# Mmmmmm Bacon



## Thirsty Boy (20/7/08)

Piece of pork belly - couple of tablespoons of honey - 1/2cup salt - rub honey and salt into pork and put in a container in the fridge - turn every two days for 8 days - rinse off and pat dry - hang or place bacon on rack uncovered in the fridge for 24 hrs to dry and form a pellicle on its surface - smoke at about 100C for 5 hrs with a mixture of apple, mesquite and chardonay soaked oak (just a packet from BBQs Galore)

Result - bloody beautiful. Heart attack here I come





TB


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## Mercs Own (20/7/08)

Looks fantastic, I am sure it tastes fantastic!! I want to do my own bacon but for the moment am keeping an eye on the salami plus my cholesterol is up so bacon is off the list! As for salami I wont be eating that for several months so I am working at getting my cholesterol down so I can eat my salami and get it up again!

Anyway I must do some bacon! Your recipe or one from a book?


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## Thirsty Boy (20/7/08)

Mine, but not startlingly original. I just subbed honey in to replace the maple syrup I saw in a few recipes online.

Mostly followed this guys method and recipe - I screwed up a little though, my piece was actually only a little more than half the size of his pieces and I still used half a cup of salt, so it ended up too salty and I had to give it a 24hr soak in plain water to make it edible (before the smoking step). Next time a little less salt and it should be spot on.

I'm in the process of getting some prague powder, so the next one should also be a nice pink colour as well, not that I really care.

Check out this website - http://home.pacbell.net/lpoli/index.htm - The guy who does this one really knows his stuff. Dozens and dozens of recipes for sausages, salamis, hams, bacons, pancetta, prosciutto etc etc. Just the intro page took an hour to read and I came out knowing ten times as much about meat handling, meat products and food safety as I did before.

My cholesterol is beyond control by dietary means - no matter how good or healthily I eat, its still 7+... so, I am on cholesterol tablets.... and when I am on them, no matter how badly or unhealthily I eat, it sits on about 4.5 - so I take the tablets, eat the bacon and am happy. You still get fat - but your cholesterol is fine, just fine.

Cheers

Thirsty


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## browndog (20/7/08)

Great link there Thirsty, like you my cholestrol is 7. something, been on lipitor for the last 3 months and just went on saturday to have some3 blood drained and inspected. Hope it gets down to 4.5 like yours.

cheers

Browndog


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## reg (28/7/08)

Hey Mercs,

I also have high cholestorol.
The misses has put me onto this margarine.........................................................  

Hang on a minute!!!!!!!!


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## mwd (2/8/08)

Bacon Sandwiches with warm crispy bacon.

Anything that tastes that good just has to be bad for you.


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## agraham (5/8/08)

That looks awesome! God im starvin


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## Thirsty Boy (6/8/08)

I'm gonna turn into a lard arse after working out how to do this... it been bacon and eggs for breakfast far too often recently.

I've just ordered myself some curing salts and will be playing with homemade ham, prosciuto, pancetta etc soon .... and all sorts of bacon. mmmmmmm


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## drsmurto (6/8/08)

buttersd70 said:


> What do you use as a smoker? Been looking at smoking (meat, that is) for a while, and am continually changing my plans for the setup.



+1 for this question

Have been wanting to make my own smoky bacon since its too bloody hard to buy good bacon in Oz. In the old dart there was a whole isle of bacon in tescos.........

Also, want to smoke my jalapenos - chipotles in a chilli con carne....mmmmmmmmm


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## Katherine (6/8/08)

Smokers are easy to make yourself....


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## InCider (6/8/08)

Katie said:


> Smokers are easy to make yourself....



Hi Katie,

Have you got a pic of a homemade one?

Cheers,

Sean


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## Adamt (6/8/08)

Try these.






Small one:






Hope this helps Sean...


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## Thirsty Boy (7/8/08)

I bought a cheapie electric hotplat off e-bay ($15ish) and I just shoved that inside of my small hooded BBQ. Hotplate just sits on the plate o one side, bacon on a rack on the other. At the bottom it was about 80C and if I put the bacon on a rack up the top, it was about 120 - I went for the middle at 90 - 100C

Basic idea came from this Trash Can Smoker I would install a little door to change the wood chips though - but I thought I'd use the BBQ I already had instead. Or you could go ultra ghetto and try this.

Thirsty


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## katzke (7/8/08)

If you are going to smoke lots of stuff start searching for an old fridge. Not one of the new ones but an old one with metal insides. I have one from like the 50's that I got for that use but the darn thing still runs and has beer in it now. If I do convert it to a smoker while it still runs I can always make locks but for the fact I do not like them.


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## SpillsMostOfIt (7/8/08)

If you want the easy way out and have a lazy fifty:

https://www.raysoutdoors.com.au/catalog/pro...products_id=825


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## Katherine (7/8/08)

> Hi Katie,
> 
> Have you got a pic of a homemade one?
> 
> ...



Will take a shot for you this weekend.... but Thirsty is pretty spot on (AS USUAL) lol!

We use (big ) oil cans we then then put them on top of the gas burners... we have a commerical kitchen with huge exhaust fans.


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## Katherine (11/8/08)

Our dodgy smoker.... but it works well!


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## browndog (11/8/08)

Katie, they look great, chicken thighs right? did you marinate or soak them in brine? what kind of wood do you use?

cheers

Browndog


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## Steve (12/8/08)

browndog said:


> Katie, they look great, chicken thighs right? did you marinate or soak them in brine? what kind of wood do you use?
> 
> cheers
> 
> Browndog




The uncooked pics are definately chicken thighs...but the cooked pic looks like rabbit ?


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## Katherine (13/8/08)

Yes they are thighs... Soaked over night in brine and smoked with hickory. YUM!


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## Doogiechap (13/8/08)

Adamt said:


> Try these.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Just to justify a frivolous post  
When I saw the thread title this old chestnut came to mind......
Apologies in advance  .

Two Mexicans are stuck in the desert, wandering aimlessly and close to death. They are close to just lying down and waiting for the inevitable, when all of a sudden

Hey Pepe, do you smell what I smell. Ees bacon, I is sure of eet.

Si, Luis, eet smells like bacon to meee.

So, with renewed strength, they struggle off up the next sand dune, and there, in the distance, is a tree, just loaded with bacon.

Theres raw bacon, dripping with moisture, theres fried bacon, back bacon, double smoked baconevery imaginable kind of cured pig meat you can imagine!!

Pepe, Pepe, we ees saved. Eees a bacon tree.

Luis, are sure ees not a meerage? We ees in the desert, donforget.

Pepe, when deed you ever hear of a meerage that smeell of baconees no meerage, ees a bacon tree.

And with thatLuis races towards the tree. He gets to within 5 metres, Pepe following closely behind, when all of a sudden, a machine gun opens up, and Luis is cut down in his tracks. It is clear he is mortally wounded but, true friend that he is, he manages to warn Pepe with his dying breath.

Pepe go back man, you was right, ees not a bacon tree

Luis, Luis mi amigo what ees eet?

Pepeees not a bacon tree







Ees

Ees

Ees







Ees, a Ham Bush


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## Katherine (13/8/08)

> The uncooked pics are definately chicken thighs...but the cooked pic looks like rabbit ?



Tastes like smoked chicken...

Really nice on a pizza, with onion, ham, pineapple and olives topped with smoked cheddar.... or in a pasta with bacon, peas and cream... topped with chives.


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## Adamt (13/8/08)

Hahahahahah ham bush...

Sorry for the hijack but that's a good laugh 

Exit, left!


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## Tanga (29/8/08)

Adamt said:


> Hahahahahah ham bush...
> 
> Sorry for the hijack but that's a good laugh
> 
> Exit, left!



Here's a cheaper one from Rays:
https://www.raysoutdoors.com.au/catalog/pro...products_id=714

$34

My folks were going to buy my brother one. Wish they had now, then I could borrow it . Another thing to add to my list. Smoked foods are great!


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## tcraig20 (11/11/08)

Thanks Thirsty Boy. This is going to be on the cards here one weekend soon.



Tanga said:


> Here's a cheaper one from Rays:
> https://www.raysoutdoors.com.au/catalog/pro...products_id=714
> 
> $34
> ...



Not bad at all seeing as Mitre 10 just tried to bail me up $70 for a gal garbage can


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## Thirsty Boy (11/11/08)

$70 for a rubbish bin ... bloody hell.

In a pinch... a carboard box will do the job just as well.

The last of my bacon got eaten for breakfast on Sunday... time to make some more. And some sausages for Christmas.


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## robbo5253 (12/11/08)

Has anyone Tried smoking in their webber? If so does it work ok?

Have heard you just have to have your coals on one side with the chips and then your meat on the other side.

Cheers

Robbo


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## browndog (17/12/08)

Had some pork belly soaking in the salt/honey mix for 5 days now, going to smoke it on saturday. Going to slice it thick like spare ribs then bake it, can't wait to try it!.

cheers

Browndog


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## Mercs Own (24/4/11)

some piccies of my bacon makin:


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## Thirsty Boy (24/4/11)

Nice Merc, whats in the cure??


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## Mercs Own (24/4/11)

Its a secret but as long as you dont tell anyone:

Dry rub
1 cup of salt
1 cup of brown sugar
1 tablespoon of tasmanian pepper berries - slightly crushed
1/2 cup of maple syrup

combine dry ingredients and rub well into pork belly (1 1/2 - 2 kilo piece) then lay in a tray and pour maple syrup over. Cover with plastic wrap and leave in the fridge. Turn over every day for 6 days.

smoked for 2 hours keeping temp around the 100 c

All the liquid you see in the photo came out of the pork.

My wife thought it was a little salty - I didnt. it was bloody delicious.


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## Tim F (25/4/11)

Nice, so you hot smoke it? I've been doing a kilo every few weeks in the cold smoker but thinking of hot smoking some next time.
Great pink colour in yours given no nitrite in the rub!

I have been making a rub with
4g sodium nitrite
685g salt
310g sugar

When making the bacon I grab about 50g of the rub per kilo, and add other flavours. my favourite addition so far is a few cloves of mashed garlic. Then dredge the belly in cure, and put it in a large ziplock, which makes it very easy to keep the juices in contact with the meat as well as turn it over with no mess.


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## Bizier (25/4/11)

You can absolutely smoke on the weber.

