pork belly to bacon


 
After searching these forums, I put together the following. I made my first bacon using maple sugar and apple cider as well as the savory ingredients and it was delicious. The original savory cure had fennel seed in it, but since the other half does not like fennel, I omitted it from what I gathered. The pictures aren't mine, I copied them from the site as someone else I knew wanted written instructions. The parenthetical note about time is how mine smoked.

Home-Cured Bacon

(Original stated it was adapted from “Charcuterie,” by Michael Ruhlman and Brian Polcyn, and “Well-Preserved,” by Eugenia Bone)

2 ½ lbs. pounds pork belly, squared off, rind removed
2 ½ Tbl. kosher salt
½ tsp. pink salt, optional
(or use Morton’s Tender Quick in lieu of kosher and pink salt, per package instructions)

For a sweet cure add:
¼ C. maple syrup, honey, maple sugar, brown sugar, white sugar or molasses
2 Tbl. cold strong black coffee, bourbon or apple cider

For a savory cure also add:
2 garlic cloves, smashed
1 Tbl. black peppercorns, crushed
2 tsp. fresh thyme
1 tsp. coriander seed, toasted

If using Morton’s TQ, rub all over meat before adding remaining cure ingredients. If not using Morton’s, mix kosher salt, and pink salt if using it, and the cure additions. Put belly into a large Ziploc bag. Rub the cure into the pork belly, turning the bag over and over and pressing the cure into the flesh. Close the bag, squeezing out all the air and refrigerate for seven days. Each day, flip the bag over. Some liquid will begin to gather in the bag.

After seven days, wash the cure off the meat, rinsing thoroughly. Pat the bacon dry with paper towels and set it on a rack over a baking sheet. Allow the bacon to air-dry in the refrigerator for 6 to 24 hours.

Light smoker via snake method to maintain temperature between 150 and 200. Smoke until internal temp is 145 (about 5 hours at 150-160 degrees).

Put bellies into Ziploc bags, squeeze out air, seal and plunge into ice water bath to cool. Before slicing, allow to firm up for about ½ an hour in the freezer.

Alternative cures:

Can also use just Morton’s Tender Quick and brown sugar, or add a little granulated garlic and onion powder to the brown sugar.

Basic Dry Cure, from Charcuterie: Morton’s Tender Quick Alternative:

1 lb./450 grams kosher salt 17.5 oz. pickling salt
8 oz./225 grams sugar 5.5 oz. granulated sugar
2 oz./50 grams pink salt 2 oz. cure #1 (pink salt)



 
Last edited:
Oops, the spacing didn't carry over when pasted in the reply. Here are the alternatives are in a different format:

Basic Dry Cure, from Charcuterie:

1 lb./450 grams kosher salt
8 oz./225 grams sugar
2 oz./50 grams pink salt

Morton’s Tender Quick Alternative:

17.5 oz. pickling salt
5.5 oz. granulated sugar
2 oz. cure #1 (pink salt)
 
Tim Mulvihill said:
Richard, check out:
http://tvwbb.com/showthread.php?13312-Bacon-made-easy&highlight=bacon+made+easy

Bob C did a nice job detailing the steps. You can see he converted bacon buyers to bacon makers, including myself.
Click to expand...

Agreed. This thread was invaluable for me when I made my first slab of bacon, which quickly turned into 4 slabs of bacon to fulfill my friends' and family's Christmas requests. It'll be a huge hit. One key piece of advice, as I learned from my first attempt, make sure you let your slab firm up nicely in the fridge before trying to slice. I tried slicing my first slab while it was still warm, and it made it incredibly difficult. The others I left in the fridge over night and they sliced much more easily and uniformly.
 
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