Where to start...

[wolters88]

Ok, so I followed this to a T   http://amazingribs.com/recipes/porknography/making_bacon_from_scratch.html

It was the worst bacon I have ever had and I wasted two 15 LB bellys trying it. First off I am reading on here that people are curing for two weeks. According to that a 2" cut is only a few days

in the cure. Whats the fry before thing everyone is referring too? I am wanting to cold smoke. Keep it below 90 degrees. But once it has set for 14 days I don't need to worry about anything as

the salt will kill it right?

 

[radioguy]

I use Pops wet brine for 10-14 days, then cold smoke. I adjusted salt and sugar downward about half to suit my taste. You test fry after cure to see how salty sweet it is. You can remove some salt by soaking in clean water for an hour or two. Hope this helps.

RG

 

[wolters88]

Did you get the pops wet brine from this site? I seen people talk about maple rub and jalapeño rubs too. What's the pinnacle all about? How do I know how long to let it sit? Do I need metal racks to dry it properly? Sorry, just want to get this right as I have two more whole pigs coming on the 13th.

 

[radioguy]

Just search for Pops brine. There is a whole section on bacon. That is where I got most of my information.

RG

 

[daveomak]

 
Ok, so I followed this to a T   http://amazingribs.com/recipes/porknography/making_bacon_from_scratch.html

It was the worst bacon I have ever had and I wasted two 15 LB bellys trying it. First off I am reading on here that people are curing for two weeks. According to that a 2" cut is only a few days

in the cure. Whats the fry before thing everyone is referring too? I am wanting to cold smoke. Keep it below 90 degrees. But once it has set for 14 days I don't need to worry about anything as

the salt will kill it right?

Wolters, morning...   Some of the best meat smoking and curing folks are right here....   look no further....  all of their recipes are tested and shared with other members.....

For an "old world" cold smoked bacon may I suggest...

Use a rub...   1 gram per pound of meat using cure #1...  9 grams per pound Kosher salt...  5 grams per pound white sugar...     Place in the refer for 2 weeks, on a wire rack....  do not bag or wrap...   Mix the above ingredients together...   sprinkle over the meat as uniform as you can...   rub it into the meat...    wait..  that's the hard part...

rinse under cold water for about 5-10 seconds...   dry using paper toweling...  place back in refer for a day or 2...   form a pellicle in front of a fan, on the kitchen counter...   about 1 hour....

Cold smoke between 55-70 deg. F as long as is needed for your taste..   I like ~6-12 hours using hickory...   I'm looking forward to try Cob pellets..   folks say it's awesome...  

Place back in refer, for up to a week, on a wire rack again....   this aging process / time is like a dry aging process....   intensifies the bacon flavor.....   

Partially freeze to thinly slice...     Bake on a wire rack, on a sheet pan at ~350 until crisp.....

 

[wolters88]

 
Wolters, morning...   Some of the best meat smoking and curing folks are right here....   look no further....  all of their recipes are tested and shared with other members.....

For an "old world" cold smoked bacon may I suggest...

Use a rub...   1 gram per pound of meat using cure #1...  9 grams per pound Kosher salt...  5 grams per pound white sugar...     Place in the refer for 2 weeks, on a wire rack....  do not bag or wrap...   Mix the above ingredients together...   sprinkle over the meat as uniform as you can...   rub it into the meat...    wait..  that's the hard part...

rinse under cold water for about 5-10 seconds...   dry using paper toweling...  place back in refer for a day or 2...   form a pellicle in front of a fan, on the kitchen counter...   about 1 hour....

Cold smoke between 55-70 deg. F as long as is needed for your taste..   I like ~6-12 hours using hickory...   I'm looking forward to try Cob pellets..   folks say it's awesome...  

Place back in refer, for up to a week, on a wire rack again....   this aging process / time is like a dry aging process....   intensifies the bacon flavor.....   

Partially freeze to thinly slice...     Bake on a wire rack, on a sheet pan at ~350 until crisp.....

So you do a whole belly at a time?

 

[chef jimmyj]

You said, Worst bacon you ever had. What specifically was the problem?. Looking at the recipe, it is pretty generic. Is it possible something went wrong not related to the recipe. Any info will help...JJ

 

[mr ray ray]

Everyone does it differently you have to find what works best for your taste buds. I Use this cure Cal to figure out your salt (stay under 5% salt i do mine at 3%) and cure (I use cure 1), sugar mix http://diggingdogfarm.com/page2.html  .

I rub my bacon real well with the rub then place in a vacuum seal bag i go 3 days per 1 kg of weight. in a vac bag no flipping needed if in zip lock bag double bag it and flip everyday. After the time is up i pull out the bacon wash it well place it in a pan with fresh water for 3 hours to pull out some of the salt. take it out of the bath pat dry place in fridge on a cake cooling rack you stole from your wife we wont tell hr.

in the fridge for 48 hours so its nice and dry. I love heavy smoke flavor so i cold smoke for 5 days 12 hours smoke 12 hours rest. then hang in a cool dry place if the wife wont let you put it back in the fridge. you can then par freeze and slice and cook.

my smoker temps are under 90.

 The Cure will keep the botulism bacteria from growing in your meat and the smoke will keep your fat from going rancid.

The longer you let it sit in the fridge the dryer it will become after you have smoked it.( i let it go 1 week its drys nicely with little shrinkage. I do skin on but if you don't want skin on remove it before you start. Save your skin its great as a binder for home made head cheese. thats just how i do it works good and is not so salty.   

