TentHunter
Moderator
I got some $$$ to go towards a meat slicer for Christmas and that was exactly the incentive I needed to finally try my hand at making some bacon.
I really like cider cured bacon and apple wood is my favorite smoke for bacon, so that's the flavor profile I'm going with. Needless to say this will be a wet cure.
I picked up a 14 lb. pork belly side from the butcher.
Skin trimmed off and cut into 3 large slabs plus 1 smaller 1/2 slab.
The Brine is basically my ham brine with cider replacing some of the water.
The ingredients:
Ingredient Amounts
4 quarts Cold Filtered or Distilled Water
2 quarts Apple Cider
1¼ cups Pickling Salt (360 grams by weight)
2 cups Brown Sugar
4 tsp. Cure #1 (Contains Sodium Nitrite 6.25% -also called Prague Powder #1 or Insta-Cure #1)
Added 1/14/2012 - Very Important: If you heat your brine to dissolve the salt/sugar, then DO NOT add curing salt until AFTER the brine cools! Heat deactivates Sodium Nitrite/Nitrate.
I like to mix the ingredients in a stainless steel stock pot using cold water. That way I can stir it pretty vigorously without splashing & making a mess. No waiting for the brine to cool means I can use it right away.
Slabs put into in plastic zipper bags with the brine, all nestled in a tub and into the fridge.
I'll rotate/flip these once per day for the next 5 - 7 days.
See you in about a week!
I really like cider cured bacon and apple wood is my favorite smoke for bacon, so that's the flavor profile I'm going with. Needless to say this will be a wet cure.
I picked up a 14 lb. pork belly side from the butcher.
Skin trimmed off and cut into 3 large slabs plus 1 smaller 1/2 slab.
The Brine is basically my ham brine with cider replacing some of the water.
The ingredients:
Ingredient Amounts
4 quarts Cold Filtered or Distilled Water
2 quarts Apple Cider
1¼ cups Pickling Salt (360 grams by weight)
2 cups Brown Sugar
4 tsp. Cure #1 (Contains Sodium Nitrite 6.25% -also called Prague Powder #1 or Insta-Cure #1)
Added 1/14/2012 - Very Important: If you heat your brine to dissolve the salt/sugar, then DO NOT add curing salt until AFTER the brine cools! Heat deactivates Sodium Nitrite/Nitrate.
I like to mix the ingredients in a stainless steel stock pot using cold water. That way I can stir it pretty vigorously without splashing & making a mess. No waiting for the brine to cool means I can use it right away.
Slabs put into in plastic zipper bags with the brine, all nestled in a tub and into the fridge.
I'll rotate/flip these once per day for the next 5 - 7 days.
See you in about a week!
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