Mmmmmm Bacon

[TasChris]

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

 

[punkin]

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

 

[Mardoo]

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)

 

[TasChris]

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

 

[jyo]

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

 

[TasChris]

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.

 

[jyo]

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

 

[benno1973]

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.

 

[jyo]

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

 

[Wolfman]

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

 

[Wolfman]

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:

1. Rub honey and salt into pork and put in a container in the fridge. Would a large ziplock bag be OK for this?
2. Turn every day for 8 days
3. Rinse off and pat dry
4. Rinse off and pat dry
5. 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?
6. Smoke at about 100C for 5 hrs with a mixture of apple, mesquite and redgum.

Wham Bacon.

Any tips would be muchly appreciated.

 

[benno1973]

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.

 

[Wolfman]

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

 

[Wolfman]

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.

 

[benno1973]

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).

 

[Mercs Own]

Righty O giving this a crack.

1.3kg of pork belly rinsed, deboned and dried.

image.jpg

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.

image.jpg

Will post pics as it happens.

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

 

[Wolfman]

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.

 

[Wolfman]

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.

 

[benno1973]

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.

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!

 

[Wolfman]

Cheers mate.