smoking time is dependent on your tastes and how much smoke you like... I cold smoke most of our bacon during colder temps for at least 12 hours. After smoking I let it rest in fridge uncovered for up to four days... makes the fridge smell heavenly! We have a slicer so chill meat in freezer for about an hour then slice. This will definitely not be too salty.

Then... enjoy!

Ryan

 

[JC in GB]

I use what I call a 10% brine method. I make an equilibrium brine that weighs 10% the weight of the meat. I put the meat and brine in a vacuum bag and remove most of the air. I leave the pork belly in the brine bag for about 12 days, flipping daily, before smoking.

Depending on the outdoor temp, I will either do a cold and hot smoke or just a hot smoke.

I wrote my procedure for this a while back. Attached for your review.

I also attached some pics of my Canadian (back) bacon.

JC

 

[DougE]

I do the same as SmokinEdge:

0.25% cure#1 (as was stated previously, this amount is never changed).
1.5% salt
0.75% sugar

Cure for 14 days, flipping and massaging the bags every day or two.

 

[tallbm]

So we have been trying to make bacon every couple years for around 6 years now with no success. The first time (wet cure), we didn't do enough cure. The second time, it tasted closer to pork chop than bacon. The third time (dry cure), it tasted like really salty ham.

We are hoping that the fourth (and final attempt, if this fails), will be the charm. This time, we are definitely going to dry cure. However, what it comes down to is what recipe to use? We have seen the Steven Raichlen recipe, which only recommends 5 days of curing (and we'd just let it sit for 10-14 days). We've seen the EQ curing sites and calculators that are recommended. We've seen all of the recipes online, so we've having a bit of a recipe overload as to what to do.

We recently set up an ad hoc outdoor kitchen (with a second Masterbuilt smoker - a guy was selling it for $75 because he got it for Father's Day and didn't know how to use it after 3 times trying it!) that has a fridge where we will store the bacon. We're getting the pork belly tomorrow from a butcher (for once, a butcher was cheaper than the store!), we ordered a whole pork belly, boneless, skinned - which will be easier for us.

So, smoking gurus, what do you recommend? Soaking the pork belly after washing off the cure? Forming a pellicle in the fridge for 4 hours before hot smoking? What temp to smoke at? How long to smoke? Easiest way to cut the bacon? Any sage words of wisdom to impart on us?

oh, and i'll post pictures so you can see how this bacon acolyte does

Hi there and welcome!

I also do the dry equilibrium cure like the other guys who posted they do the same method.
My numbers are 1.65% salt and 1% for the sugar, you can change these as you like but you will never get too salty.
As also has been mentioned, NEVER change the .25% cure.

Why do the curing this way? Because you mathematically can never get too salty so no need to soak and leach out excess salt etc. Doesn't matter if you cure for 7 days or 30 days.
This mathematically nails it for you EVERY time... provided you aren't super sensitive to salt. If that's the case you just find your salt % number and boom you are set. I believe it is recommended to never go under 1.5% sat though, so that you never risk creating a bacteria friendly environment while curing.

As for pellicle... I have done with and without while using my "hot" smoke method and never noticed a difference so I don't even both forming one anymore.

I don't cold smoke because I live in TX and basically only 2 months out of the year are possible for doing this unless I want to be up overnight in the other 2 months of the year where it might be cold enough at night.

My "hot" smoking is basically using the same process as done with sausage. I start the smoker at like 110F for an hour.
On hour 2 I bump up temp to like 130F and start applying smoke.
On hour 3 I bump up temp again to 155F.
On hour 4 I bump up to 170F and then leave it there until the bacon's Internal Temp (IT) hits 145F.

Why do I go to 145F? I like my bacon to be safe to eat right out of the package. Also I LOVE eating pieces while slicing it up and vac sealing it. Finally, I end up eating most of it without it ever hitting a skillet. It's soooooo good just as is! Sounds weird until you try it. I just tell people it's "bacon cold cuts" so they don't think it's weird and then they eat it and go nuts over it.

I then tell them it's no different than if they threw it in the skillet and fried it, I just make sure its safe whether it's fried or not hahaha.

Smoke info, I like 30% Hickory and 70% Apple for about 6 hours.
I will do 100% Hickory but I WON'T go over about 4 - 4.5 hours of hickory. Hickory is just too strong going over 4 - 4.5 hours for me and my setup (electric smoker with pellets burning in a pellet tray).

I have no suggestions on whether you cold smoke, warm smoke (finish with bacon IT around 125-135F), or you hot smoke it like I do. I think all processes are valid and good to go. I just like having bacon ready to eat out of the pack and while slicing :D

Finally, slicing. I tried sharp knives, electric knives, etc. Knives were simply just inacceptable for me. The only way for me to go is a slicer. The Chef's Choice 615 with the serrated blade is the ticket and tons of us use and recommend it here (easy to use, good price, easy to CLEAN). I don't see how any knife can come close to the results a slicer will give you.