I built a very similar smoker to Katie, though used 2 free round 20L drums, square would be more space efficient. I just chuck a couple of heat beads in there in a perforated tin, and some smoking wood on top in another tin, and it basically holds 100c for hours.

Your bacon pics are porn there TB, I've been meaning to do the same with no nitrates and keep portioned in freezer.


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## pipmoy (25/4/11)

This is the link I used to help me with my bacon adventures 

http://www.3men.com/bacon_making.htm


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## Thirsty Boy (26/4/11)

mmmm - the pepper berries are a nice touch Merc

I hot smoked my first couple of batches - and it certainly makes it look fantastic. But it does make it really really super smokey. Delicious if that's what you are looking for.

I have cold smoked a batch or two really lightly, then cooked it in the oven (or left raw and cooked only once at eating time) and that gives a bunch more control for me over the level of smoking. I also find the smoke flavour more delicate and a bit less bushfire effect. I love both - but my wife likes the more delicate version. I use the heavily smoked version as seasoning rather than straight eating bacon.

Recently - I have been curing with a little liquid smoke added, air dry for a day or two... and then you just have to cook it in the oven. Easy as you could possibly ask for and the smoke flavour from the liquid smoke is to my palate, just as good as the mucking about setting bits of wood on fire. I'll still use the smoker every now and again.. but the liquid smoke is really good and sooooo much easier.

i am using nitrites these days - I like the pure salt bacon, but prefer it with the nitrites. Makes it more bacony/hammy and less porky. Plus it gives me an added level of confidence that I'm not going to kill anyone.

I'm using the "Basic Dry Cure" from the book Charcuterie - The craft of Salting, Smoking and Curing. Which in my case amounted to

450g Salt
225g Sugar
50g Cure #1

(gives a nitrite level of 4.3mg/g)

I use this at 22g/kg of pork and it makes for great bacon and ham.. as a matter of fact I am about to go put 2 pork hocks on to cure - they will be ham sandwiches and pea and ham soup in the very near future. I might post pictures if I get enthusiastic.


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## winkle (26/4/11)

Thirsty Boy said:


> mmmm - the pepper berries are a nice touch Merc
> 
> I hot smoked my first couple of batches - and it certainly makes it look fantastic. But it does make it really really super smokey. Delicious if that's what you are looking for.
> 
> ...



Pics when it happens please TB.


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## Tim F (26/4/11)

TB, I've found the opposite with my setup. The cold smoke can be a bit strong and not always the exact taste I'm after at first. But after I wrap it in the fridge for a couple of days the excess smoke seems to dissapear, it's lovely after that. But the hams I've hot smoked have had the smoke just right. I use redgum though, what wood are you using?

Where did you track down the nitrite? The only source I've found is a local butcher supplier who have a very different ratio in the cure that required a spreadsheet to get it to match the recipes in charcuterie


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## Thirsty Boy (26/4/11)

Tim F said:


> TB, I've found the opposite with my setup. The cold smoke can be a bit strong and not always the exact taste I'm after at first. But after I wrap it in the fridge for a couple of days the excess smoke seems to dissapear, it's lovely after that. But the hams I've hot smoked have had the smoke just right. I use redgum though, what wood are you using?
> 
> Where did you track down the nitrite? The only source I've found is a local butcher supplier who have a very different ratio in the cure that required a spreadsheet to get it to match the recipes in charcuterie



I imported some from the states - cheap as chips to buy, poison to ship. Have found this guy in Aus

http://stores.ebay.com.au/BBQHQnet

Who sells cure#1 and cure#2 - but as you said in slightly different strengths to the original. I have written the guy and asked him for the percentages opf nitrite/nitrate he uses. They are a little stronger than the US versions, so to match the recipes in charcuterie, you can just dilute the cures from this guy with normal salt till the percentages match. Then you dont need to convert every time you bust out the recipe book.


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## TasChris (26/4/11)

Following this thread with great interest. I raise 3-5 pigs every year and have found difficulty in getting a buthcher I like that will do decent ham and bacon.
Most seem to use a horibble cure that turns bacon black when you cook it ( too much pineapple in the cure I have heard)

I have also found that a few of the butchers I have used suffer from poor maths. Only one eye fillet per pig or pigs with only two legs unless its the Tassie breeding ?


Cheers
Chris


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## Thirsty Boy (27/4/11)

Bacon's easy enough to have a crack at straight up... Hams you might want to get a bit of practise in before you launch into a full pig program! One of the reasons i am mucking about with hocks - cheap easy practise runs for bigger hams. I've done one or two boiled ham style things and they worked out well enough though.

There are a few guys on AHB who are right into this stuff - salami, prosciutto etc. Search around and you should find enough posts to track the culprits down and PM em for extra info. I'm still inexperienced enough that i am proud of myself when stuff doesn't turn out to be rancid or poisonous.


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## pdilley (27/4/11)

Thirsty Boy said:


> Piece of pork belly - couple of tablespoons of honey - 1/2cup salt - rub honey and salt into pork and put in a container in the fridge - turn every two days for 8 days - rinse off and pat dry - hang or place bacon on rack uncovered in the fridge for 24 hrs to dry and form a pellicle on its surface - smoke at about 100C for 5 hrs with a mixture of apple, mesquite and chardonay soaked oak (just a packet from BBQs Galore)
> 
> Result - bloody beautiful. Heart attack here I come
> 
> ...



:icon_drool2: 

Did I mention I'm going to start raising my own pigs on the property soon?

Bacon and pork that actually has real taste back in the meat unlike supermarket shiite here I come! :icon_cheers: 

Have to have a big pig slaughter party  Bacon, sausage fest, spit roasting and leg curing!

Cheers,
Brewer Pete


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## Sully (1/5/11)

This thread has inspired me to give bacon a go. Here is how I am going about it using the recipe from HERE

*Smoked Bacon with Honey Cure*

Ingredients
250g Salt
10g Kwikurit
500ml Honey
1 slab Pork Belly
Hickory Wood Chip or Sawdust

METHOD

Mix the salt and Kwikurit together thoroughly and rub into the bacon. Once the rubbing has been completed, pour the honey over the bacon and smother evenly. Wrap the bacon in a plastic bag or sheet and refrigerate at 5C for about 6 days.

Using warm water, wash the excess cure & honey off the bacon. Allow the bacon to dry in room temperate for about 30 minutes. While the bacon is drying, heat up a smokehouse to 60C. Place bacon into the smokehouse after drying and allow the bacon to dry with all dampers open. Close the dampers until about open and apply the smoke. Smoke the bacon until the core temperature reaches 50-55C.

Reduce the temperature of the smoker to 45C and smoke until the desired colour is obtained.

Remove the bacon from the smoker and place in a refrigerator and allow to set overnight before slicing.

Will post some pics when its done.

Cheers

Sully


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## Sully (8/5/11)

Todays efforts so far...

Have 3.6 kg of ham to smoke as well.


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## Sully (8/5/11)

And here is the finished product fresh out of the smoker. It is not going to be smokey as hoped because I didn't have the temp up high enough to generate enough smoke, but cant wait to cook it up for brekky in the morning :icon_drool2: . 

Cheers

Sully


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## Thirsty Boy (8/5/11)

Sully, you might already know this, but i have found with the bacon, it really helps to let it air dry a goodly chunk of time before you smoke it. Develops a sticky layer and makes the smoke stick better. Yours looks pretty damn tasty though.

The ham hocks i made turned out pretty well. They were quite lightly cured and very lightly cold smoked. So definitely ham rather than pork.. But only just.

Pics are thumbnails for big photobucket shots. Click for the big photo.

Sealed up in the bag to cure for a week or so




Air drying




Decided to use the BBQ for cold smoking. Hocks up one end and a little holder for the (hickory) chips made from a coke can at the other. No heat apart from the chips themselves.




Quick blast with the benzomatic to get the chips a'smokin




Close the lid and there's smoke a plenty, but the whole BB is nice and cool, the lid barely warm even right over the top of the chip holder. Completely cool to the touch where the pork was. Pop back every 20mins or so to either blow the chips back to life or give them a couple of seconds burst from the gas torch.




Smoked for a total of about 2 hours for a nice light touch.mfor a long cold smoking, this method would be a bit labour intensive - its bloody easy for giving something just a quick lick of smoke though.

Then i just baked em in the oven. Now one is in the freezer and one has just this afternoon been turned into what seems to be shaping up to be a marquee pea and ham soup for dinner.


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## manticle (8/5/11)

I think I might have a crack at some bacon next weekend.

Looks too good and too easy not to have a go and I do eat a lot of bacon.


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## kirem (8/5/11)

I'm in!

We can all make bacon at AHB


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## manticle (8/5/11)

Think I'll make a rub with brown sugar, sea salt and black pepper and smoke with french oak ('cos I have some), oregano, mustard seed and thyme.


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## Sully (8/5/11)

manticle said:


> Think I'll make a rub with brown sugar, sea salt and black pepper and smoke with french oak ('cos I have some), oregano, mustard seed and thyme.






Ha, I just realised I'm not on Facebook after looking for the "Like" button. 


But "LIKE"


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## Tim F (8/5/11)

I made a kilo of turkey bacon yesterday. The cure was a handful of sage leaves and a sprig of rosemary chopped fine, 4 juniper berries and 50g of basic dry cure from the recipe in charcuterie. Sat it in that for a week then hot smoked it over plum wood for a few hours. The plum smoke goes so well with the turkey - sweet/spicey. When I started smoking I didn't know if I believed the type of wood made that huge a difference but it really does.


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## Mercs Own (9/5/11)

Thirsty Boy said:


> Sully, you might already know this, but i have found with the bacon, it really helps to let it air dry a goodly chunk of time before you smoke it. Develops a sticky layer and makes the smoke stick better. Yours looks pretty damn tasty though.



Yes once you have finished the curing process rinse the meat well then dry with paper towels and put on a wire rack and put in your fridge for at least a couple of hours - over night is better so as to form a really good pellicle - following lifted from the website - lifted from a website:http://www.accidentalsmallholder.net/articles/bacon/drycuring/

"After rinsing, the bacon needs to be dried to allow a pellicle to form on the surface. The pellicle is a layer of protein which serves 3 purposes - it prevents the fat in the meat from rising to the surface and spoiling; it provides a surface to which smoke molecules will cling more effectively; lastly it seals in moisture, preventing the bacon from drying out completely."


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## Sully (9/5/11)

A bit OT as its not exactly bacon but ham (still Pork  ) fresh out of the smoker.


