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Yeah! I absolutely despise that location but I went there during lunch to buy a sprinkler head and said what the heck..lemme see what they have and that little bugger was in the corner....I called last night and the said they still had it...I couldn't resist

Funny you say that as I am burning a ring of kingsford blue with half chimney on top. Should I leave the vents wide open? I wanted to play around with them to get the hang on temp control but I seem to be having an issue getting under 300

Someone ordered and cancelled the order so they reduced it and put it out on the floor! The customer service was so horrible that I got a chimney starter and 40lbs of kingsford blue for $269! And I don't even have to put it together!!!

Be very careful using ham trimmings for sausage that is to be dried since the chemistry of the ham muscles can vary greatly. Shoulder and back fat are the preferred cuts. Loin trim would be somewhere in the middle for preferrence. Ph and water holding capacity of the raw maerials is critical...

Smithfield is a huge pork processing operation. You happened to have a source that provided sliced belly from Smithfield. I would bet that Smithfield also provides other alternatives. I'd also add that all of the Smithfield pork I've gotten was outstanding -- Boston Butt, ribs, everything...

By the way .02% is way too low to get ph of 5.3....need about .65-.75 and you should be good.

Perfectly round = commercial! Your salami looks gorgeous! The only thing I would caution is the final pH .....that is very dangerous on fermented sausage...it's the combination of lower ph, salt and drying that creates a hurdle effect to make the sausage safe. Additionally, adding salt and...

That's a bummer for sure..As you ndicated there are 3 major components to the drying process: temp, %rh, and air velocity. Too much air velocity will cause case hardening as mentioned and once the hardening is formed it will inhibit further moisture loss thus resulting in the soft middle

Thanks for quick reply...I suspected so. They are getting nice and tacky sitting in the fridge....can't wait until smoking tomorrow!

Nitrate is also used for color and flavor development in dry salami as many starter cultures contain some sort of staph (usually carnosous or zylosus) that convert nitrate in nitrite. With bacon this isn't necessary.

So I've read some threads and understand that purge is normal during the cure process...i cured 2 bellies last weekend for smoking tomorrow. Upon removing from cure an hour ago I noticed that one belly has a decent amount of purge while the other didn't....should I be alarmed? I am worried that...

Guys I never meant to start a war. At work we use the pure forms daily of eruthorbate, ascorbate, nitrate, and nitrite. Surely I agree it is easier and more uniform to use Prague or mtq....I was in a time crunch and had all of the ingredients at my disposal! Not to mention for free of course!

Thanks for all the info guys. I appreciate the insight on nitrite and nitrate. I fully understand how toxic these can be if used in greater amounts than allowed. USDA allows 156ppm ingoing and in fact there is roughly 20ppm residual on dry sausages like salami, coppa and those with long...

Thanks...but I was curious as to how much of salt and sugar to mix as I already have the nitrite and nitrate.

What about mixing my own? I was able to take home an ounce of nitrate and an ounce of nitrite from work the other day. I have both flake and kosher salt as well as sugar. I was thinking of using the flake salt since thats what we use at work for pancetta. I just need to know how much salt and...

Hey guys, I have pure sodium nitrite and nitrate from work. I also have flake and kosher salt and sugar. I was wondering if anyone could tell me the ratios of salt to sugar to mix my own TQ for my first bacon cure? I have everything ready to go and want to get my bellies cured tonight!

Awesome...thanks for the help. Is there a quick conversion for Morton's tq? I have Prague powder at 6.25% nitrite

Looked great....what recipe did you use? I want to do one maple and one regular and was wondering if you just eliminate the maple sugar from the rhulman recipe or did you have a "plain bacon" recipe?

I highly recommend a starter for the reasons already mentioned....as someone already Mentioned they also help the drying because the combination of salt addition and ph reduction lowers water holding capacity of meat. Starters also help food safety by producing acid and help fight of other...

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Steve Carson: Tell me more about this cider vinegar and ease of handling </div></BLOCKQUOTE> It just reduces the slipperiness of the naturals and makes...