 

[SmokinEdge]

Hi there and welcome!

I also do the dry equilibrium cure like the other guys who posted they do the same method.
My numbers are 1.65% salt and 1% for the sugar, you can change these as you like but you will never get too salty.
As also has been mentioned, NEVER change the .25% cure.

Why do the curing this way? Because you mathematically can never get too salty so no need to soak and leach out excess salt etc. Doesn't matter if you cure for 7 days or 30 days.
This mathematically nails it for you EVERY time... provided you aren't super sensitive to salt. If that's the case you just find your salt % number and boom you are set. I believe it is recommended to never go under 1.5% sat though, so that you never risk creating a bacteria friendly environment while curing.

As for pellicle... I have done with and without while using my "hot" smoke method and never noticed a difference so I don't even both forming one anymore.

I don't cold smoke because I live in TX and basically only 2 months out of the year are possible for doing this unless I want to be up overnight in the other 2 months of the year where it might be cold enough at night.

My "hot" smoking is basically using the same process as done with sausage. I start the smoker at like 110F for an hour.
On hour 2 I bump up temp to like 130F and start applying smoke.
On hour 3 I bump up temp again to 155F.
On hour 4 I bump up to 170F and then leave it there until the bacon's Internal Temp (IT) hits 140F.

Why do I go to 140F? I like my bacon to be safe to eat right out of the package. Also I LOVE eating pieces while slicing it up and vac sealing it. Finally, I end up eating most of it without it ever hitting a skillet. It's soooooo good just as is! Sounds weird until you try it. I just tell people it's "bacon cold cuts" so they don't think it's weird and then they eat it and go nuts over it.

I then tell them it's no different than if they threw it in the skillet and fried it, I just make sure its safe whether it's fried or not hahaha.

Smoke info, I like 30% Hickory and 70% Apple for about 6 hours.
I will do 100% Hickory but I WON'T go over about 4 - 4.5 hours of hickory. Hickory is just too strong going over 4 - 4.5 hours for me and my setup (electric smoker with pellets burning in a pellet tray).

I have no suggestions on whether you cold smoke, warm smoke (finish with bacon IT around 130-135F), or you hot smoke it like I do. I think all processes are valid and good to go. I just like having bacon ready to eat out of the pack and while slicing :D

Finally, slicing. I tried sharp knives, electric knives, etc. Knives were simply just inacceptable for me. The only way for me to go is a slicer. The Chef's Choice 615 with the serrated blade is the ticket and tons of us use and recommend it here (easy to use, good price, easy to CLEAN). I don't see how any knife can come close to the results a slicer will give you.

All solid great advice but I do have one issue.

Smoke info, I like 30% Hickory and 70% Apple f

Switch that to 30% cherry and 70% pecan and it will change your smoking experience. The meat color will leave you dumbfounded.

 

[DougE]

Why do the curing this way? Because you mathematically can never get too salty so no need to soak and leach out excess salt etc. Doesn't matter if you cure for 7 days or 30 days.

Absolutely. Salt content can never go above what you added in your curing mixture. Two things I'd point out is that going the minimum time by meat thickness isn't going to have the best results, flavor wise, and 30 days is pretty much the longest time using cure#1. 2 weeks is the sweet spot for me.

I believe it is recommended to never go under 1.5% sat though, so that you never risk creating a bacteria friendly environment while curing.

1.5% total salt including the cure is about as low as I would go. You need enough salt to drive the cure into the meat, but some have gone lower. The 0.25% cure plus 1.5% salt gives me 1.75% total salt which I don't find overly salty and I'm not much of a salter.

 

[DougE]

Switch that to 30% cherry and 70% pecan and it will change your smoking experience. The meat color will leave you dumbfounded.

I do either 50/50 cherry/pecan, or cherry/hickory if pecan isn't available. May try lowering the cherry and upping the other woods, but I'm pretty satisfied where I'm at, both color and flavor wise.

 

[SmokinEdge]

1.5% total salt including the cure is about as low as I would go. You need enough salt to drive the cure into the meat, but some have gone lower. The 0.25% cure plus 1.5% salt gives me 1.75% total salt which I don't find overly salty and I'm not much of a salter.

This is a very brilliant point Doug.

Some folks complain about cure being over salty. Then they find equilibrium cure and realize they can go down to a palette level of salt and still effectively cure.

It is widely accepted that 1.5% salt (total salt) is safe under refrigeration. Like you said though, this is about the minimum salt level to effectively drive the cure. Salt is the driver of cure, without it the curing process would not and could not happen. All that to say that, something close to 1.5-1.75% total salt is our modern version or way to cure, and it is effective as much as it is delicious.

