Thanks AK, In the fridge chillin now, I cut a small piece off one of the ends, happy to say it wasn’t to salty. Breakfast with the grandkids tomorrow, the acid test!!
While I’m not the foodie with a desire to do all the work, I will say nothing is better than freshly made smoked meats without all the preservatives. I won half a pig one year and took it to a butcher who specializes in fresh smoked meats. Since the pig was free, his charges were more than reasonable. As a bacon fan, I couldn’t believe how tasty it was. Twice the flavor of store bought and the flavor was better. The ham threw me for a loop. After tasting it I realized I’d never had a good ham in my life.
Turned out great for a first timer.Just a touch salty,but overall very happy.A little less salt and a bit more sugar next time.Thanks again for all the help.
A good local butcher in this country is a special thing… In the Research Triangle Area, we really have a special one out in old mill town on the periphery called Saxaphaw which became a little place for craft beer and farm to table farms (i.e. that can sell to restaurants or foodies). The bacon, ham, pork chops, and other homemade cured rarities are an effing delight.
They do a special ‘sirloin bacon’ which I’ve never encountered elsewhere (particularly cut with very little fat from the belly and lots of meat) which is a) amazing and b) will utterly change your imagination with pastas and other things.
Christ, it’s midnight and now I’m super hungry.
Sirloin bacon would be called Canadian Bacon in the store. I would imagine his version lacking the water injection, nitrates, emulsifiers and stabilizers would be superior in every way. I’m trying to remember the old country slang for this product and the name escapes me.
I suppose Canadian Bacon is the right analogy, Milton… but man, this stuff is soooo different from anything I’ve seen/tasted packaged as such 
.
Although that’s true for so much of totally fresh, unmessed with meat. Hard to believe what ‘meat’ has become in mass produced ways vs. what it is at the source.
Cottage bacon is also very tasty, cut from the shoulder.
I have just put in a full slab (7 pounds) of pork belly to cure, with Prague #1, salt, fresh pepper, maple syrup and sugar. A couple of questions:
- If curing for a week is good, is curing for 10 days to 2 weeks better? Or is it dangerous to leave it raw for so long?
- I had to fold the whole belly to fit it into the vacuum bag before sealing, but there was plenty of cure on the “inside” where I folded in on itself. Any thoughts?
- Has anyone cured with spirits? Bourbon or rum seem the most obvious but I have a lot of scotch and rye that people give me as a gift that I do not drink as fast as I get it. How about Tequila?
- Does anyone really know what the curing process does chemically to give bacon its flavor? I will smoke it over hickory for a few hours at a low temp after the cure.
Did you Czech for that?
- Once the belly reaches a steady state of cure after a week or two, I can’t imagine you gain much by extending the cure. Especially under vacuum, nothing is really happening once the curing salt does its job.
- Rotate the bag every day just to make sure the cure/brine isn’t concentrating away from the fold. Especially if you happen to have an air pocket entrapped in the fold.
- Nope. I’d be curious if a little juniper-centric gin would make it taste like pancetta or speck.
- Aside from texture and “saltiness” I’m not sure how curing process imparts flavor. I would expect the flavoring comes from the spice blend and whatever the pig ate. - edited as I don’t think you meant flavor as much as you meant what in the curing process makes bacon “bacony”
This article is interesting for addressing the chemical question
One of the advantages of a good vacuum seal is that I was able to get out virtually all of the air. I just held the “extend” button on the sealer down for a long time and massaged out as much air as possible. It also makes it easier to flip it every day with a double seal at each end of the bag just in case.
My biggest issue when making bacon is making sure to rinse it well enough after the cure. I haven’t figured it out quite yet other than dialing back the curing salt and giving it a thorough rinsing. You can also cut a small bit off the end and frying it up after curing / before smoking to see if the rinse succeeded.
-
The longer it sits, the saltier it is. Given the process for curing a ham, I’m confident that 2 weeks is no problem as long as the meat is well coated.
-
I just cut mine in half, I find that makes it easier to get a consistent coating of seasoning
-
Never tried spirits
-
I have no idea how the nitrates get translated into flavor
The bag with the meat and cure have now been in the refrigerator for 3 days. There is now a LOT of water in the bag, making it like a brining solution rather than a dry rub. Is it normal for the pork belly to throw off that much liquid? It is as much, or more, than when I do gravlax and this is just in a bag, with no weight on top.
The liquid is normal. This will happen any time you dry rub a piece of meat. Keep turning the bag. Most of it will be reabsorbed but some will not. It’s not a problem.
My biggest issue is not eating all of the delicious meat while its still raw. I know it’s not good for me, but I just can’t help myself.
Just did my first batch of bacon recently. A 3 pound Porter Road pork belly. Smoked at 175, pulled at 150 internal. Turned out pretty dang good. Basically used this as a guide:
I ended up going about 16 days on the cure, didn’t have much moisture though while curing. Did have a couple small spots of green sheen which I was told was harmless. And I’m still standin’ 
Half way there . . . I think I will wait 10 days, then one day in the refrigerator to dry and form the pellicle, then a short smoke.
11 day brine in vacuum sealed bag, soaking in water and 8 hours to dry in the refrigerator, followed by a 3 hour smoke at about 200 degrees over mostly oak and hickory. Mmmmmmm. Had to be cut in half to fit in the Large BGE.