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## manticle (10/5/11)

Looking good Sully.

Just picked up a few kg of pork belly today. About to make the salt/sugar cure.


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## Phoney (15/5/11)

I put a 2.5kg slab into the fridge to cure yesterday. Used 1 cup of raw sugar, 1 cup sea salt, couple of tbsp's of back pepper & 1/2 cup of maple syrup. Looking forward to smoking it next weekend!

Just a question; Do you guys slice it with a knife or an electric meat slicer?


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## Tim F (18/5/11)

it can be hard to slice thin, i didn't have that much luck with our electric slicer but sharp knife worked ok. If you want thin slices it's a bit easier if you par freeze it first just so it stiffens up.


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## manticle (18/5/11)

Started smoking mine after work today.

Looking forward to a new obsession.


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## dug (19/5/11)

Got my pork belly today. watched the butcher cut the nipples off, and wondered if people would object to nipples on the bacon... boobs and bacon.


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## Thirsty Boy (19/5/11)

My pork belly usually comes complete with nipples... When you roast it they make little extra crispy crackling treats! It does feel a tiny bit weird rubbing in the salt and oil though.......


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## davo4772 (20/5/11)

Thirsty Boy said:


> mmmm - the pepper berries are a nice touch Merc
> 
> I hot smoked my first couple of batches - and it certainly makes it look fantastic. But it does make it really really super smokey. Delicious if that's what you are looking for.
> 
> ...




Hello Thirsty.

Some questions re Liquid smoke. Do you mix the liquid smoke with the cure and for how long do you marinade in the LS.. Also, when you bake the bacon do you bake at low temp ie like a normal hot smoke and for the same time.

Thanks in advance.

Dave


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## Thirsty Boy (20/5/11)

david72 said:


> Hello Thirsty.
> 
> Some questions re Liquid smoke. Do you mix the liquid smoke with the cure and for how long do you marinade in the LS.. Also, when you bake the bacon do you bake at low temp ie like a normal hot smoke and for the same time.
> 
> ...



Yep, just put the liquid smoke in with the cure... By the time you rub it all over a lump of pork, the cure is as much paste as powder, the amount of liquid smoke you use hardly makes a difference.

And it stays there for the whole curing time... Say a week or so.

I bake exactly as you suggest, up on a rack in a low oven around the same way i would do if i were hot smoking.

I'm no expert though, still very much learning this stuff and certainly the liquid smoke. Someone will know plenty more about it than me, hopefully they'll chime in.

TB


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## Phoney (23/5/11)

I had partial success at my first attempt yesterday...

Even though I was careful to not let the temperature go above 210F (most of the time it was under 200F), some parts ie: the first 5 - 10mm of the side which was facing down towards the heat 'cooked' the meat and essentially became roast pork. This makes it rather difficult to slice. 

I had it on for approx 3 hours, skin side facing up.

Next time I will try skin side down and only 2 hours...

Out of the smoker:





After the skin cut-off




Attempting to slice...




But still, the important part is that it tastes great so it's not going waste.


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## kieran (24/5/11)

I cold smoke mine in a Weber kettle with an improvised cold smoke kit.

1. Milo tin, - drill a few small holes in the top, and a fat one in the side big enough to fit:
2. A $7 soldering iron from bunnings. These are about 30W. [[[note, before first use, I wash the hell out of the soldering iron with warm soapy water first, then "burn it in" by leaving it on in an open space for 2-3 hours --> these things come from china and who knows what is on the surface straight out of the packet]]]
3. Wood chips or whatever.

Belly goes into the weber on a rack, chips go into the milo tin, lid goes on top... soldering iron gets shoved into the side.. the soldering iron gets turned on.
Lid closed, all vents closed. Come back in 3-5 hours. The meat never goes above 30C on a winter's day. No chance of bugs going nuts in that short time.

Cold smoking is better because you get a wicked penetration of smoke throughout the flesh, which you don't get quite so much of when hot smoking.
http://www.wedlinydomowe.com/meat-smoking/cold-smoking

I then warm bake it at 65C for 2.5 hours (for about 1.5kg), to seal it all up.

I'm yet to let mine sit O/N in the fridge to form a pellicle though, and I will next time. I just rinse the hell out of mine, let it soak in water for 30 mins to pull a lot of the salt out.. then pat it down like crazy until it's dry to the touch. But I'll try that next time, for sure.


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## manticle (24/5/11)

Mine was delicious but a wee bit salty.

Will be having another crack using the same ingredients but some better quality salt and maybe a bit less (or more of a rinse).

Might try wet curing after that.


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## dug (24/5/11)

I'm going to smoke mine tomorrow. Made a venturi smoker, and I'm filling that with some cherry wood. Made the wood into chips with the old mans electric planner


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## Acasta (24/5/11)

Someone say bacon?
http://youtu.be/wZDv9pgHp8Q


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## Ducatiboy stu (24/5/11)

Was thinking

How would using sea water as the brine before smoking.......


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## Fents (25/5/11)

kieran said:


> I cold smoke mine in a Weber kettle with an improvised cold smoke kit.
> 
> 1. Milo tin, - drill a few small holes in the top, and a fat one in the side big enough to fit:
> 2. A $7 soldering iron from bunnings. These are about 30W. [[[note, before first use, I wash the hell out of the soldering iron with warm soapy water first, then "burn it in" by leaving it on in an open space for 2-3 hours --> these things come from china and who knows what is on the surface straight out of the packet]]]
> ...



Can you also hot smoke in a webber?


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## Supra-Jim (25/5/11)

Shouldn't be an issue, it's would just be a bit of practice to get the temps right and nice and consistant.

Cheers SJ

(edit: I think, I've only just started playing with the webber!)


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## kieran (25/5/11)

Fents said:


> Can you also hot smoke in a webber?



I reckon you could quite easily. I'd probably do the same thing, and bung in some other heat source (some sort of pie oven element or something), and use my template controller to regulate the power to that to keep the internal kettle temp at 65C. 

I don't reckon hot smoking is as good though.. The smokiness isn't as strong.. But each to their own. 

You could, of course, simply light a couple of bricks, and throw an alfoil bag of chips on the bricks (with a couple of holes it it).., and see how you go. Just make sure its 65C minimum for a couple of hours. You don't want it too hot either or it will cook and/or lose moisture.

Closely monitor those temps though. Botulism can kill people.I find it easy to get my oven to 65C that's why I do it that way.


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## Sully (26/5/11)

I have a Weber branded remote digital thermometer and its the best gadget I have bought for cooking meat. You know exactly what the internal temp of the meat is so no under/over cooking, also don't have to open the cooker and loose heat. Costs about $70 but well worth the investment. I would however look at a different unit that you can set your own temp as the Weber units are all preset for the type of meat you are cooking. No big deal but more convenient for doing hams and bacon etc.

Another trick to try is to set your cooker to the internal temp of the meat you need to achieve. It may take longer to cook but it will never go over the temp. It doesn't matter how long it takes to get to temp as long as it gets there (A tip from Huey's Cooking Show)

Cheers

Sully


----------



## kieran (27/5/11)

manticle said:


> Mine was delicious but a wee bit salty.
> 
> Will be having another crack using the same ingredients but some better quality salt and maybe a bit less (or more of a rinse).
> 
> Might try wet curing after that.



I had the same issue with my first go Manticle... I just rinsed it under a tap, as that is what my instructions had.

So the second time round I just gave it a solid rinse, and then let it have a swim in some water for 30mins (I used starsan on one of my big pots first, to avoid any nasties), then after 30 mins, I refreshed the water and gave it another 10 mins final soak, then patted it dry with paper towel.. 
This time it is BEAUTIFUL!!


----------



## Mercs Own (28/5/11)

phoneyhuh said:


> I had partial success at my first attempt yesterday...
> 
> Even though I was careful to not let the temperature go above 210F (most of the time it was under 200F), some parts ie: the first 5 - 10mm of the side which was facing down towards the heat 'cooked' the meat and essentially became roast pork. This makes it rather difficult to slice.
> 
> ...



How close to the heat source was the meat??? I smoke my pork in my weber with some heat beads and smoke box on one side and the meat as far away as possible on the other side. Keeping the temp at 100c or 210f it shouldnt roast or cook the meat unless it is over the heat source.


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## Phoney (28/5/11)

Mercs Own said:


> How close to the heat source was the meat??? I smoke my pork in my weber with some heat beads and smoke box on one side and the meat as far away as possible on the other side. Keeping the temp at 100c or 210f it shouldnt roast or cook the meat unless it is over the heat source.



24 inches = ie: I made it in my UDS

I think next time I will also put it on a few layers of foil to deflect the heat, and put it on the upper tray: ie: at about 28"


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## Supra-Jim (29/5/11)

Other than consuming it all straight away, what are people doing to keep/store their bacon once you've made it?

I have looked at few $99 ebay special vacuum packers, but even the best of them only pull to -85kPa, well short of what butchers etc pack at. Just curious how you keep it once it's made.

Cheers SJ

PS: How many heat beads do you use Merc to keep the temp around 100C? Thanks


----------



## Phoney (29/5/11)

I've only got a ~$40 Maxkon vacuum sealer, seems to do the job just fine. Just make sure you eat it within 3 months..


----------



## manticle (29/5/11)

Supra-Jim said:


> Other than consuming it all straight away, what are people doing to keep/store their bacon once you've made it?
> 
> I have looked at few $99 ebay special vacuum packers, but even the best of them only pull to -85kPa, well short of what butchers etc pack at. Just curious how you keep it once it's made.
> 
> ...



What do you mean other than consuming it straight away? There is no such thing.

Bacon doesn't last long in my house.

However cured and smoked meats should last very well. If you really can't eat it in time either make less or freeze. I have successfully frozen packet bacon before - each slice is interleaved with greaseproof paper then wrapped in glad wrap. I can't think why homemade wouldn't work just as well.


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## Supra-Jim (29/5/11)

Yeah thanks guys. Manticle, I know I easily make whole lot of bacon disappear very quickly (double bacon sandwiches with bacon instead of bread anyone??  ) much in the same way i could make keg of AIPA disappear very quicky. It can be done, but it shouldn't. 

And yeah, just earlier I had the 'brilliant" idea of freezing slices (was a bit slow this morning).

I was also looking at these this morning and thinking this might be a good way to get a nice long low temp smoke on the bacon (and other things). My thoughts were it would sit nicely inside a weber? 