 

[tallbm]

All solid great advice but I do have one issue.


Switch that to 30% cherry and 70% pecan and it will change your smoking experience. The meat color will leave you dumbfounded.

I did a 50/50 cherry and pecan in my initial bacon days and the 30/70 hickory/apple was much better.

I will surely have to try 30% cherry and 70% pecan and see how much the difference it makes compared to my 50/50 test. I know it should make a difference. I find my pecan to be super weak so 70% vs 50% should be interesting :D

Absolutely. Salt content can never go above what you added in your curing mixture. Two things I'd point out is that going the minimum time by meat thickness isn't going to have the best results, flavor wise, and 30 days is pretty much the longest time using cure#1. 2 weeks is the sweet spot for me.


1.5% total salt including the cure is about as low as I would go. You need enough salt to drive the cure into the meat, but some have gone lower. The 0.25% cure plus 1.5% salt gives me 1.75% total salt which I don't find overly salty and I'm not much of a salter.

My pork bellies have never been too thick so my minimum times are always like 5 days or so. I always added at least 2 days to that. I've done more days as well but have yet to hit 14 days or longer.

I agree 100%, the flavor is better with more than the minimum days. Often I get the bellies during the week instead of the weekend so it never makes 14 days or else I'll be smoking it mid-week instead of on the weekend hahaha.
So no special reasoning for me not hitting windows like 14 days or longer. I simply smoke the bacon when it is good and cured and the weekend hits for me to do it :D

I find my salt number has landed on 1.65% and maybe on some thinner fish fillets I may go lower but I've found my sweet spot for sure. Yep I'm right with you on not going below 1.5% gotta have enough salt to do the job.

Great input guys!

 

[SmokinEdge]

I did a 50/50 cherry and pecan in my initial bacon days and the 30/70 hickory/apple was much better.

I will surely have to try 30% cherry and 70% pecan and see how much the difference it makes compared to my 50/50 test. I know it should make a difference. I find my pecan to be super weak so 70% vs 50% should be interesting :D




My pork bellies have never been too thick so my minimum times are always like 5 days or so. I always added at least 2 days to that. I've done more days as well but have yet to hit 14 days or longer.

I agree 100%, the flavor is better with more than the minimum days. Often I get the bellies during the week instead of the weekend so it never makes 14 days or else I'll be smoking it mid-week instead of on the weekend hahaha.
So no special reasoning for me not hitting windows like 14 days or longer. I simply smoke the bacon when it is good and cured and the weekend hits for me to do it :D

I find my salt number has landed on 1.65% and maybe on some thinner fish fillets I may go lower but I've found my sweet spot for sure. Yep I'm right with you on not going below 1.5% gotta have enough salt to do the job.

Great input guys!

Results, that’s where I’m coming from. But YMMV

 

[SmokinEdge]

Since the original subject was bacon.

 

[tallbm]

View attachment 670522
View attachment 670523
Results, that’s where I’m coming from. But YMMV

That color is awesome!
It's really cool because of the reddish color that cherry is known for and the brown color that people don't realize that pecan causes. Now you have that rich combo of the 2!!!

 

[SmokinEdge]

That color is awesome!
It's really cool because of the reddish color that cherry is known for and the brown color that people don't realize that pecan causes. Now you have that rich combo of the 2!!!

Yes sir. We love it.
The wife is just a little smoke sensitive, she likes it but not to much. This is a happy medium for us. It’s Smokey, sweet, mild and beautiful. Just how we roll. Nothing wrong with how you or any others smoke. This just works for us.

 

[mr_whipple]

I'm just glad we're talking about bacon. It makes everything better.

 

[bros]

I do the same as SmokinEdge:

0.25% cure#1 (as was stated previously, this amount is never changed).
1.5% salt
0.75% sugar

Cure for 14 days, flipping and massaging the bags every day or two.

Okay - check my math, since I am horrible at math.
Let's say I get exactly a 10 lb piece of pork belly - 10 lb is 4535.9 grams. 0.25% of 0.25% of 4535.9 is 11.34, so 11.34 grams of pink salt
1.5% of 4535.9 is 68.03, so 68.03 grams of kosher salt
0.75% of 4535.9 is 34.01, so 34.01 grams of brown sugar

When I used this EQ calculator - http://diggingdogfarm.com/page2.html

it output 11.32 grams of pink salt, 57.42 grams of kosher salt, 34.02 grams of brown sugar

So, which is right?

Sorry, I am realllllllllllllly dumb when it comes to math

 

[DougE]

I rounded it to 4536g

11.34g cure#1
68.4g salt
34.02g sugar

 

[DougE]

diggingdog is fine, but be aware when you enter your salt value, it is combining the salt and the cure as a total salt value.