Bacon made easy
- Thread starter Bob Correll
- Start date
Your slabs look quite normal to me. And after 11 days of curing in my bags, less than 2 TBS of liquid per bag are showing and each bag is holding 8 pounds of slab.
You can get Tenderquick, Pink Salt, and Instacure #1 from ALLIEDKENCO.COM and the Sausagemaker.com.
IMHO as long as you follow the ratio and turn every day you will be fine. I've made this several times. The amount of liquid depends on the source/type of belly. The belly from the pastured pigs I used last time did not give up nearly as much water but was fine. The commercial belly from local big box gave up more. The belly from a local market (Lancaster County Area Supplier) was sort of in the middle. So what Bob Correll says 
Tony R
TVWBB 1-Star Olympian
IMHO as long as you follow the ratio and turn every day you will be fine. I've made this several times. The amount of liquid depends on the source/type of belly. The belly from the pastured pigs I used last time did not give up nearly as much water but was fine. The commercial belly from local big box gave up more. The belly from a local market (Lancaster County Area Supplier) was sort of in the middle. So what Bob Correll says
Thanks everyone.
Just a little nervous about my first time doing bacon.
What's the worst that can happen right???
In the four years that I've been doing my own bacon cured and smoked, I've had to dispose of one slab because it "turned"; it smelled a bit funny or wierd and the flavor wasn't good. Up until it was to be consumed, it was kept in my fridge's freezer and so I really don't know what happened to make it "turn".
Ryan Slater
New member
Thanks Tony for dropping off some tender quick. I'm planning on picking up some pork belly tomorrow or Monday. I'll post some picks of the progress. I look forward to seeing your progress.
Ryan
Ryan
I might be wrong but there seems to be a dependance on TQ availability for this thread. Bacon Made Easy should not be dependent on ability to find or get TQ - IMHO. You can do Bacon Made easy using TQ, #1 Pink Salt, or just plain kosher salt frankly.
But don't want to get off the thread. All I'm saying is that once you find a good source for pork belly any one of the 3 curing methods will provide a "quick" method. It really all depends on what you have on hand for the cure.
TQ, #1 Pink Salt, Kosher salt. The process remains the same. The ratios with each cure/salt type if you will is the only difference.
To me the biggest issue is finding good, quality pork belly. After that the method of curing is secondary as there are 3 ways to get there = bacon.
But don't want to get off the thread. All I'm saying is that once you find a good source for pork belly any one of the 3 curing methods will provide a "quick" method. It really all depends on what you have on hand for the cure.
TQ, #1 Pink Salt, Kosher salt. The process remains the same. The ratios with each cure/salt type if you will is the only difference.
To me the biggest issue is finding good, quality pork belly. After that the method of curing is secondary as there are 3 ways to get there = bacon.
Tony R
TVWBB 1-Star Olympian
We and myself are only following the directions that Bob C. posted.
Please see the beginning of this thread.
Bob Correll
R.I.P. 3/31/2022
Ray, I totally agree with you but..
when I started this thread a lot of members, who were making bacon, talked about pink salt, metric weight/measure, ratios, calculators, wet curing, etc.
My goal was to hopefully show how simple curing bacon can be.
24,000 views shows me there is an interest.
I had no idea that finding MTQ would be a problem for some.
In my area, MTQ is available at some farm & home stores, sporting goods and grocery stores.
An eBay seller has it for $12.47 including shipping, a bit pricey, but it does weigh 2 pounds.
...after smoking and placement in the freezer. Perhaps I got a bad belly and also fresh bellies don't have a long shelf life and so perhaps I got one at the end of its shelf life. I just don't know.
Tony R
TVWBB 1-Star Olympian
All done.... Posted pics in photo gallery
http://tvwbb.com/showthread.php?48825-First-time-Bacon-with-my-dinner
http://tvwbb.com/showthread.php?48825-First-time-Bacon-with-my-dinner
Yo Bob:
Wasn't trying to poke at the value, importance or content of the thread in any way. Was just simply posting about my experience is all. TQ wasn't available at the obvious places around me for a number of years but I could get pink salt almost overnight from a nearby source that has free shipping on everything and no minimum quantity. A butcher at a local market now has TQ so I bought some to keep on hand. That was literally a few months ago.
So really not a big deal. Was just saying for me the type of salt - I've used, pink, kosher, and I guess now soon TQ has been less of an issue since you can get it done with any of the 3 once you get the translations.
Enjoyed and followed the thread from the start and it's a classic. Wasn't trying to suggest otherwise at all.
Wasn't trying to poke at the value, importance or content of the thread in any way. Was just simply posting about my experience is all. TQ wasn't available at the obvious places around me for a number of years but I could get pink salt almost overnight from a nearby source that has free shipping on everything and no minimum quantity. A butcher at a local market now has TQ so I bought some to keep on hand. That was literally a few months ago.
So really not a big deal. Was just saying for me the type of salt - I've used, pink, kosher, and I guess now soon TQ has been less of an issue since you can get it done with any of the 3 once you get the translations.
Enjoyed and followed the thread from the start and it's a classic. Wasn't trying to suggest otherwise at all.
Bob Correll
R.I.P. 3/31/2022
Ray,
Absolutely no offense taken, and I'm sorry if I came across as being offended.
I still have some pink salt, maple sugar, and maple syrup, so I might give the Ruhlman recipe another try.
To me, the bacon didn't taste any different than the MTQ method, but my sense of taste is rather poor.
Tony,
Fine job on the bacon brother!
But I'll need a sample before giving it a final grade.
Absolutely no offense taken, and I'm sorry if I came across as being offended.
I still have some pink salt, maple sugar, and maple syrup, so I might give the Ruhlman recipe another try.
To me, the bacon didn't taste any different than the MTQ method, but my sense of taste is rather poor.
Tony,
Fine job on the bacon brother!
But I'll need a sample before giving it a final grade.
Bob Correll
R.I.P. 3/31/2022
Ryan,
Anywhere near 200 should be good.
My bellies come from splitting a hog with my daughter, so I can't calculate price per pound.
Tony found it for $3.19.
I've found it locally for $2.49 right after Christmas. I use the term "locally" loosely. It's about 40 miles for me. I plan to get a co-worker who lives near the meat market to pick some up for me. I'm really anxious to try this. But, the logistics of getting the belly and ensuring that I maintain it in the safe range have been my hold ups. I'll be trying it soon.
Travis Smith
New member
Quick question - I've got a pork loin that I've been curing. I mean to get to it last weekend, but events conspired against me and I didn't get it smoked. It's still in the cure - my question: can you over-cure pork?