Cheers SJ


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## Mercs Own (31/5/11)

Supra-Jim said:


> Other than consuming it all straight away, what are people doing to keep/store their bacon once you've made it?
> 
> I have looked at few $99 ebay special vacuum packers, but even the best of them only pull to -85kPa, well short of what butchers etc pack at. Just curious how you keep it once it's made.
> 
> ...



I slice and then freeze mine in sandwich bags. I also leave some larger 'chops' for when I make Boston baked beans or other stews. My sunbeam vacuum pack does an excellent job on bacon, salami's and anything else I seal with it.

Regarding the number of heat beads - as many or as few as it takes :icon_cheers: I light up maybe 12 and then once they are going I put the lid down on the weber with my thermometer inside and after 10 minutes check the temp and take away a bricket or two until the temp is stable around the 100 mark. I keep the ones I take away going and add a couple of new ones so that if the temp drops in the weber I can add a new one to bring it back up.


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## Mercs Own (31/5/11)

Supra-Jim said:


> Yeah thanks guys. Manticle, I know I easily make whole lot of bacon disappear very quickly (double bacon sandwiches with bacon instead of bread anyone??  ) much in the same way i could make keg of AIPA disappear very quicky. It can be done, but it shouldn't.
> 
> And yeah, just earlier I had the 'brilliant" idea of freezing slices (was a bit slow this morning).
> 
> ...



I was in New Zealand last week and having a beer with Paul Croucher of Croucher beer company (will appear in the NZ episode of Mercurio's Menu) He has just opened a bar in Rotorua called 'Brew' so if you are in town make sure you get there 8 - 10 taps of his and other NZ micros and good beer focused food also. He took me out the back and showed me his smoker (no its not a euphemism!) and told me about these Maze cold smoker things. So they according to him work brilliantly for cold smoking, no fuss easy as and good smoke flavour over a long burn! Thanks for putting hte link up as I will definately be buying some.


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## Supra-Jim (31/5/11)

Cheers for the reply Merc. I think I'll be trying to get my hands on one of the A-MAZE-N cold smokers too. Pity though as I think they are out of stock at the moment.

Cheers SJ

Edit: It seems they should be back in stock later this week. Have ordered one and will give it a test run.


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## Fents (31/5/11)

Supra-Jim said:


> Cheers for the reply Merc. I think I'll be trying to get my hands on one of the A-MAZE-N cold smokers too. Pity though as I think they are out of stock at the moment.
> 
> Cheers SJ
> 
> Edit: It seems they should be back in stock later this week. Have ordered one and will give it a test run.



was gonna say if its not to late i'll grab one too? and if Merc wants one lets make it three and see if they will cut us a deal? by the sounds of it you have already orderd tho


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## Supra-Jim (31/5/11)

Order placed already. However once it arrives you're more than welcome to swing by and taste the results. The Hopburst IPA will be on tap this weekend too if you need a further excuse!

Cheers SJ

(I'll send them a quick email and see if they can do a price break for a couple as I don't think the order will be dispatched for a few more days)


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## davo4772 (18/6/11)

I bought a piece of belly pork. Problem is it has rib bones still insitu. Have I the wrong part of the belly, can the bones be cut out.

Can't take it back of course so will forge ahead.


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## Sully (19/6/11)

david72 said:


> I bought a piece of belly pork. Problem is it has rib bones still insitu. Have I the wrong part of the belly, can the bones be cut out.
> 
> Can't take it back of course so will forge ahead.


Yep its fine, cut them out. Do a google search for recipes for "American Style Ribs" :icon_drool2: You don't want to throw them. I made mine into bacon bones for Pea & Ham soup. 


Bought some Rolled Pork Loin yesterday for the third batch of Bacon. I find Belly is too fatty.

:icon_cheers:


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## punkin (29/6/11)

I use a commercial cure for my bacon, hams, chicken, turkey and jerky.

It's called "Royal Ham Cure" and is made up into a wet brine.

I have lots of 60ml syringes and 18 gauge blunt needles for my mycological hobbies so i pump the meat with the brine and brine for different lengths of time from 3 days to 3 weeks. Without pumping a ham can take up to 6 weeks in a wet brine  


I use a home made wet brine with brown sugar and salt for cold smoking fish.


I jazz up the commercial depending on what i'm making, but a whole dried habernero or smoked jalepeno usually makes it in there, along with whole peppercorns and a star anise or two.

I cold smoke at 60C for 16 hours or so for bacon, less for chicken and 3 times as long for ham.


Needless to say, i don't do ham very often :blink: 

Some bacon here..






Bacon and turkey wings..


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## Phoney (30/6/11)

That's looks awesome Punkin!

Where do you source your Royal Ham Cure from?


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## punkin (30/6/11)

phoneyhuh said:


> That's looks awesome Punkin!
> 
> Where do you source your Royal Ham Cure from?




I used to buy it straight from the manufacturer, but they refuse to deal with nonaccountholders now. There's a local butcher who does a lot of smoking of turkey thigh fillet and some other stuff. 
he loves my jerky so just gets a bag when i want it.

It's about $15 or so for a 4.5 kg bag, that'll last the average home bloke about twenty years i reckon.

Only just about to open my second bag in ten years and i use it a fair bit with the jerky sideline.


If you get on well with your local butcher ask him to source it for you, it's a Leslies product. You need to do your research as to safe levels of use and mix accordingly to what you're happy with. Just don't believe the chicken littles and the rumours about the terrible things it does to your testicles, google for the truth. :icon_cheers:


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## manticle (30/10/11)

Hot smoking another batch at the moment.

This time I'm trialling some pork loin - more meat, less fat (but still plenty of fat).

For the cure, I used plenty of salt, as well as garlic, fresh oregano, black pepper, mountain/native pepper and chilli. After rinsing off the salt cure through a strainer, I added back the herb/chilli mix for the duration of the pellicle development. Chucked that stuff into the smoker with french oak chips and some dried oregano and dried sage. Smells great.


----------



## Muscovy_333 (30/10/11)

punkin said:


> I used to buy it straight from the manufacturer, but they refuse to deal with nonaccountholders now. There's a local butcher who does a lot of smoking of turkey thigh fillet and some other stuff.
> he loves my jerky so just gets a bag when i want it.
> 
> It's about $15 or so for a 4.5 kg bag, that'll last the average home bloke about twenty years i reckon.
> ...


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## benno1973 (28/7/12)

Made another batch of bacon this morning - the simplest possible as time was short. Pork belly, salt, sodium nitrite, brown sugar and ground black pepper. 5 minutes to weigh out the spices, pack it all into a bag and vacuum seal it, couldn't be easier. I did it all while I was eating the last of the previous batch, with a fried egg on sourdough. Awesome! It's so much tastier than commercial bacon!

Anyway, into the fridge for a week of curing, then cold smoking and oven baking (I don't currently have a hot smoker that works well).

Porky goodness.


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## fraser_john (28/7/12)

Kaiser Soze said:


> Made another batch of bacon this morning - the simplest possible as time was short. Pork belly, salt, sodium nitrite, brown sugar and ground black pepper. 5 minutes to weigh out the spices, pack it all into a bag and vacuum seal it, couldn't be easier. I did it all while I was eating the last of the previous batch, with a fried egg on sourdough. Awesome! It's so much tastier than commercial bacon!
> 
> Anyway, into the fridge for a week of curing, then cold smoking and oven baking (I don't currently have a hot smoker that works well).
> 
> ...



KS, I am interested in the vacuum bagging whilst letting it salt cure.....does it help the salt penetrate more evenly? I find if I just rub salt on and sit in the fridge, one side ends up being too salty and the other does not have enough!


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## DU99 (28/7/12)

:icon_drool2: bacon..


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## benno1973 (28/7/12)

fraser_john said:


> KS, I am interested in the vacuum bagging whilst letting it salt cure.....does it help the salt penetrate more evenly? I find if I just rub salt on and sit in the fridge, one side ends up being too salty and the other does not have enough!



I don't know about helping it cure more evenly, but I tend to flip it each day (which helps it cure evenly) and that is much easier in the vacuum sealed bags. I guess the cure may be more even, given that the liquid extracted from the belly tends to sit around the meat within the bag after day 1 - if that makes any sense.


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## fraser_john (29/7/12)

Kaiser Soze said:


> <snip> I guess the cure may be more even, given that the liquid extracted from the belly tends to sit around the meat within the bag after day 1 - if that makes any sense.



Yeah it does, given I am on my last pack of home made bacon, I'll try the vacuum bag method for my next one.


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## Thirsty Boy (30/7/12)

i vac seal everything i "dry" cure - I dont even bother to flip things over anymore. Works a treat every time.


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## Phoney (22/8/12)

Is it still necessary to heat the bacon to 65C if you add a teaspoon of 2% nitrates and cold-smoke it for 5 hours? (I have an A-MAZE-N cold smoker)

My last batch I didnt and im obviously still alive, but I dont want to die the next time. :lol:


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## Thirsty Boy (22/8/12)

Its not necessary to heat it at all, no matter whether you use nitrites or dont smoke it at all.

But "Bacon" as its usually understood by aussies, is a cooked product, traditionally it would be cooked by hot smoking it. When you cook it at home, you are really twice cooking it.

But - if you cold smoke it, then there is no reason to cook it at all the first time round, unless you prefer it "twice cooked" (i do) its just that when you cut yourself a slice of bacon, its a "raw" chunk of meat you are dealing with rather than something pre-cooked.

It will be less shelf stable unless you also dry it out like a prosciutto, so keep it in the fridge. But it'll be delicious. While the weather is still cool... i'd be tempted to leave it to hang and dry a little, pancetta style, before you hook in, that'll intensify the flavours.

TB


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## punkin (25/8/12)

I use the same precautions as i use for ham and any cold smoked meats. That is 60C core temp for safe eating. Removes the doubt. I use nitrites as well.

I have temp control in my cold smoker.


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## Phoney (25/8/12)

Thanks guys. 

I guess the difference is with bacon, when you cook it on the fry pan it will kill off any nasties, whereas with ham you don't ever cook it, and therein lies the risk. 

Then again also I make prosciutto without ever heating it or use any nitrites...


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## Mikedub (14/5/13)

hello national bacon week and a $120 bacon and egg roll

http://www.australianpork.com.au/pages/page219.asp


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## TasChris (14/6/13)

Finally got organised to make bacon.
I have bought a 3.5 kg pork belly with the loin attached, so I can make bacon with the "eye" of meat.

