Bacon too salty... is it salvageable?


 
J

Justin D

TVWBB Member
Hi all,

I took a stab at making bacon from a full pork belly. There was a step in the recipe that I followed that called for a taste test. Which I did. After curing and rinsing, you cut off a tiny piece and fry it up (before smoking). I did that and it was salty, but in my estimation not TOO salty.

I was wrong. Extrapolate that across a whole piece of bacon and it equates to too much salt. I should’ve soaked it for an hour.

Is there anyway to save this? Would soaking the bacon (post-smoke) and re-refrigerating be an option? Or is the salt already baked in so to speak?
 
I would ASSUME it's there to stay. I've done the same thing and found it to be great used in chowder or soups
 
This was in the Kruger Safety Compilation.

Test a piece before chilling (remember to cook it first). If too salty for your taste, then, after slicing, blanch the slices of bacon in simmering water for 1 min. Pat dry then fry as usual.

Might be worth a try.
 
timothy said:
This was in the Kruger Safety Compilation.

Test a piece before chilling (remember to cook it first). If too salty for your taste, then, after slicing, blanch the slices of bacon in simmering water for 1 min. Pat dry then fry as usual.

Might be worth a try.
Click to expand...
I’ll give it a go. I did try taking a chunk and soaking it for about an hour, then slicing and frying. I don’t think it made a noticeable difference.

Maybe slicing then soaking will.

If not, I foresee a lot of bacon infused chili in my future. 🫤
 
Justin D said:
I’ll give it a go. I did try taking a chunk and soaking it for about an hour, then slicing and frying. I don’t think it made a noticeable difference.

Maybe slicing then soaking will.

If not, I foresee a lot of bacon infused chili in my future. 🫤
Click to expand...
you can always grind some up and put it into burgers.

or use it in italian food instead of guanciale (cured, salted pork) as the salt ingredient in your cooking so you don't have to add salt, but add the pork instead.

or as a base in any soup stock (used as salt, fat and flavor to saute veggies).

all is not lost. just redeploy as an ingredient instead of as a main protein.
 
Last edited:
Bean with bacon soup and add potatoes.
timothy

Thread 'Bean with Bacon Soup.'

Growing up as a kid on the south side of Chicago, Campbell's Soup was right across the tracks. I loved the B W B soup back then but they must have changed the recipe cause it just doesn't taste the same.
This is a very close copy, and it's good ( if your a fan )
http://www.deepsouthdish.com/2011/01/bean-with-bacon-soup-recipe.html#axzz3ta7RHENF

Edit: I should add that the stock is the key. I smoked two fresh ham hocks and used some leftover smoked neck bones and a rib tip.



Tim






.
  • Love
 
How did you cure it? I find the tenderquick method to be too salty. I think I use 2% salt, 1.5% sugar and .25% cure#1 for a dry cure. You can soak the unsmoked bacon to draw out some salt. People do a process like this all the time with things like country hams. It's the reverse of brining. I don't know how long it takes, but probably more than an hour.
 
I like Brett and Timothy’s suggestions.
Dice potatoes and fry them in the rendered fat!
Use it in bacon Mac and cheese or, anything like that in a more creamy type sauce which will save you the trouble of salting the recipes much.
 
Dustin Dorsey said:
How did you cure it? I find the tenderquick method to be too salty. I think I use 2% salt, 1.5% sugar and .25% cure#1 for a dry cure. You can soak the unsmoked bacon to draw out some salt. People do a process like this all the time with things like country hams. It's the reverse of brining. I don't know how long it takes, but probably more than an hour.
Click to expand...
I followed this recipe and did the dry cure. I smoked it on my WSM though… didn’t follow his cold smoke instructions.
 
Justin D said:
I followed this recipe and did the dry cure. I smoked it on my WSM though… didn’t follow his cold smoke instructions.
Click to expand...
Hot smoke and cold smoke are two different beasts.

It’s possible you’re hot smoking rendered the bacon thus reducing weight which could upset the salt percentage of the final product.

Cold smoking doesn’t heat the protein, just adds smoke aroma which means the weight remains the same (substantially).

This is my observation. Idk what temp you hot smoked at and for how long. That data would be helpful.

And do you have a pre and post slab weight from the smoking session?
 
Brett-EDH said:
Hot smoke and cold smoke are two different beasts.

It’s possible you’re hot smoking rendered the bacon thus reducing weight which could upset the salt percentage of the final product.

Cold smoking doesn’t heat the protein, just adds smoke aroma which means the weight remains the same (substantially).

This is my observation. Idk what temp you hot smoked at and for how long. That data would be helpful.

And do you have a pre and post slab weight from the smoking session?
Click to expand...
I smoked between 120 and 150 F for about 6 hours. I didn’t take any weight measurements before or after.
 
Did you use kosher salt or table salt? I got the gist of the recipe and I don't think I like it. Its 1/2 cup salt, 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1TBSP of black pepper and 1 tsp of Cure #1. I applaud you for using the cure #1 over tenderquick. I'd get one of these.


And then a regular food scale for the bacon.

And do your measurements in percentages. This allows you to scale for any amount of meat and it allows you to precisely get your cure. It also allows you to precisely get your salt level to what you want. 2% is what I use.

5 pounds is 2268 grams so you need 45.36 grams of salt. In this case I'm using weight not volume so kosher vs. table salt doesn't matter but I'd avoid iodized salt.
1/2 cup of table salt is 150 grams. 1/2 cup of kosher salt is 67.2 grams. It makes a big difference either way. If you used table salt then it's probably violently over salted. If it was kosher salt you are probably ok. If it was diamond crystal kosher salt, you are probably right on the money. But generally when you weigh salt, salt is salt.
 
Last edited:
Thanks man.
Dustin Dorsey said:
Did you use kosher salt or table salt? I got the gist of the recipe and I don't think I like it. Its 1/2 cup salt, 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1TBSP of black pepper and 1 tsp of Cure #1. I applaud you for using the cure #1 over tenderquick. I'd get one of these.


And then a regular food scale for the bacon.

And do your measurements in percentages. This allows you to scale for any amount of meat and it allows you to precisely get your cure. It also allows you to precisely get your salt level to what you want. 2% is what I use.

5 pounds is 2268 grams so you need 45.36 grams of salt. In this case it's weight so kosher vs. table salt doesn't matter but I'd avoid iodized salt.
1/2 cup of table salt is 150 grams. 1/2 cup of kosher salt is 67.2 grams. It makes a big difference either way.
Click to expand...
thanks! It’s funny, I have all the scales (I make pizza and use them religiously). No idea why I didn’t apply that experience to this…

Lesson learned!

(I did use kosher salt).
 
Justin D said:
I smoked between 120 and 150 F for about 6 hours. I didn’t take any weight measurements before or after.
Click to expand...
Yup. That’s hot smoke. You concentrated the salt as the meat rendered moisture. That could be part of the problem.

Cold smoke would have been at 85° and only added smoke to the meat.
 
Chemistry says use an acid to help neutralize / tone down something being overly salty. Have to do it occasionally when I have over salted chimichurri. Of course, pretty easy in this chimchurri example since red wine vinegar is an ingredient anyway. But not sure what you might use in this case other than as an ingredient in something else (tomato sauce, vinegar chicken, etc. . . . .)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

 

Back
Top