Question / Need Help on Curing my Bacon

ABSOLUTELY DO NOT DUMP THAT FLUID.

This is the cure you need for the bacon. The fluid it a good thing and its what you get when you have done it right/put enough cure on it.

So good job.

Just keep turning it every day and swish it around. Do try to take all the air out of the bags and fold the extra over if there is a lot of space in that bag, so that the fluid makes the most contact with the slabs.

In about 10 days it should be ready to go.

WHEW Thanks Vicki !!! Thats why I waited to hear!!! Now I understand 10 days a little +/-. But, say 14 days isn't too long is it? Is there too long you can leave it in the cure??
Where I bought the cure deals with speciality cures mixes special blends for customers etc. and said it can actually go up to 3 weeks. However his recommendation is 2 weeks at the most ..... thoughts???

You can definitely make it two weeks without a problem. The book I use says 10 day +/- because the bellies vary in thickness.

I have gone 14 days before without a problem. They say you should feel that the belly is no longer squishy. It will feel firm and you know its done. I never seem to get it perfect, but it never seemed to matter. I would say as long as your at least 10 days for the inch or so they usually are your fine. More if they are thicker.

I have a belly sitting in the fridge recently defrosted that I need to get to tomorrow.

Good luck, Vicki

The general rule for dry curing bacon is 7 days per inch of thickness. I normally cure for 14 days like Vicki. You are doing fine so far. I understand your concern being your first one. There is plenty of help here if you need it. Are you planning to smoke it? If so there are some steps to take.

I put a belly in the cold smoker today. It will stay in a constant smoke for 3 or 4 days or until the color suits me.

Mr. T. Please explain how you maintain a cold.smoke for that long...I hot smoke as per the charcuterie book. I would love to try cold smoking as the pros do it. Then what interal temp.are you acheveing to get it safe to keep, or is it the cure that takes care of that. Oh, do u use an amazing smoker gadget?

Vicki, Now you are interring into a different world of cooking. Below are some of the options I have depending on the amount or the type of product to smoke.

http://forum.cookshack.com/eve...1028883/m/2462907527

As for the internal temperature of the pork belly, it should be cured at this point so temperature is no concern unless you want to cook it. You will see as we do the country ham that after the 56 day cure, it will eventually be moved to temperatures up to as high as 95° to age.

LOL Yes I do have the Amazin pellet smoker (gadget). I put it in the stove above and it will produce a light smoke that will last overnight wile keeping the temperature just a little above ambient. If a more dense smoke is desired, I use the Smoke Daddy.

too many options to consider......

Somethings need to be pondered over a cold glass of ice tea on a sunny day.

I am not there yet.

I plan to eventually get an Amaz-N-Smoker but, for now I believe my FEC 100 wll do the job. for my "current" experimenting purposes. I intend to hang my 4 pieces of belly on bacon racks. Set the temp to 140-150 on the FEC 100 then depending on the smoke & color adjust a little. I've heard of people taking the temp of the smoker up to 200 degrees to take the belly's temp up to the 150 degree internal temp. I think some of it I'm going to have to go by gut feeling & each time adjust for a better product. BTW the belly ranges between about < 1" to maybe 1 1/4" to maybe slightly 1 1 /2". I'd rather go over than under though.


Next I think will be boneless butts. And (I've actually already got my 3/16" stainless steel rods cut to size and pointed at one end to do jerky. But I've done that before, just not in quantity I expect from 4-8 rods).

I think maybe ..... I'm hooked. We'll see after I smoke these belly's.

Thanks for the pointers.
Briggsy

No need to get hung up on internal temp because your bellies are cured. I don’t even probe bellies; rather, I look for the desired color, a nice caramel brown.

You will be fine with the two week cure. As you do more it will become easier for you. It’s wise as you are at this time to be over cautious.

After the cure, scrub the belly under lukewarm water to remove excess salt and pat dry with paper towels. At this time you can cut a slice off and cook it to determine if it needs more soaking or not, and then hang in cooler for 1-2 days to form a good pellicle. During this time you are also allowing for salt equalization. The pellicle will help the smoke adhere to the belly. After the smoke cut into 1 to 2 pound chunks, wrap and refrigerate or freeze. I suggest cooking low and slow for best results.