I have cut it in two, one half with the loin and half without

Trying a cure with seasoning of bay,pepper, juniper berries as well as the sugar salt and pink salt on the belly with loin attached and for the straight belly just pepper and juniper seasoning.

I am going to make some pastrami at the same time when I smoke the bacon. I have already got some home corned beef from a heifer we had butchered on site.
Stealing my recipes from the Charcuterie book

Can't wait till smoking day

Cheers
Chris


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## punkin (15/6/13)

Did you pump the meat or are you marinating it. How long will you leave it in the brine?


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## Mardoo (15/6/13)

punkin said:


> Did you pump the meat or are you marinating it. How long will you leave it in the brine?


(insert blatantly obvious sexual joke here)


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## TasChris (16/6/13)

punkin said:


> Did you pump the meat or are you marinating it. How long will you leave it in the brine?


The beef for the pastrami was pumped and left in brine for 7 days.

The pork for the bacon is being marinated in brine in zip lock bag for 7 days and turned every day

Cheers
Chris


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## jyo (16/6/13)

I know prices will vary, but roughly how much for a 3kg pork belly, Chris?


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## TasChris (16/6/13)

jyo said:


> I know prices will vary, but roughly how much for a 3kg pork belly, Chris?


Wasn't cheap...cost me $40 for 3.3kg $12 /kg. don't know how that is compared to mainland.


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## jyo (16/6/13)

Cool, thanks, mate. That's kind of what I was expecting, so all good.


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## benno1973 (16/6/13)

jyo said:


> Cool, thanks, mate. That's kind of what I was expecting, so all good.


Jyo - in Perth, you can get belly for around $10-11/kilo. Considering the shittiest bacon is around $10 a kilo, making your own kinda makes sense.


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## jyo (16/6/13)

Awesome, cheers, Kaiser. Gonna give this a red hot go.


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## Wolfman (6/7/13)

Thawing a 1.3kg peice of pork belly. What's the best brine recipe for this?


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## Wolfman (6/7/13)

Right O i'm going to wing it. Most people who have done this say they have used to much salt.

So using the OP here's my recipe:


Piece of pork belly - *My piece looks roughly the same size.*
couple of tablespoons of honey - *Got some Beachworth for this*
 2/3 cup salt - *Reducing from 1/2 cup. Maybe 1/4 would be better? Ideas?*
Method:

Rub honey and salt into pork and put in a container in the fridge. *Would a large ziplock bag be OK for this?*
Turn every day for 8 days
Rinse off and pat dry
Rinse off and pat dry
Hang in the fridge for 24 hrs to dry and form a pellicle on its surface. *Will this be OK in my CC fridge with no ill effects?*
Smoke at about 100C for 5 hrs with a mixture of apple, mesquite and redgum.
Wham Bacon.

Any tips would be muchly appreciated.


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## benno1973 (6/7/13)

If you want to be precise about salt, weigh it rather than measure it by volume. It accounts for the different grades of salt that you get, different coarseness etc. I use around 2-2.5% by weight to the meat. So if you have a 1kg piece of belly, use around 23g of salt. Depending on the size of your belly, 2/3 of a cup of salt sounds way wayyyyy too much.

Are you planning on using nitrites? I only ask because you haven't mentioned it. Personally I think it contributes a lot to the bacon flavour, but others don't like to use it. Horses for courses, just something to think about.

Use a ziplock back, that's fine. Sit it in a container in case the ziplock bag leaks, so it doesn't leak all over your wedding cake sitting on the shelf below. 

Hang it in the cc fridge, that should be fine.


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## Wolfman (6/7/13)

Cheers Kaiser. I think 2/3rds should have been 1/3rd. 

Nar maye no nitrates just yet. Will use your calculation and see how it goes. 

Cheers


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## Wolfman (8/7/13)

Righty O giving this a crack.

1.3kg of pork belly rinsed, deboned and dried. 




Rubbed with 30g of salt and a couple of table spoons of honey. In a ziplock bag in the fridge to be turned every day for 8 days. 



Will post pics as it happens.


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## benno1973 (8/7/13)

Good work Wolfman. Bacon is a great starter into charcuterie, and you'll never look back. I tend to use a bit of pepper as well, but I've never made it without pepper, so can't comment on how it will go with just the honey and salt. I'm sure it will still be delicious, and home smoked will make it that much more delicious. Smoke it until you have an internal temperature of around 68C. In my oven at home, set to 100c, that's around a couple of hours (from memory).


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## Mercs Own (14/7/13)

Wolfman said:


> Righty O giving this a crack.
> 
> 1.3kg of pork belly rinsed, deboned and dried.
> 
> ...


How did your bacon turn out? I am thinking you haven't used enough salt to cure it properly?


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## Wolfman (15/7/13)

It's still in the fridge mate. I didn't want it too salty as a lot of people had complained about theirs being too salty. 
Kaiser Soze recommended I use a little less salt.
The belly looks ok as it's in a glad bag. I used a fair but of honey in it as we'll , not sure if that will help it at all? 

Will post a pic this arvo.


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## Wolfman (23/7/13)

The bacon turned out delicious!

I could have used a little more salt as I didn't end up with a pellicle. I smoked it with a redgum at first then with apple tree clippings.

Hanging in the fridge.



In the smoker.



The finished product.



I am now my own bacon supplier!

Cheers for all the advise.


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## benno1973 (23/7/13)

Mercs Own said:


> How did your bacon turn out? I am thinking you haven't used enough salt to cure it properly?


That was my suggestion. I tend to use around 2.3-2.4% salt, which was based on Ruhlman's calcs (he uses 2.4% in his bacon recipe). I also add nitrites which contribute to the salt, but it's negligible. The benefit of this is that it's pretty hard to overcure the bacon - you can leave it curing a few days longer, and it doesn't over-salt.




Wolfman said:


> The bacon turned out delicious!
> 
> I could have used a little more salt as I didn't end up with a pellicle. I smoked it with a redgum at first then with apple tree clippings.


Great work! It's a slippery slope, you'll just eat more bacon because of it!


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## Wolfman (23/7/13)

Cheers mate.


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## Mercs Own (24/7/13)

Wolfman - I am not sure if the amount of salt used in a brine or dry rub and the forming of the pellicle are related? The pellicle is formed by drying the meat and then letting it sit in a fridge for a period of time whilst the pellicle forms. some people put fans on them to dry them out more/quicker.

How long did you let it sit/hang uncovered for?

Anyone got other thoughts on this? I assume a pellicle will form on any meat that you leave uncovered in the fridge brined or not?

cheers


----------



## benno1973 (24/7/13)

Yep, I had the same thoughts - not sure that they are related. It's a skin of proteins on the surface of the meat, which I would assume would form on any meat, given the right conditions (temperature and humidity). The bacon does need to be well dried off before you hang it - did you dry it off with paper towels first?


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## Wolfman (25/7/13)

I rinsed and patted dry before putting in the fridge. It was dry enough that there was no moisture coming from the bacon. I had a tub underneath the bacon and there was not a drop in it. 

Pretty sure I left it hang for 2 days. It was at between 2 an 5 degrees though. Closer to 2 for the whole time though. Had some drama with my fridge. 

It still tastes the goods. I did over cook it. It go to an internal temp of 76c. When I sliced it a small portion looked like roast pork. So maybe my salt is a little to finely ground and I need to add more?

Cheers guys


----------



## Wolfman (25/7/13)

I rinsed and patted dry before putting in the fridge. It was dry enough that there was no moisture coming from the bacon. I had a tub underneath the bacon and there was not a drop in it. 

Pretty sure I left it hang for 2 days. It was at between 2 an 5 degrees though. Closer to 2 for the whole time though. Had some drama with my fridge. 

It still tastes the goods. I did over cook it. It go to an internal temp of 76c. When I sliced it a small portion looked like roast pork. So maybe my salt is a little to finely ground and I need to add more?

Cheers guys


----------



## benno1973 (25/7/13)

Hey Wolfman, sounds like you did the correct thing for the pellicle to form, not sure why it didn't.

For me, the nitrites add the flavour that differentiates the ham/bacon taste from a roast pork taste. That's just personally, not everyone feels this way


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## Mercs Own (25/7/13)

2 days hanging plenty of time for a pellicle to form. Why do you think one didnt form? Was the pork smokey enough?

If you dont use nitrites/nitrates/instacure then your meat will not have that rosey pink pork colour we are so used to seeing in bacon instead it will be grey like cooked meat - the amount of salt wont affect colour of the meat. So it is of no surprise when you cut a slice off it looked like it was cooked - that said you did over cook it also (for bacon). I smoke my bacon for about 4 hours in my webber at about 100degrees c. Once I am happy with the colour of the smoke on the outside of the bacon I stop cool it down and slice it all up and pack in portions for cooking later.

Lastly how did it taste in terms of saltiness?


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## Wolfman (29/7/13)

I did get some pinkness, bacon looking. They grey pork looking colour was only in patches and closer to the middle of the belly. Wasn't to salty at all. Taste is great just a tad over cooked. The pellicle may have been there? I thought I was looking for like a crust to form on the outside. When I googled pellicle for a picture mine looked similar. 

I might give nitrates a go next time. Yes there will be a next time. Where do you pick these up from?

Cheers for all the advise.


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## benno1973 (29/7/13)

Hey Wolfman, the pellicle is just a sticky layer. You won't see it like a crust at all, but you'll feel it in that it feels tacky, which is what allows the smoke to bond/bind with the bacon.

If it was slightly grey in patches towards the centre, you might want to leave it a little longer to cure next time. Most recipes for bacon and ham talk about days curing per weight of the meat, however the thickness of the meat is more important. Salt needs to penetrate the meat to the centre, so if you have a small but thick slab of belly, you'll need to leave it longer than a long thin slab, despite the fact that they may be the same weight.

I order nitrites/nitrates either from ebay, Misty Gully, Country Brewer, or any of the online curing/BBQing places. Or find a butchers wholesaler near you....


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## Wolfman (29/7/13)

Ah now yes I did have a sticky layer on the outside. Thanks for clearing that up. 

So if what you are saying I didn't cure it for long enough, how do you know when it's ready? I get what you mean about the thickness of the meat. Would using extra salt speed this process up? Do you have any good links to bacon curing?

Cheers for the links on the nitrates. I will get some an give it another go..

My bacon turned out fine. I also made Chinese BBQ pork that week. With a bit of confusion I thought my son was having Chinese BBQ pork for his school lunches, he was actually having bacon sandwiches!


