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    Bacon

    I saw someone post up the other day asking about bacon recipes so i thought i would share a few of mine. If your interested in getting started in curing meat or making homemade smoked products bacon is good place to start. My recipe uses the EQ (equilibrium) curing method. The good thing about this method is don't have to worry about making any of your product to salty. The bacis idea is to use 2.5-3% salt by weight of the meat your curing. Of that 2.5-3% .25% will be cure #1 or #2 depending on what your curing. The main reason for using cure is for food safety, color retention and flavor. So here is how i make my bacon.

    Step 1. Apply cure and spices to the pork belly. Put it in a big zip lock or vac seal bag and set in the fridge. If your using a vac bag make sure to leave plenty of room so the cure can evenly distribute. Over the next 2 weeks flip the bag every day. This will ensure the bacon gets evenly cured.

    Step 2. After 2 weeks of it sitting in the fridge take it out of the bag and rinse it in cold water. Pat dry and apply another coat of seasoning minus the salt/cure then stick it back in the fridge for 48hrs. This will allow the bacon to form a pellicle which is essential in getting the smoke flavor to adhere to the meat.

    Step 3. After 48hrs pull it out of the fridge and cold smoke it for 8-10hrs over a 3 or 4 day period. Some people perfer to smoke it longer but it really depends on taste and preference. For cold smoking i use the amaz-n-pellet tray. It works really well and gives you about 12hrs of smoke for a full tray.

    Step 4. Slice and package it up.


    Brown Sugar/Coffee Bacon

    - 2.75% salt by weight of meat
    -.25% Cure #1
    - 2tbl spoons dark brown sugar
    - 2tbl spoons dark roast coffee
    - 1tbl spoon course ground blk pepper

    Berbere Spiced Bacon

    - 2.75% salt by weight of meat
    - .25% Cure #1
    - 3 tbl spoons berbere spice
    Attached Files

    #2
    I have a 5lb pork belly that I've been needing to do. Overall I've been pretty disappointed with the amount of smoke my Traeger puts out, so I just ordered one those pellet tubes to add to it.

    What exactly do you mean by smoking it for 8-10 hours over a 3-4 day period?

    Comment


      #3
      Nice! Looks mighty tasty!!

      Comment


        #4
        I would like to know what you mean about the 8-10 hours over the 3-4 day period as well.

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          #5
          Originally posted by Grizz83 View Post
          I have a 5lb pork belly that I've been needing to do. Overall I've been pretty disappointed with the amount of smoke my Traeger puts out, so I just ordered one those pellet tubes to add to it.

          What exactly do you mean by smoking it for 8-10 hours over a 3-4 day period?
          Cold smoke the bacon for 8-10hrs for 3 to 4 days in a row. One session of 8-10hrs isnt going to get you the smoke flavor you want. After each session of cold smoking put it back in the fridge uncovered until the next day. Then smoke it again.. Does that make sense?

          Comment


            #6
            Yep, got it.

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              #7
              Ah, yes. Makes perfect sense. Thanks!


              Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

              Comment


                #8
                Am saving this and will give it a try. Thank you very much for the post.

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                  #9
                  Thanks for the info.

                  What temp are you cold smoking over that period?

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                    #10
                    Thats good info.

                    As you said, the cure is for food safety. So I’m curious what they do to the uncured bacon you see in the stores now and if that is replicatable at home.

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                      #11
                      Originally posted by DoubleGG View Post
                      Thanks for the info.

                      What temp are you cold smoking over that period?
                      I honestly couldn't tell you the exact temp but to "cold smoke" it needs to be 100 degrees or under. All i am using is a pellet tray that i stick in my smoke box of my pit and gives you nothing but smoke and no heat. I did these slabs over the summer so i waited until the evening time and smoked them until early morning.

                      Comment


                        #12
                        Originally posted by MetalMan2004 View Post
                        Thats good info.

                        As you said, the cure is for food safety. So I’m curious what they do to the uncured bacon you see in the stores now and if that is replicatable at home.
                        Like a lot of the food labels the term uncured is more or less used as a marketing tool for people who are trying to avoid sodium nitrite. You can still cure something with just salt but cure #1 and #2 contains sodium nitrite which is a key component in preventing bacteria from growing.

                        Comment


                          #13
                          Originally posted by MetalMan2004 View Post
                          Thats good info.

                          As you said, the cure is for food safety. So I’m curious what they do to the uncured bacon you see in the stores now and if that is replicatable at home.
                          As said above, it's a marketing term, and an incorrect one at that. Technically it is still cured, but it doesn't use the curing nitrates that are normally used. Instead, I believe they use salt and also some kind celery salt which has naturally occurring nitrates.

                          Comment


                            #14
                            Thanks for the info. Was just curious.

                            Comment


                              #15
                              Need to try this.

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