TrickyDick
New member
I think I posted this in another thread, but never got around to actually doing it.
A co-worker's husband bagged a boar a while back. They did their own butchery. They'd heard about some bacon I made, and I (foolishly) offered to make their bellys into bacon.
Well first off, this isn't a full belly like you think of. They carved around the natural lines in the meat/muscle leaving most of the belly on the rib ends. So they ended up with a measly 1 pound incl water weight (actually in the zip lock bag weighs 15.85 oz) TOTAL. And, its been sliced rather thickly. There is very little fat on this meat compared with regular bacon as you might find in the supermarket. It had been frozen for at least a month at this point, probably more like three months.
I think I would like to use a wet brine, and do it right in the same bag. Low salt isn't an issue for these youngsters, however, I am concerned with getting these small pieces of meat over salted, so I think I'll use a low salt plan. For flavor, I am just planning to do a standard brine without any fancy seasonings (unless someone else can comment on wild boar bacon flavoring), but wondering how to scale down for such a SMALL amount of meat? I'd really like to try the Spreadsheet TentHunter made for bacon if he doesn't mind.
Next comes the how part.
My initial plan had been to brine it in the fridge for 30 minutes , but I think that's probably too short of time for a proper cure. I might start with a one day cure, then take a small cut for a test fry, and repeat daily until the salt level seems right.
How long really does it need to be cured for such a small cut?
What do you all recommend, to get a safe product that's not overly salted?
Given the small size of cuts, and low fat content, I am concerned that a air-dry, might be undesirable, and planning to skip or limit to an hour or two before proceeding directly to a hot smoke. Since it's just a pound of meat, (less after fry test and water loss from smoking and cooking) it is my assumption that it will be consumed within a week and all at once.
thanks for the help!
TD
A co-worker's husband bagged a boar a while back. They did their own butchery. They'd heard about some bacon I made, and I (foolishly) offered to make their bellys into bacon.
Well first off, this isn't a full belly like you think of. They carved around the natural lines in the meat/muscle leaving most of the belly on the rib ends. So they ended up with a measly 1 pound incl water weight (actually in the zip lock bag weighs 15.85 oz) TOTAL. And, its been sliced rather thickly. There is very little fat on this meat compared with regular bacon as you might find in the supermarket. It had been frozen for at least a month at this point, probably more like three months.
I think I would like to use a wet brine, and do it right in the same bag. Low salt isn't an issue for these youngsters, however, I am concerned with getting these small pieces of meat over salted, so I think I'll use a low salt plan. For flavor, I am just planning to do a standard brine without any fancy seasonings (unless someone else can comment on wild boar bacon flavoring), but wondering how to scale down for such a SMALL amount of meat? I'd really like to try the Spreadsheet TentHunter made for bacon if he doesn't mind.
Next comes the how part.
My initial plan had been to brine it in the fridge for 30 minutes , but I think that's probably too short of time for a proper cure. I might start with a one day cure, then take a small cut for a test fry, and repeat daily until the salt level seems right.
How long really does it need to be cured for such a small cut?
What do you all recommend, to get a safe product that's not overly salted?
Given the small size of cuts, and low fat content, I am concerned that a air-dry, might be undesirable, and planning to skip or limit to an hour or two before proceeding directly to a hot smoke. Since it's just a pound of meat, (less after fry test and water loss from smoking and cooking) it is my assumption that it will be consumed within a week and all at once.
thanks for the help!
TD