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## benno1973 (29/7/13)

Wolfman said:


> So if what you are saying I didn't cure it for long enough, how do you know when it's ready? I get what you mean about the thickness of the meat. Would using extra salt speed this process up? Do you have any good links to bacon curing?


All good questions.

1. How do you know when it's ready? That's a hard one to answer. The beauty of using a specific amount of salt (2.4-2.5% by weight) is that it's virtually impossible to overcure the meat. I leave 7 days for thin pieces, up to 10 days for thick pieces of belly. If in doubt, cure it longer. Given that there's a specific amount of salt there, if you cure too long, it won't be overly salty.

2. I guess it would, but you run the risk of over-salting the meat. I prefer to leave it longer, as per point 1.

3. Good links are Ruhlman and Molinari. That Molinari link is pancetta, but it's similar.


----------



## punkin (30/7/13)

Ask your butcher to get the nitrates for you. I use the Lesnies Royal Ham Cure. It's well under twenty bucks for a 4.5kg bag that will last you many, many years.

Another cheap and really good investment is a brine injector. I have this one..

http://www.amazon.com/Bayou-Classic-5011-Stainless-Steel-Seasoning/dp/B000KDZ1VA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1375130072&sr=8-1&keywords=meat+injector

I use it for so many things besides bacon and hams, injecting Competition Brine to chickens before roasting for the juiciest bird you'll ever taste, injecting herbed butters into thick pork loin chops etc etc

The limit is imagination, did dome coca cola marylands with the grandkids a couple of months ago using soda stream syrup. :lol: B)

spelling edit


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## TasChris (18/8/13)

Picked up a whole pork belly with loin attached for $12.99/kg. Butcher has let me know that I can get belly of baconers rather than porkers ( baconer a lot bigger in size so more bigger belly) for the same price if I give him notice.
Cut pork belly in four and cured as per Charcuterie book with some additional spices for 8 days.
Bellies then smoked over apple wood for 3 hours.
The smell in my kitchen is unbelievable.
I love bacon

1) Juniper and Thyme
2) Treacle (as had no maple)
3) Bay and Pepper
4) Garlic,Thyme, Juniper, Bay and Pepper











Cheers
Chris


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## mwd (22/8/13)

Looks absolutely delicious. Love smoked bacon anything that tastes that good must be bad for you.


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## surly (21/4/14)

Just bought some pork loin, brined and placed in the fridge.
This time next week, I hope to be in a smokey, bacony stupor


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## jyo (7/9/14)

I did two pieces of belly today pretty much as Thirstyboy's first post in this thread. One with salt and honey, the other with salt, honey and pepper. I'll hit it with a few hours of hickory smoke in the Weber this weekend.

If this turns out as good as I think it will, I'll try the next with maple syrup.

So glad I found this thread! I'm pretty excited! :icon_drool2:


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## shaunous (10/10/14)

Have 1kg of pork belly drying on its second day in the fridge. Will smoke today, can't wait 


Some of you look to have kept the skin on in some of your pic's, how did that go? I removed it as I figured it would be terrible, like doing pulled pork with the skin on, something you'll only do once.


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## djar007 (10/10/14)

Are you guys using curing salt to brine your pork belly in. Or just normal salt.


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## shaunous (10/10/14)

Holy crap this is awesome, will not be the first time I do this. Only had a little bit today, big test tomorrow morning. Mmmmmmm Bacon


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## manticle (10/10/14)

I found shoulder made better bacon, belly was best for pancetta.
Never took skin off, nipples made for extra fun.

And quality sea salt for curing but if you want pink after cooking then curing salts are the thing for you.


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## jyo (11/10/14)

I meant to update this. Mine was far too salty. It looks and tastes like bacon, but too much salt.

I have frozen it and can probably use it for cooking / seasoning in recipes, but as far as bacon goes, I can't eat very much of it. I will adjust salt ratio next time.


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## shaunous (11/10/14)

This mornings country breakfast after an early morning shoot, mmmmmmm







Non-Homogenised Milk, Home Grown Eggs and Home Made Bacon.


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## Danwood (11/10/14)

Now that's a good breakfast. 

Is it wild pig bacon ? Maybe not, I imagine they'd be too lean for bacon ?


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## shaunous (11/10/14)

Nah not wild pig, they're not to lean though either, these big roasts are wild pig and the other 2 roasts are old sheep shoulder, but a smoker makes everything amazing. Cooked these a few weeks back.


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## Danwood (11/10/14)

Do you bait up areas when you go for pigs ? Get them used to coming back to an area (in which you've set up a hide) for a few weeks prior, with spent grain (mixed up with molasses?) or a few piles of old apples etc ?

I'm no hunter, but we used similar tactics when fishing for sport in UK. You'd get a bit of extra flavour into the meat too, I'd imagine.


----------



## shaunous (11/10/14)

Nah I shoot pigs while hunting, I do know guys who trap them with grain, but ya normally need big properties for that as the pigs never leave, when your amongst smaller properties and neighbours close-ish by, game such as pig, deer and goats move on between properties chasing feed and being chased by other hunters and it makes it harder. I do feed and track deer but I've been a lil busy for that this year.


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## manticle (11/10/14)

Bacon looks great shaunous. You using nitrate/nitrite to keep it that pink?


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## shaunous (11/10/14)

Yeh Mans


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## shaunous (11/10/14)

Yeh Mans, Nitrites only, the local butcher buys it's all separately in massive bulk bags and he gave me a little, I pretty much added maple syrup and brown sugar to their basic brine they use on everything from Corned meat to their Xmas hams. 

I did want to ask you about your bacon you do with shoulder but forgot. Do u brine the whole shoulder? bone in, out? Sounds a great way of doing it.


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## sp0rk (11/10/14)

I really need to come up and go shooting with you some time
Those snapchats of you smoking the bacon were making me damn hungry!


----------



## shaunous (11/10/14)

Haha yeh I like teasing a lil' 

Bacon was amazing, makes me feel a little better I was eating local pork, home laid eggs and local creamy milk also.


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## manticle (11/10/14)

shaunous said:


> Yeh Mans, Nitrites only, the local butcher buys it's all separately in massive bulk bags and he gave me a little, I pretty much added maple syrup and brown sugar to their basic brine they use on everything from Corned meat to their Xmas hams.
> I did want to ask you about your bacon you do with shoulder but forgot. Do u brine the whole shoulder? bone in, out? Sounds a great way of doing it.


Bone out - just select the cut I want from a good local italian butcher and he prepares it for me in advance.
I've done both dry and wet cures - dry is my preference. My exact cure is somewhere earlier in the thread and it's a while since I did one (need to rectify) but salt + flavourings like thyme, garlic, black pepper, etc. Got some unused curing salts for some salami I never made so might do 2 lots and compare.


----------



## lukiferj (11/10/14)

shaunous said:


> This mornings country breakfast after an early morning shoot, mmmmmmm
> 
> 
> 
> ...


How good is life?


----------



## shaunous (11/10/14)

Sighted the big bores in this arvo sp0rk, so when ya ready Although the .308 needs a little more work, but had the .270 within an inch at 250-300m.







That's no Bull


----------



## shaunous (11/10/14)

lukiferj said:


> How good is life?


Pretty good mate 

Got some cattle work tomorrow then smoking more meats for my Great Uncles 80th Bday dinner I'm having out here. 

Lamb and pork again, I've been told to cut back on the Chilli rub though because old time farmers apparently don't know what it is and it'll make them cry once consumed


----------



## Ducatiboy stu (11/10/14)

Had a mate who could shoot foxes at 500m+ with a .17.....he would do it all night....every shot


----------



## shaunous (11/10/14)

P.s. Sorry for all the Off Topic's guys, maybe i should start a Shaunous Farm thread 


Keep On Makin Bacon!!!


----------



## Ducatiboy stu (11/10/14)

or a "Shooti'n Kill'n, Cook'n & Eat'n of animals" thread


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## Danwood (8/7/15)

Bacon time soon, just working out the brine recipe ready for a 7 day curing of a 2kg pork belly.

After research, I think I'll go for....

2.5% meat weight (50g) sea salt
2.5g per kilo (5g) Prague powder/cure #1
1/2 cup Red Gum honey
6 fresh bay leaves
10 roughly crushed peppercorns

Then a thorough rinse, dry and overnight in the fridge.

Smoke for 2-3 hrs with cherry wood at around 100C until internal is 65C, maybe occasionally basting with more honey.

Any problems anyone can see with the amounts there, salts specifically ?


----------



## benno1973 (8/7/15)

No issue specifically with those amounts. I go slightly less salt, about 2% as well as the curing salt (which often has salt mixed in) but I don't wash the bacon after curing so it still tastes quite salty. 

Smoked bacon today over apricot and mulberry wood. Came out a great colour!







Cured with salt, curing salt, brown sugar, pepper, juniper berries, garlic, bay and nutmeg.


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## jyo (9/7/15)

Made me some more bacon. Just salt and honey, hickory for 2 hours in the weber. Very happy with this. Found a local shop that has a great variety of woods and the curing salts, so grabbed some apple and pear chips today. I'll give them a go next time. Damn you, AHB. You're clogging my arteries.


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## manticle (9/7/15)

Bacon is healthy mate. Don't worry about it.


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## jyo (10/7/15)

I knew it! My doctor is a lying prick.


----------



## manticle (10/7/15)

Most doctors I know are overweight and unhealthy with overly red noses.
I eat bacon, drink more than recommended and my nose is smooth and shiny and my bmi bang on.
Doctors?
Bof.


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## jyo (10/7/15)

And hot, Mants. You forgot to mention that you are smokin' hot.

A bit like fresh bacon straight out of the weber :icon_drool2:


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## manticle (10/7/15)

Like spicy wings with nuclear spicy sauce.
I'm a real ring stinger.


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## Danwood (11/7/15)

*Ahem* moving right along....

Here we see Peter Pork belly, loosely vac sealed for his big, sticky, peppery, bayleafy, sleep until next weekend.

How excitement !


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## Brew Forky (11/7/15)

Danwood said:


> *Ahem* moving right along....
> 
> Here we see Peter Pork belly, loosely vac sealed for his big, sticky, peppery, bayleafy, sleep until next weekend.
> 
> How excitement !


Right there with you Danwood. Hope you know what you're doing LOL.




My Bacon Macon knowledge has come from this thread. Going to put in a heat shield on the UDS this week before the big day.


