Bacon help needed


 

S. Fink

TVWBB Fan
Trying Bacon for the 1st time. Started the cure using the Maple recipe in the popular "Charcuterie" book. Yesterday marked 1 week of curing and the belly hasn't hardened/toughened. Still feels soft to me. Am I in trouble? Did something go wrong? I'm going to leave it another day, but I'm leaving town on Tuesday and have to do something with it. If I smoke it as is, will I get anything edible?

Any advice would be most appreciated. Thanks.
 
Originally posted by S. Fink:
Yesterday marked 1 week of curing and the belly hasn't hardened/toughened. Still feels soft to me. Am I in trouble? Did something go wrong? I'm going to leave it another day, but I'm leaving town on Tuesday and have to do something with it. If I smoke it as is, will I get anything edible?

Any advice would be most appreciated. Thanks.
S, mine never really got all that firm/hard, but they did tighten up some/little bit. But you should be able to see a big color change to the belly. It should have turned a deeper reddish color. I'd say smoke it up, you are good to go.
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I think the time recommended by Ruhlman is excessive. I went 10 days and the resulting bacon way too salty and too sweet. I now use a 3 day brine that works really well.

think of it like anything you cook. take it to 140* and its edible. besides you'll end up frying it in a pan again anyways.

as far as I'm concerned the only way you can muck up bacon is to end up with something that's too salty.

smoke what you got, I'm sure you won't be disappointed.
 
For my slabs I use a dry cure. Once rubbed thoroughly, the meat is allowed to set for approximately 7 days per inch of thickness. Once I allowed my slabs to cure for around 10 days prior to smoking. And the final product never tasted over-salty nor oversweet.

Also for my dry-rubs, the bacon skin never seems to harden. The only time I've had hard skinned bacon is when I purchased a whole side that had been, I think, cold smoked.
 
I hold the temperature at 150-160F for a couple of hours to allow the meat to heat slowly and evenly and perhaps to allow the smoke to penetrate more deeply. Following its slow rise in temperature, I'll gradually raise the smoker's temperaure over the next couple of hours.
 
might be some useful info in this thread

I was in a bit of a time crunch so I stuck a slab into a hot oven after 2 hours of smoke. She hit 140* in about 10 min. Its a nice option and one even mentioned by Ruhlman in his book.

smoke doesn't penetrate meat, it forms a layer on the exterior. making sure you slabs are dry and tacky before smoking is about all you can do to make sure they are thoroughly smoked.

I try to work with a small hot fire, to make sure I have good combustion yet don't over heat the wsm.
 
I put the belly on about an hour and a half ago. Wind is blowing like crazy . . . temp registering at 220 at the lid. Trying to choke it down but not having much luck. Hopefully I'll have something edible in a couple of hours.
 
I put the belly on about an hour and a half ago. Wind is blowing like crazy . . . temp registering at 220 at the lid. Trying to choke it down but not having much luck. Hopefully I'll have something edible in a couple of hours.

my first slab was done in <1 hr on a kettle that was over 300*! it came out fine.
 
S Fink-

I'm no expert with one batch of bacon under my belt, but sounds like you had it going today..... So, how'd it turn out? ...and remember, it didn't happen if there aren't any pictures!
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Rich
 

 

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