Anyone got a good recipe for bacon?

[ccase39]

Getting pork belly pretty cheap and want to give it a try. Never tried before.

 

[SconnieQ]

I have a #1, therefore the on/off method for cold smoking works best for me. Those who have digital/programmable models will want to come up with a process that is a little more elegant for their cold smoke phase. The idea is to get enough smoke on the bacon before it gets to 150 IT.

Use either Prague Powder #1 or Morton Tender Quick cure (depending on what is available to you). I’ve tested the cures side-by-side, and I’ve found the results to be identical.

The maple syrup in the cure is optional. It can be omitted if you prefer.

CURE OPTIONS:

Prague Powder #1 Cure (per pound of belly)
1 Tablespoon Kosher salt (Morton’s)
1/2 teaspoon Prague Powder #1 (Pink Curing Salt) (DD Farm says 1 tsp (5.67 grams) per 5 lbs)
1 Tablespoon brown sugar
1 Tablespoon maple syrup

Morton Tender Quick Cure (per pound of belly)
1 Tablespoon Morton Tender Quick
1 Tablespoon brown sugar
1 Tablespoon maple syrup

If desired, go ahead and add your special twist with additional flavors to the cures like garlic powder, black pepper, etc., but your bacon will be delicious with just the basic cure.

PROCESS:

Prepare a batch of cure using the ratios above per 1 pound of meat. Rub the belly with the cure making sure to evenly distribute it over the entire surface of the belly. Place in a zip lock bag. Place in the fridge and allow to cure for 7 days per inch thickness of belly. Flip the bags once every day and massage the meat to ensure even distribution of the cure.

When fully cured, remove meat from bags and rinse in cold water, washing off all the excess salt and cure. Soak in plain water for 30 minutes to further remove excess surface salt. Dry with paper towels and place on a rack, set over a sheet pan. Place in fridge, uncovered, and allow to dry for 24 hours to form a pellicle.

Cold smoke phase:
Use 5-6 oz chips and/or split slivers of wood for fairly smoky bacon. Hickory, cherry, maple or any combination. Smoke using the cold smoke plate and a pan of ice for 5 hours (20 minutes full blast, 40 minutes off) keeping the ambient box temperature below 100 degrees.

Hot smoke phase:
After 5 hours, remove the cold smoke plate and pan of ice (water at this point). Dump out the water from the drip pan and slide it under the smoker (if you were using the drip pan that came with the SI for ice). Set smoker temp to 200, and continue to smoke to an internal temperature of 150 (will probably take about 2+ hours).

For more pronounced maple flavor, brush lightly with maple syrup immediately after removing finished bacon from smoker. Add a sprinkling of fresh cracked black pepper for maple/pepper bacon.

Cool 1 hour lightly tented with foil.

Chill for 24 hours or more, then slice to desired thickness.

PINK SALT NOTES:

1 tsp (5.67 grams) per 5 pounds of meat is the general rule, and what Martin (DiggingDogFarm) says, but when I have looked up actual recipes, it is usually more like these amounts:
2 teaspoons for 5 pounds of belly: Ruhlman, Raichlan, Michael Symon
1/2 teaspoon per 1 pound of belly: amazingribs.com
2 teaspoons for 2-1/2 to 3 pounds of belly: Traeger Grills recipe

So you can see it varies a lot. I have also read that the MAXIMUM is 1 tsp per pound, but you would never want to use that much.

 

[ccase39]

Awesome. I have the pink stuff. I'm going to get some curing tonight. What are your thoughts on skin on vs skin off belly?
I just got an auber  so this will be a cool way to test how low I can hold the temp and still get smoke. This is going to be fun.

 

[SconnieQ]

What are your thoughts on skin on vs skin off belly?

I prefer to cure and smoke skin-off, but you are opening a can of worms similar to the fat-side up vs. fat-side down debate. You are going to find about 50/50 on that question. If you smoke skin-on, you will want to remove it after you smoke. Costco sells their bellies with the skin already removed. Here is a recent thread that you might want to read through. Much discussion on the skin issue, and also a link to a good video on how to remove the skin. Also a link to Brian's (Pork Belly) method, he knows what he's doing. I don't like to mix up more cure than I need, so my recipe gives ingredient amounts per pound.
http://smokinitforums.com/index.php?topic=5576.0

Hopefully it's not information overload. I sifted through what seemed like dozens of recipes and methods (from the forum, amazingribs.com, Ruhlman, Raichlen, etc) for my first bacon, and have taken bits and pieces, and came up with one that is straightforward and works for me.

 

[SconnieQ]

Here's a great tip from Gregg (NDKoze) for cold smoking. He freezes two liter bottles of water. Nice idea. Keeps the water contained as it melts. I would still put the drip pan on top of the cold smoke plate, with the bottle(s) in the pan, and add a few ice cubes in the pan. The loose cubes will cool the smoke chamber more quickly in the beginning.