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## Danwood (11/7/15)

Looks good, BF. What cure recipe did you go with?

And what wood are you smoking with?


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## Brew Forky (12/7/15)

Following the same recipe as you mate. Went with 2% salt and used Bluegum Honey. Probably going to use Hickory, but last night thought throwing in some Redgum chunks could be good.


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## Ducatiboy stu (12/7/15)

Scored 1Kg of fantastic Bellingen Butchery bacon. 

The bacon gods where smiling the day this was made


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## Danwood (12/7/15)

Brew Forky said:


> Following the same recipe as you mate. Went with 2% salt and used Bluegum Honey. Probably going to use Hickory, but last night thought throwing in some Redgum chunks could be good.


I thought Redgum smoke would be good for mine too, as I'm using Redgum honey, but I don't have any on hand. 
Cherry is my favourite overall, it's a really sweet, spicy smoke. It reminds me of my grandad's pipe tobacco when I was a kid. 



Ducatiboy stu said:


> Scored 1Kg of fantastic Bellingen Butchery bacon.
> 
> The bacon gods where smiling the day this was made
> 
> ...


Smoked with Scandinavian wood. Sounds good, Stu.

What would that be ? Beech, maybe ?


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## Ducatiboy stu (12/7/15)

I think its done with hardwood like Ironbark mixed with a bit of hickory...well thats what it tastes and smells like


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## Danwood (12/7/15)

Their website says Scandinavian.

Looks good anyway.


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## Mardoo (12/7/15)

Danwood said:


> I thought Redgum smoke would be good for mine too, as I'm using Redgum honey, but I don't have any on hand.


This guy in Belgrave has all kinds of native snd fruit smoking woods on hand Danwood and doesn't mind a drop in for pickup. Be prepared for a bit of a chat! His Convict Rub is damn good too. 

http://www.aussiebbqsmoke.com/#2806


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## Danwood (12/7/15)

That's where the cherry came from, Mardoo.

I have a free sample of the rub he threw in with 10kg of cherry. Plus this other one the Mrs got sent when she complained about some fancy muesli she got.

They'll both get a run soon. I'm thinking the African one on a leg of lamb and the Cajun on a shoulder of pork.

Can't wait. And some smoked malt in the bulk buy too....I'm all about the smoke !


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## shaunous (13/7/15)

What cuts are guys using for bacon, other then the standard belly/loin combo. Mants I know you have used shoulder before back in the thread somewhere. How did it stay together while cooking on the BBQ, as shoulder is fairly fatty and I thought it'd break up into annoying little pieces?

Want to do more bacon, but not with the belly, aint enough meat on it, and its an expensive cut.


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## Danwood (13/7/15)

That bacon Stu posted a pic of (post #170) looks like rolled shoulder too.


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## manticle (13/7/15)

shaunous said:


> What cuts are guys using for bacon, other then the standard belly/loin combo. Mants I know you have used shoulder before back in the thread somewhere. How did it stay together while cooking on the BBQ, as shoulder is fairly fatty and I thought it'd break up into annoying little pieces?
> 
> Want to do more bacon, but not with the belly, aint enough meat on it, and its an expensive cut.



To be honest I found it far less fatty than belly and it definitely held together.

You don't get any nipples though. I like nipples.


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## Danwood (13/7/15)

I think Tasmania is working it's magic on you, Mant.


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## shaunous (13/7/15)

Shoulder it is!!

I have a 5kg pork shoulder in my Freezer right now, but that's going to a low and slow trip in the smoker :super:


----------



## indica86 (13/7/15)

Mmmm bacon. Have not made my own but buy some from a local farmer, he sells 1/4s of free range pork and you can get some as bacon. It is so good I use the bacon fat for cooking, smoky refried bean heaven!


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## beercus (13/7/15)

Order a middle from the butcher. This one was 9kg and was about $10kg, you can buy bacon cheaper but not even close to this all cured and smoked.

I had the butcher take off the skin and bones and took all that home for soup + 1 nice rack of ribs.

You can see the loin on the right. I cut it in half (down the center) and used the Loin and about 10cm for the bacon and the other piece i am trying for pancetta, I cut the bacon down as at this size it is easier to slice using the slicer.

beercus


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## shaunous (13/7/15)

Danwood said:


> That bacon Stu posted a pic of (post #170) looks like rolled shoulder too.


Yeh we cooked some for our meet on Saturday and I said then I thought it must be shoulder. And it tastes and smells god damn amazing.


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## Danwood (13/7/15)

After I've made this belly bacon, I think I'll also try a rolled shoulder next.

Those big, round rashers look just right for bacon, egg and roasted tomato rolls.

To ensure proper curing, you'd have to inject brine into a more substantial cut like that, wouldn't you ?


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## shaunous (14/7/15)

Danwood said:


> After I've made this belly bacon, I think I'll also try a rolled shoulder next.
> 
> Those big, round rashers look just right for bacon, egg and roasted tomato rolls.
> 
> To ensure proper curing, you'd have to inject brine into a more substantial cut like that, wouldn't you ?


Yeh, I've done belly twice, and I find it more effort then it should be. That's why I wanted to try a larger cut.

I would inject yes, but then I get my local butcher to inject there 'house brine' which they use for everying including Xmas hams and the classic corned beef. I then open the bag when I get home and add my extra's, mainly only being maple syrup and a little more brown sugar, then reseal with the vac sealer and leave to cure before drying and smoking.
I cant justify an injector and buying cures when I can get them to do it for free and add my extra's on top when I get home.


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## manticle (14/7/15)

Could you just use a clean medical syringe?
It's what I used to use to macerate berries when I worked in commercial kitchens.


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## Ducatiboy stu (14/7/15)

You can buy the meat injecting syringes with the large needles


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## beercus (14/7/15)

manticle said:


> Could you just use a clean medical syringe?
> It's what I used to use to macerate berries when I worked in commercial kitchens.


The syringe I have has multiple holes along the needle and is very large gauge. If you use a marinade to inject you need the large gauge to cater for pepper, paprika etc.....

I buy most of my curing stuff from these guys now. 

http://www.smokedandcured.com.au/injector-for-marinades-brines/


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## Brew Forky (15/7/15)

So my Pork belly has been sitting in the bag with the dry cure on it for a few days. I was expecting a lot of liquid to have been pulled from the meat creating a wet cure, but it can be described as moist at best.

I did some further reading and people out there on the Interwebs seem to be using a lot more salt than the 2% by weight I used. One bloke also said to add 10% of your dry brine to the rind and 90% to the meat instead of rubbing all over like I did.

For those of you in the know, is not much liquid normal or should I add a bit more salt to the meat?


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## beercus (15/7/15)

Brew Forky said:


> So my Pork belly has been sitting in the bag with the dry cure on it for a few days. I was expecting a lot of liquid to have been pulled from the meat creating a wet cure, but it can be described as moist at best.
> 
> I did some further reading and people out there on the Interwebs seem to be using a lot more salt than the 2% by weight I used. One bloke also said to add 10% of your dry brine to the rind and 90% to the meat instead of rubbing all over like I did.
> 
> For those of you in the know, is not much liquid normal or should I add a bit more salt to the meat?


I do it by touch, if it feels firm liked cooked meat compared to the raw it is done. If it feels spongy in places then i would add another 2 tsp or so of cure, rub it in and wait a couple more days.


Beercus


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## Danwood (15/7/15)

This is just my first go, but here's mine, BF.

Probably about 200-300ml liquid has been drawn out and the belly has shrunk noticeably.


----------



## Brew Forky (15/7/15)

Cheers guys. Danwood, that's what I thought mine should look like. Maybe I should add a bit more salt. Hopefully the Prague power has found it's way in.


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## Brew Forky (15/7/15)

15g more salt added and rubbed in taking total salt to meat weight to 3%. We'll see if this improves the situation.


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## shaunous (15/7/15)

Another reason why I get the butcher to inject their house brine and I alter with flavours only afterwards.


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## yankinoz (15/7/15)

Thirst boy, I hope you don't have that heart attack, but if you do, leave the rest to me in your will.


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## manticle (15/7/15)

TB has unfortunately not frequented this forum for some time and his input is well missed.


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## shaunous (15/7/15)

Got 2.5kg of rolled pork shoulder in the wet maple syrup brine. Yum yum yum...


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## Brew Forky (18/7/15)

Brew Forky said:


> 15g more salt added and rubbed in taking total salt to meat weight to 3%. We'll see if this improves the situation.


Nothings changed. Going to cover the whole thing in salt .


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## manticle (18/7/15)

Depending on your definition of moist vs wet, it may be fine. You're never going to make salt mud or form a puddle.
Like all things, you need patience.
slice a bit, rinse the salt off, let it dry and cook it up. Work out your preferred salt level. If it's too salty, you can reverse the process with a watet soak.

It's a whole muscle cut so botulism is an impossibility and if you're hot smoking then cooking each piece, you have close to zero chance of anything bad happening*

*close to zero is not zero. Take your own precautions with any food you eat.


----------



## beercus (18/7/15)

This is how I smoke my bacon without a smoker!

BBQ broken down only leave in one element and grill racks. Amaze smoker loaded up with hickory with both ends lit and smoking. BBQ stays at about 95oC with the one element on high. Takes about 2hours and smells great....


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## Danwood (18/7/15)

Smoked mine up this evening.

Worked out quite well. Basted it a couple of times with honey laced with black pepper, and smoked with cherry for 3hrs until 70C internal.

Rolled shoulder next time, I think.


----------



## shaunous (18/7/15)

I have shoulder wet curing now. My initial thoughts are it's going to be a prick to carv without a slicer, as shoulder doesn't really hold much form. Hopefully I'm wrong after smoking it.


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## Danwood (18/7/15)

Luckily, my BIL has a slicer. 

I'll inquire about getting it ready brined next time.


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## beercus (18/7/15)

This it out of the smoker/BBQ, internal was 65oC. Smoked with hickory.

Beercus


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## Maheel (18/7/15)

if you using pork shoulder then i suggest get the "collar butt" section of the shoulder.

it is the part of the Rib fillet (rib eye of the bacon) that runs up into the shoulder.

if you buy a boned out and rolled shoulder some butchers will remove the "collar butt" before rolling and roll in the shank / hoc / hand of pork area and put it in netting . This may cause it to fall apart when trying to slice it up as bacon.

