20+ lbs of Bacon Being Made


 
Luke P

Luke P

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Some may have seen my post from 2 weeks ago. My friend and I slaughtered 2 250+lb pigs. This = a lot of pork belly. Which = a lot of bacon. Here's round 1 on bacon making. Followed Bob's simple bacon instructions. Most of the slabs are just Morton's Tender Quick. Made a few heavily peppered ones. Didn't want to get too crazy, and Melinda isn't thrilled about brown sugar or maple syrup because most "Maple Bacon" just tastes like artificial sugar. We'll see how the flavor turns out.

Only thing that worries me is the EXACT amount of cure everyone talks about. I don't have a scale so I had to guess on each slab.Used 1tbsp of cure for each after guessing...between 1lb and 4lbs. I used enough cure to rub into all surfaces, and figured that was the right amount.

These have been in fridge for 2 weeks so I had to shave off some "hardened" edges. No biggie. Helped me square everything off.
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Trimmed up a bit.
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Cured and vacuum sealed. Into fridge for the next week or so. Might not be able to smoke til 11th or 12th.
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Did I mention this is Rd 1? ;) I've got another whole belly and a half in the freezer for a few weeks out! I'll update everyone as I go.
 
Going to be good, Luke. Looks great so far. You can pick up some pretty good digital kitchen scales at Costco for a reasonable price. I couldn't get by without it.
 
Cliff Bartlett said:
Going to be good, Luke. Looks great so far. You can pick up some pretty good digital kitchen scales at Costco for a reasonable price. I couldn't get by without it.
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Thanks Cliff. You think this will be a problem if I'm off by 1/2 lb or so? If anything I used LESS cure than 1TBSP/lb but definitely hit all surfaces. They'll prob cure for 10 days as I look at my schedule for smoking it all.
 
Luke P said:
Thanks Cliff. You think this will be a problem if I'm off by 1/2 lb or so? If anything I used LESS cure than 1TBSP/lb but definitely hit all surfaces. They'll prob cure for 10 days as I look at my schedule for smoking it all.
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I wouldn't think it would be a problem particularly as you went on the conservative side, but I'm new at this bacon thing too. Only done it twice. If it's bothering you, you might want to check with Bob or Dwain.
 
Bob,

Do you think the measurements being inexact will impact curing time or quality of bacon?
 
When using a cure, I want to know the weight so I use the correct ratio of cure to the meat for a good finished product. TenderQuik probably has a better safety margin than cure #1. Please post a follow-up on your finished product and maybe put a scale on your Christmas list--
 
Not that I know anything, but have others vac-pac'ed in the curing stage?
20 lbs. is a lot of bacon: sounds like Christmas presents for some lucky folks...
 
Luke P said:
Bob,

Do you think the measurements being inexact will impact curing time or quality of bacon?
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Should be fine as long as your weight guesstimates are fairly close.

Like Brian says, never seen vac sealed curing, not sure it's a good idea, but can't confirm.
 
Luke P said:
Bob,

Do you think the measurements being inexact will impact curing time or quality of bacon?
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Its more about the safety of the product. To much or to cure little can make you or those you are serving the product sick. Curing bacon using dry rub with nitrates or nitrites requires using exact measurements and curing times. Not using a scale puts you and those that you are serving at risk.

I prefer to dry cure bacon, but once my scale quit I switched to using the following method. Hope I'm not breaking rules by posting the link, but when it comes to food safety you really need to do it right.

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/110799/pops6927s-wet-curing-brine

Another point, dry rub curing in Vac Bags is okay, just make sure and flip and massage daily
 
CaseT said:
...Hope I'm not breaking rules by posting the link...

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/110799/pops6927s-wet-curing-brine
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@ Case: It's not like SMurF here: You can post links. Pop's brine is a winner every time if you're using #1. I believe TQ has a wet brine recipe on the bag as well.

@ Luke: Good looking Pork Bellies. Wish the ones I buy we're that thick!

I've made mistakes making curing measurements as well. I'm a lot more careful now. So... I also recommend a scale from Santa.
 
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