Bacon - alternatives to tender Quick ?


 

Jeremiah Sullivan

TVWBB Member
Just ordered some pork belly from my butcher this morning, I want to cure it for a bit and smoke it, however I don't want there to be any sugar involved (which is an ingredient in Tender Quick).

Do you guys have any sugar free alternatives?
 
You don't have to use tenderquick or pink salt to make bacon. Pink salt is salt that contains 6.25% nitrate and is a much cheaper alternative to tenderquick. If you hot smoke and freeze the excess you can't eat it in a week, then you don't need pink salt or tenderquick.

You could make a savory bacon with just a 1.5 tablespoons of kosher salt per pound of meat. It would be good to add some fresh herbs like rosemary or thyme, and some fresh garlic if you like it. White or black pepper would be good. Granulated onion or grated fresh onion would be a nice addition to give it some natural sweetness.

What about other types of sweeteners? Are they out as well? If not, you could add honey, maple syrup, molasses or dextrose.
 
Agreed.

If using no curing salt, increase the time in the salt cure a day or two. You can use an alternative sweetener, as David notes, but sweetening is not required.

Do not cold-smoke. You can MM the start and allow a slower come-up but the bulk of the time should be spent at 180-200.

Finish is an internal of 150-155. When you near finish, set up a pot of ice water large enough to contain a large Zip-loc. When the bacon is done, rest it 5 min on a rack on the counter, then place it in the Zip-loc (cut the bacon if necessary into 2 or 3--whatever is needed so each piece will fit into a bag.

Load each piece of the bacon piece into its own bag, leaving the top of the bag open, then plunge the bag into ice water. The pressure of the water should force out most of the air. Do not allow water into the bag. Should this occur, dry the bacon as best you can then return it to the smoker to dry completely. (If you can put more than one bag in the pot at a time, do so. Allow the bacon to get cold before removing from the ice water.

Fridge the piece you wish to use soon (shhelf life is shortened with lack of nitrite). Freeze the rest, vac-packing if possible.

Cook the bacon before consumption. (I know that sounds like a no-brainer but not a few people like bacon raw.)
 
Also--and btw--you can make your cure with a salt base plus add pink salt (sodium nitrite) to it--if it is just the sugar you'd rather avoid.

Pink salt is available here (click on Curing Salts on the left of the home page). The quantity needed for a belly is very tiny and depends on the thickness and size of the belly you're curing.
 
Also don't confuse sodium nitrite with sodium nitrate. The latter is used mostly with meats that are set aside for ageing.
 
Would the Buckbourd Bacon Cure from Hi-mountain work for somethin like this???
Yes, if you simply wanted to make 'standard' bacon; no, if you wish to avoid sugar as it contains three types.
 
Originally posted by Tim johnson:
Would the Buckbourd Bacon Cure from Hi-mountain work for somethin like this???

The Hi Mountain Buckboard Seasonings would work well, but the outcome will NOT be the traditional bacon we grew up with. Not to say it doesn't come out delicious, just different. I ordered a case of the stuff which, low and behold, makes 150 POUNDS. Guess I'll be making lots of bacon, LOL.
 
I'm not quite understanding where you're coming from. If 'we' are under 50, then much of the 'traditional' bacon we grew up with was simply cured by injecting cheap sweet brine-cure solutions--sometimes with 'smoke flavor' added, sometimes not. Injecting adds a good deal of water weight--which the consumer pays for. Injected bacon shrinks more because of all the water evaporation during cooking.

Hi Mountain is essentially a relatively expensive (considering all it is) blend of mostly plain salt with some sugars and a little nitrite--that's it. Used as a dry cure as directed, it makes a typical, if not particularly memorable, dry-cured bacon--very much more like the 'old' traditional (rather than the newer 'traditional') as it isn't injected and, thus, a drier product.
 
FYI: Sometimes I purchase a whole slab of real smoked bacon from DeRamus Family smokehouse in Alabama. There is very little shrinkage upon cooking the bacon.
 
You can do the same at home with a belly, a dry cure blend you make yourself to your liking, and your WSM. Give it a shot, tj--within a week, week-and-a-half: bacon!
 
One final question before I embark (just to be sure):

I'f I'm not using any curing salts, just kosher salt, I'm curing it for an extra day or two,so we're talking in the ballpark of around 12 days or so in the fridge?
 
The application of regular/Kosher salt is an aka for seasoning or brining. But the actual curing involves the use of SODIUM NITRITE which, in addition to preventing botulism, gives meat a nice red color and may add a bit of flavor.
 
Jeremiah-- Yes. And follow the guidelines I noted upthread.

tj-- No. 'Actual curing' involves the penetration of salt--sodium chloride--into the item being cured in sufficient levels to thwart bacterial development. Smoking does this on the surface. People have been curing bacon and whole hams for generations without the use of nitrite. (Hams like 'country ham', however, have the additional benefit of being quite dry. Lower water activity is yet another barrier to bacterial development.) Salt is essential to curing.

'Regular' brines do not have sufficient salt in them to cure. Brines that are heavily salted do, but the problem then is that the water activity is high. Nitrite is essential in most curing brines because of this.

Nitrite delivers the characteristic color and some of the 'cured' flavor that we are familiar with (salt and smoke are prominent of course) and prevents C. bot. outgrowth but does little to stem development of other pathogens that are a concern. Salt--sodium chloride--does this.
 
Originally posted by K Kruger:
Hams like 'country ham'

Sorry to by kinda OT, but I am considering buying a country ham for my dad for his Bday next month...I have never had it and I'm pretty sure he hasn't either. I understand they need a ton of prep (soaking to get all the salt out, etc.) and special cooking procedures. Should one buy a country ham for a yankee that's not used to the (from what I understand) extreme saltiness of this type of ham? I'd love to try it, but...it's kinda pricey. Kinda really pricey.
 
Yup, spendy.

I recommend soaking, with several changes of water, for 2-3 days. There are many ways to cook them (peruse this thread). If Dad is local and you'll do the cooking then give it a shot if he's an adventurous eater. If neither is the case...perhaps some steaks from Lobels?
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