 

[ccase39]

When you use tender quick do you add kosher salt to carry it a little further before rubbing it on? 14 tablespoons for 14 lbs doesn't give you a lot to work with. I had the impression it should almost be packed in salt. I'm trying both of your recipes right now.

 

[SconnieQ]

You don't actually "pack" belly in salt. You might be thinking about something like salmon, where you really pack it in the sugar/salt mixture to where you can't see the meat. Morton Tenderquick is almost all salt, so whether you are using the cure with the Prague Powder, or the Tenderquick version, both have basically the same amount of salt (sodium). Brian (Pork Belly), the resident authority on bacon, mixes up a batch of his cure, then "dredges" the belly in the cure, using as much as will adhere. But it is not "packed" in salt. If you want to use his method, make sure you also use his cure proportions/recipe. I've come up with a "recipe" based on "per pound", which controls the amount of nitrite, making sure you have enough, but not too much. I found that a lot of people who hadn't worked with nitrites were uncomfortable with using "what sticks", and wanted specific measurements. You can always adjust and add more plain kosher salt if you would like. Or skip the 30 minute soak and just give it a good rinse. You might want to try the cure as is first though, and adjust from there if you want your bacon more or less salty. 1 tablespoon per pound is a typical amount of sodium in a bacon cure.

 

[ccase39]

I used your method except I replaced the maple with a root beer reduction. I cut the 14lb belly into 3 and used tender quick cure on two with the skin off. The 3rd I will leave the skin on and use Prague powder. You are right though I was thinking like Salmon or some duck prosciutto I made where I basically packed them in salt.
Scratch that, I did one skin on and one skin off in the root beer reduction. I haven't decided yet on the 3rd one.

 

[ccase39]

You don't actually "pack" belly in salt. You might be thinking about something like salmon, where you really pack it in the sugar/salt mixture to where you can't see the meat. Morton Tenderquick is almost all salt, so whether you are using the cure with the Prague Powder, or the Tenderquick version, both have basically the same amount of salt (sodium). Brian (Pork Belly), the resident authority on bacon, mixes up a batch of his cure, then "dredges" the belly in the cure, using as much as will adhere. But it is not "packed" in salt. If you want to use his method, make sure you also use his cure proportions/recipe. I've come up with a "recipe" based on "per pound", which controls the amount of nitrite, making sure you have enough, but not too much. I found that a lot of people who hadn't worked with nitrites were uncomfortable with using "what sticks", and wanted specific measurements. You can always adjust and add more plain kosher salt if you would like. Or skip the 30 minute soak and just give it a good rinse. You might want to try the cure as is first though, and adjust from there if you want your bacon more or less salty. 1 tablespoon per pound is a typical amount of sodium in a bacon cure.

Another question, by the time I get the syrup in there it should be kind of a paste right?

 

[SconnieQ]

Another question, by the time I get the syrup in there it should be kind of a paste right?

Yes, adding the maple syrup to the salt/sugar mix will make a paste. I prefer to do it that way, although it's a little messy. Some people put the maple syrup into the bag, and coat the belly with the dry ingredients, but it really doesn't matter which way you do it. It all ends up in the bag in the end.

 

[Walt]

Dredge the belly in the dry cure then massage (saltbox method), place in ziploc & pour 1/4 to1/2 cup of cane sugar in the bag if you want sweet bacon. If savory skip the cane syrup & throw some garlic, rosemary, thyme, etc (whatever flavor profile your shooting for).

 

[SconnieQ]

Dredge the belly in the dry cure then massage (saltbox method), place in ziploc & pour 1/4 to1/2 cup of cane sugar in the bag if you want sweet bacon. If savory skip the cane syrup & throw some garlic, rosemary, thyme, etc (whatever flavor profile your shooting for).

Chris, fyi, the "saltbox method" is where you mix up a larger amount of cure than you need, then dredge the belly, and whatever sticks is what you use. This works well in a commercial environment where you are prepping several bellies (and used by the resident "pros" here on the forum). Brian (Pork Belly) has posted about this method if you are interested. I have noticed a lot of people seem a little uncomfortable with the saltbox method, not knowing the exact amount of nitrite that ends up in the bag. And most home smokers aren't smoking enough bacon that they need extra unused cure mixed up and at the ready. My method is designed so that you mix the exact amount of cure you need for the weight of your meat, and use all of it. Like I said, as long as it all goes in the bag, exactly how it gets in there (syrup in the bag or in with the salt/sugar) is not so important.

 

[ccase39]

Dredge the belly in the dry cure then massage (saltbox method), place in ziploc & pour 1/4 to1/2 cup of cane sugar in the bag if you want sweet bacon. If savory skip the cane syrup & throw some garlic, rosemary, thyme, etc (whatever flavor profile your shooting for).

Thanks y'all! I wound up going with the recipe on Amazingribs for that third one. It's gonna be cool testing them side by side. I will try the salt box method next time for sure.