Asians like to buy the collar butt but so you often see it in Asian butchers skin on and skin off.
some cut it up for that red pork in hong kong BBq joints
so in some asian butchers it is very well priced


----------



## manticle (19/7/15)

When I did it, the butcher pretty much sliced it straight off the sow in front of me.
I hope I can find a butcher close to as good down here. Anyone in brunswick, vic area should visit manago's meats at union square in west brunswick.

Lucky I have bok's bacon locally made to tide me over till I get sorted. Delicious stuff.


----------



## beercus (19/7/15)

Some beauty shots....


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## Danwood (23/7/15)

Well, that 2kg belly didn't go very far once the word got out! This is the last few slices.

I'm very happy with the cherry smoke and honey cure/baste combination, great depth of flavour.

It's not salty enough, however. It tastes seasoned, but not salty, as bacon should be. I'll double it next time.

And the nitrite has given the bacon that nice pink colour...plus nobody got botulism, yay !

(They did get fatter, though)


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## manticle (23/7/15)

You won't get botulism from whole muscle cuts so bacon, pancetta etc are perfectly safe. Add nitrites because you want pink (rather than grey) cooked bacon or ham or enjoy the specific flavour ir brings.

Anything minced is a totally different story and if it's not cooked/heat treated, it carries a risk.

It is a risk some are willing to take and I have enjoyed some delicious home made nitrite free non botulistic salami.


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## Danwood (23/7/15)

Didn't know that, thanks.


----------



## indica86 (23/7/15)

manticle said:


> Add nitrites because you want pink (rather than grey) cooked bacon or ham or enjoy the specific flavour ir brings.


Really? The two kilos of bacon and one kilo of ham - all free range and brine not nitrite - I have in the fridge and freezer is not grey, it is pink and tastes great.


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## manticle (23/7/15)

When cooked, un-nitrited bacon can go greyer than nitrited. Cured in my experience will see them as pink as a baby's pink texta drawings but cooked it may lose some of that. Nitrites and nitrites also add a flavour some people associate with bacon and ham.

Personally I don't care - I just use salt (sodium chloride) and love the results. I'm just distinguishing between using nitrites to prevent a rare but deadly disease and using them for other purposes.


----------



## Brew Forky (28/7/15)

Smoked up my bacon on Sunday for about 3 1/2 hours around the 100 c mark. It had been sitting in the fridge for 2 weeks because couldn't cook it due to being incapacitated with the flu. It was very salty upon eating due to the time with the rub on it and the extra salt I added.




I cut half of it after tasting and soaked it in water for about 6 -7 hours to leech the salt and it is much better but missing a bit of flavour. Next time I won't add the extra salt and leave it at 3% and see how that goes.


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## manticle (28/7/15)

Good idea to test before smoking by cooking a small piece. Should give you an idea whether it needs soaking to remove salt (or extra salt/extra time).


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## beercus (28/7/15)

If you can not cook/smoke straight away then you can just rinse, dry and leave in the fridge. It is cured and will not go bad, for a while..

Beercus


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## shaunous (11/9/15)

So i wont make bacon from whole shoulder again, doesnt hold enough form. I cut it up as bacon steaks, which taste amazing, but that cut of meat should be kept for Smoked Pulled Pork. 




Maheel said:


> if you using pork shoulder then i suggest get the "collar butt" section of the shoulder.
> 
> it is the part of the Rib fillet (rib eye of the bacon) that runs up into the shoulder.
> 
> ...


I have delved into the pork shoulder more, and got the neck cut out form it, and im trying 2 new things this time, Dry Cured and Pork Neck. Buying the neck cut was more expensive then the standard $9kg for bone-in shoulder, but meh (Next time i'll be more wiser and buy a whole shoulder and butcher the neck out myself).

Im guessing 'Collar Butt' is basically the same as 'Pork Neck' Maheel, just different end of the pig???

Here she lays, all 2.2kg of her :beerbang:


Its a Southern American Style Bacon taste i've gone for this time.


----------



## Spohaw (11/9/15)

Anyone here tried Duck Bacon ...same process but with duck breast

Its worth a try if you havent


----------



## manticle (11/9/15)

I have done duck proscuitto. Would do again but with black pepper rather than white.
Just followed the recipe in the charcuterie book.

@ shaunous - sorry if I led you astray. It's been so long since I did any my memory might be suspect. Could have been loin rather than shoulder I ended up using in place of belly. Definitely held together.


----------



## shaunous (11/9/15)

Nah all good Mants, made good Bacon Steaks but not the best thin bacon to work with.


----------



## manticle (11/9/15)

That might be it too - all my bacon was hand cut and thick.


----------



## Maheel (11/9/15)

shaunous said:


> Im guessing 'Collar Butt' is basically the same as 'Pork Neck' Maheel, just different end of the pig???


Collar but and pork neck IMO are the same thing as pigs dont really have "necks"

it's a bit like a chuck of beef

sort of runs from the back of the head to behind the shoulder and turns in the "bad" end of the rib fillet
pork shoulder chops are mostly just the collar butt area with bone in.


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## Spohaw (11/9/15)

manticle said:


> I have done duck proscuitto. Would do again but with black pepper rather than white.
> Just followed the recipe in the book .


I use sechuan pepper in the dry cure and it's pretty good


----------



## Helles (13/9/15)

Couldnt find anywhere else for this Q
I have rolled pancetta been drying for two weeks now 
Has shown up with these mold patches in last couple of days 
I unrolled to day didnt find anything on inside 
Just the couple of patches on the outer edges 
I washed the mold patches with vinegar and water and rehung unrolled 
Was going to see if it got worse 
If it does will throw out 
Anyone know about the mold 
Some had a green patch in it


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## Helles (13/9/15)




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## Ducatiboy stu (13/9/15)

Mould is not good.

Would say that there wasnt enough salt or its to wet


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## Ducatiboy stu (13/9/15)

Just saying that from doing fermented chilli sauce. Not enough salt caused mould.


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## manticle (13/9/15)

Only from reading but white mould on the outside of salami can be wiped with vinegar. Green or black mould makes cactus salami.
I'd chuck and start again.


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## Helles (13/9/15)

Thought that too 
Could be lack of humidity
Was pretty variable


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## Ducatiboy stu (13/9/15)

Had a batch of fermented chili and it got small green mould spots. Scooped them out. Waste of time

Green/Black mould is not good in my book.

Moulds can create toxins from what I have read. The batch of chili with the mould smelt funny and tasted funny.

Definatly did not smell or taste right


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## beercus (13/9/15)

I think green mould is ok.... Wipe it off with vinegar and continue on.... Black, yellow or red mould chuck it. White and green all good. I have taken to spraying my salami with good mould to reduce chances of bad mould. My pancetta had some white mould on the outside, all good as it was hung with salami, it does not mean it is not enough salt. If all this worries you, do not roll it and wipe off any mould you find.

Read this:
http://forums.egullet.org/topic/125619-green-mold-on-dry-cured-sausages/

Beercus


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## manticle (13/9/15)

Dodgy moulds can leave toxins beyond visible patches. Smell and taste are great resources if yours is developed, visual signs like black/green mould should ring warning bells.
If in doubt, throw it out.
Infected beer won't kill you, infected meat can.


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## Ducatiboy stu (13/9/15)

SOME green moulds are Ok. Not all.

Most green moulds I would not want to play with

Green cheese mould are ok, but you have to introduce them. They are not natural


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## Danwood (20/12/15)

Pork belly brining ready to smoke on Christmas Eve ready for Christmas morning breakfast.

1.7kg belly
75g rock salt
5g Prague powder
15 peppercorns (blitzed up with the salt and PP to combine)
1 cup Redgum/ Blackbox honey
8 fresh bay leaves (bruised)

It'll be rinsed, dried in fridge overnight and smoked with Almond wood for ~2 hrs until 65-70C internal.
And I'll also baste a few times with honey.

Also doing a hare and duck breast terrine for our traditional cheese board meal. Can't wait.


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## shaunous (21/12/15)

I have a mean Xmas smoke up coming for Xmas also. Im hosting for the first time ever and don't have to leave the farm all day. 

Muscovy Duck
Young Rooster
Lamb Leg
Pork Shoulder (slow smoked and pulled)
Ham leg im going to glaze and re-smoke.
2kg of Medium King Prawns, straight off a mates trawler Xmas morning or Xmas eve night


All but the ham and prawns are on-farm kills, keeping it all in-house :beerbang:


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## Mardoo (21/12/15)

Can I come to yours for Christmas. Damn that sounds good!


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## shaunous (21/12/15)

Anyones invited, feel free.

Its an outcast Xmas, whoever doesn't have anywhere else to go or normally celebrates by themselves is coming, there is a new neighbour here too who im thinking about inviting, homeless man living down at the bridge, hitch-hiked with his dog all the way from the Vic border and somehow ended up here.

If the food doesn't seem enough, there is still another 6 roosters and 1 duck on standby in the freezer.


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## Danwood (21/12/15)

Excellent Christmas sentiment, mate. Well done.

On a side note, I'm going to pretend you're slaughtering the prawns on-farm too. Reminds me of that Anthony Hopkins film 'Silence of the Prawns'. Great film !


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## madpierre06 (22/12/15)

Danwood said:


> Excellent Christmas sentiment, mate. Well done.
> 
> On a side note, I'm going to pretend you're slaughtering the prawns on-farm too. Reminds me of that Anthony Hopkins film 'Silence of the Prawns'. Great film !


Shelled out a few quid to see one.


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## yankinoz (29/12/15)

reg said:


> Hey Mercs,
> 
> I also have high cholestorol.
> The misses has put me onto this margarine.........................................................
> ...


Reg,

Seriously, don't assume margarine is better for your cholesterol levels. Don't take the marketer's word for it, but read the label instead. What was marketed for years as heart-friendly was anything but because it comprised mostly hydrogenated vegetable oils, a.k.a. trans-fats. Worse than butter. Further, if the label lists "vegetable oil" as an ingredient, it's very likely the heart unfriendly palm nut oil, which is relatively solid (and cheap)

Look up the ingredients in your margarine.

I once had a UK spread that was olive oil churned in whey and sour milk. Not bad but I've never seen it here.

Another subterfuge: most of the brands of "light" butter contain less saturated fat only because they're partly air.

Re bacon: being a confirmed bacon addict with slightly elevated cholesterol I tried some "mushroom bacon" recipes on vegan websites. Really good, not to be confused with the veggie bacon and burgers in that little supermarket section.


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