Good luck 

 

[wolters88]

You said, Worst bacon you ever had. What specifically was the problem?. Looking at the recipe, it is pretty generic. Is it possible something went wrong not related to the recipe. Any info will help...JJ

I'm pretty sure the curing for two days was the issue as you all are saying like two weeks.

 

[wolters88]

Ok, so I really put it in front of a fan for an hour on the counter to get the pellicle? Any fan? Like a box fan?

 

[radioguy]

You don't need a fan, it'll just take more time to air dry. Any gentle airflow across the bacon. I rinse and test fry, (hardly ever adjust saltiness) then into the refer open on a rack over night. It forms a good pelicule. Depending on humidity and wetness, I may put a fan on it for an hour or so. During this time I get the smoker ready, 70-90F, light my pellet tray. Be sure to use a wire rack and turn it so all sides are dry. You want it dry tacky to the touch....never wet.

RG

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• radioguy
• Jun 7, 2017

 

[wolters88]

When you fry test at the end. Do you just soak it in water to remove some of the salt taste?

 

[SmokinAl]

When you fry test at the end. Do you just soak it in water to remove some of the salt taste?

Yes!

Al

 

[tallbm]

When you fry test at the end. Do you just soak it in water to remove some of the salt taste?

So after all the curing, you will rinse and dry off your pork belly.

Cut a slice and fry it up to test whether the salt is too strong or is fine.

I had to soak 16 pounds of pork belly for 6 hours in ice water to get the salt content correct on the batch I did for my first ever pork belly smoke earlier this year.

If it's too salty continue to soak in ice water another couple of hours and try again.  Repeat until you get an acceptable amount of salt flavor.

Once you pass the fry test you dry it off, do the pellicle and then smoke away :)

 

[daveomak]

 

When you fry test at the end. Do you just soak it in water to remove some of the salt taste?

So after all the curing, you will rinse and dry off your pork belly.

Cut a slice and fry it up to test whether the salt is too strong or is fine.

I had to soak 16 pounds of pork belly for 6 hours in ice water to get the salt content correct on the batch I did for my first ever pork belly smoke earlier this year.

If it's too salty continue to soak in ice water another couple of hours and try again.  Repeat until you get an acceptable amount of salt flavor.

Once you pass the fry test you dry it off, do the pellicle and then smoke away :)

Why not try adding the correct amount of salt, at the start of the curing cycle...  Then there's no soaking required.... 

 

[tallbm]

 
Why not try adding the correct amount of salt, at the start of the curing cycle...  Then there's no soaking required.... 

That would be the ideal approach.  In my case I used a store bought mix and followed the directions.  I had to then do the soak :)

 

[wolters88]

My first cut was 3.14 lb so I'm using this. I assume it's perfect right? Just making sure before I do this. Then I place on a wire rack for fourteen days. Pull it out and run it under water for five minutes. Cut off a piece then fry it up to check the taste. Put it back in the refrigerator for two days. Take it out and run a fan over it for an hour or until it gets tacky. Then smoke under 90 degrees for as long as I choose for flavor. Remove from smoke and slice up into one lb vacuum sealed packages. This all sounds correct?

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• wolters88
• Jun 15, 2017

 

[daveomak]

If you use 2% salt and 1% sugar and 156 Ppm nitrite, you will not need to do a fry test...  unless you are sensitive to salt...  If you are sensitive to salt, may I recommend reducing the salt, in the calculator, to 1.5% salt and leave the sugar at 1%.... 

Personally I reduce my salt intake and make stuff adding salt at ~1.7% and then the cure #1 brings the salt level up to ~2%...   It is not salty to me and I don't add salt to very many things...  I eat the food "as is" so to speak...

 

[wolters88]

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• wolters88
• Jun 16, 2017

Is my overall concept correct? I just went with what the initial calculator had to give me a base for all future bacon making. I don't need to flip them as I did it your way and they are open to the elements correct?

 

[daveomak]

Yep..  That's how I do it....   I find the "exposure" to the dehydrating effect of the refer, dry ages the belly like you would if you were "dry aging" a prime rib for intense, delicious flavor....   The final product comes out like bacon in the '50's...   slab bacon...  intense bacon flavor...

After the curing process, I wait 2 weeks, rinse, dry, pellicle formation and cold smoke below 70 F for however long...  some folks cold smoke for up to .......

Below is Brican's method...   8 hours or so of cold smoke per day...  16 hours no smoke...  

After 7 days give the belly a quick rinse under tepid water to remove the residue of salt and cure
Hang to dry in room temperature for about 8 hours so that the meat side is dryish to the touch (not completely dry) and recover the meat side with another 100g of the Maple Sugar for another 7 days

I forgot to let you know at the beginning that this is not a fast way to make bacon but it is a quality way of making it

After a further 7 days take and hang at room temperature either to dry/age/mature if you do not wish to cold smoke or for 12 to 24 hours for it to dry enough so that you can cold smoke it

Cold smoke adheres to meat when it is tacky and warm (room temperature) not when it is cold and wet hence the hanging at room temperature and not leaving in the fridge

The length of time smoking is up to each one -- remember that when cold smoking we are building a flavour profile and for you folks that wish to hot smoke your internal temperature is no more than 145F (63C) as you should be cooking your bacon once and not twice. The other sad part about hot smoking you get what you get when you finish the smoking there is no added flavour profile that is built up in layers as what happens when cold smoking

I always age/mature my bacon be it cold smoked or no,t for 7 days at room temperature (45F to 55F -- 7C to 14C)

Hope this is of help to people -- As I said; this is one of many ways of doing Maple Bacon

Brican's BACON.2jpg.jpg

• daveomak
• Jun 16, 2017

Brican's BACON.jpg

• daveomak
• Jun 16, 2017