Mmmmmm Bacon

[indica86]

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!

 

[beercus]

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

 

[shaunous]

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.

 

[Danwood]

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 ?

 

[shaunous]

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.

 

[manticle]

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

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

You can buy the meat injecting syringes with the large needles

 

[beercus]

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/

 

[Brew Forky]

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?

 

[beercus]

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

 

[Danwood]

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]

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.

 

[Brew Forky]

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

 

[shaunous]

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

 

[yankinoz]

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

 

[manticle]

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

 

[shaunous]

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

 

[Brew Forky]

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 .

 

[manticle]

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]

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....