The way I learned from the Charcuterie book is the temp at 200 and go to an internal of 150. I always get a nice caramel ish color on the outside just as Mr. T. said. I want to try cold smoking it as mr. T. said one day. He knows what he is doing and has the experience to back it up!!! I freeze all my extra as well. It does also make it easier to slice straight when it's a little frozen. I have a slicer and slicing bacon and raw meat for jerky was one of the man reasons I got it. If your bacon does come out too Salty no matter what you do, you can use it sliced thick or in chunks for soups and stews. I just used my savory bacon for Old fashioned ham bone beans. Yum.

Your hooked already for sure. Just wait until you try that bacon. I love having a supply on hand. I am starting a belly today and am gonna try the 14 days again today.

Thought you might like to see how I’m smoking my bellies.

AMNPS in stove:




In the smoker, Internal temp 43°, 8° above ambient.







Might as well smoke some 3 year old extra sharp cheddar cheese:

Those pictures look awesome!!! I can't wait until I'm able to get them out of the smoker, into the oven, and try it ... bacon bacon bacon!!! YUM!! lol. Sorry, got a little carried away.
Briggsy

Nice Mr. T. Is that a reclaimed soda cooler from a store? What did u do to adapt it?

Well yes it is Vicki. All I did was to drill a hole in the bottom to accept a 3” stove pipe which eventually attaches to the wood stove. During a wind storm, the door flew open and hit the corner of my grill knocking out all the glass. Now this wasn’t such a bad thing. We eventually ran out of smoked cheese and I was unable to replace the door. My wife had enough and said “get a smoker” bingo. One day I got a call to go to town. There set a truck with a brand new Amerique on it, imagine that. Well after a couple weeks, my friend and I built a double pane door for the beverage cooler and I was back in business again. Long answer I know, but I enjoyed telling you.

My daughter did the leaded glass for it.

I hope my wife doesn't read this. She might think I took advantage of her, again.

Very nice. But if you didn't drill that hole for the pipe from the smoker, I would imagine you could just use it for the amaze n smoker. I guess you mostly use it for cold smoking now that you have the Amerique. I really like that idea. Because you really don't need great insulation for cold Smokin. I liked the stained glass. I also enjoyed your story.

Actually the coolers are very well built and extremely well insulated. As for the AMNPS, if using pellets inside the cooler the IT will rise 30 to 40° because of the insulation, too high for me. So when using pellet's I use the stove as it act's as a heat sink. If I pulverize the pellets to a powder in a blender it burns much more slowly, therefore I can set it inside. The temperature then is just a few degrees above ambient.

As for needing the insulation. It's needed in the winter to keep the cold out and in the summer to keep the heat out as it sits on the deck in the shade, I can actually smoke at a temperature below ambient.

quote:

Originally posted by Briggsy:
bacon bacon bacon!!! YUM!! lol. Sorry, got a little carried away.
Briggsy

Put a bib on, your slobbering, not to worry it's a natural reaction. Common cause, (Baconcarnivorousdelecti).
Only known cure to man - Eat more bacon!!!

quote:

Originally posted by Briggsy:
Where I bought the cure deals with speciality cures mixes special blends for customers etc. and said it can actually go up to 3 weeks. However his recommendation is 2 weeks at the most ..... thoughts???

It is important to go by the cure manufacturer's recommendations as there are several recipes on the market using different ingredients. To insure a proper cure, only use the proven one's.

[/QUOTE]
Put a bib on, your slobbering, not to worry it's a natural reaction. Common cause, (Baconcarnivorousdelecti).
Only known cure to man - Eat more bacon!!![/QUOTE]

1. Ohhh Trust me!!! I can already feel another helicopter ride, and more cardiac stents installed.!!!

2. I was told to go by how thick the pork belly is and since it is a "Sugar Bacon Cure" going over is better than under curing.

3. Just like with dating a lovely woman. It's going to be trial and error. trial and error. LOL

quote:

Originally posted by Briggsy:

I was told to go by how thick the pork belly is and since it is a "Sugar Bacon Cure" going over is better than under curing. [/QUOTE]

Makes sense to me, if you under cure, it's not cured.

I smoked a large (60 or so pounds) load of cured bellies one time in my FEC on 150 for over 15 or so hours, and they never, of course got over 125 or so. Plenty of smoke at that low temp. They tasted great.