Buffalo Bacon


 
nice Bill! be sure to enjoy a sliver of it hot off the smoker, its heaven.

were the chunks off one of those slabs?

I still haven't cooked any of mine, but I had one review from my in-laws and they said it was outstanding.

btw, I'm ready to buy the next case!
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When I was at the sausage maker, I picked up two bacon hangers. The plan is to double stack my wsms and hang two full slabs from the top grate.
 
I will, and yeah, the chunks were off that one section from the 1st pics. I just threw them in there to add to the weight add to beans and other dishes so I think I'll be ok with the lack of curing.

Next case already? LOL! I'm ready but what do you think about going with a "skinned" case next time?

I have 4 of those bacon hangers and would use them but with these having the skin on, I'll just lay them skin side down on racks. I might hank the chunks on them depending on how much room I have underneath...

Bill
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Next case already? LOL! I'm ready but what do you think about going with a "skinned" case next time? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I can't see the advantage to having the skin on. I didn't read the pancetta recipe entirely, and had to go back and fish it out of the cure to remove the skin. So pancetta doesn't need it, and its one less side for smoke to adhere to.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by j biesinger:
wowzers! she got some nice color to her. I suspect those were done in the electric? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
Yeah, they were.

Sliced some up this morning and fried slowly in a CI skillet. I like my bacon fairly dark brown and crisp and that's what I tried for here, but, I went just a tad too far. Still very good, with a hint of smoke and maple and a good taste of bacon. Excellent crispiness !! I could taste a bit of salt, more than I would like, but not bad. The medallion pieces taste like ham .. Pretty salty though, but with the small amount there, it was acceptable. All in all, I'm very pleased with my 1st attempt at bacon.
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Bill

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I just threw out the 2lbs of bacon I have in my fridge and I'm going to make a trip to NY for my bacon SOOOOOOON! Dagnabit Muskee that looks fantastic Bill!
 
that looked just like my breakfast!!!

So I tried mine this morning, and I think I prefer the brine cure. I thought the salt was just right. I had the same problem as you Bill, with the dry cure ending up too salty. I'm going to have to say its the cure not us.

I cut mine, what I thought was thick, but it turned out to be a typical thickness. I would have preferred it thicker, but wouldn't have got it as dark as you Bill.
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I'll definitely try the brine cure next time out. As far as being too salty, I did scrub (kinda) the outside of everything when it came out of the cure .. I used my textured meat handling gloves hoping to scrub some of the surface salt off with them. Again, all in all, I'm very happy with the results.

And this was my 1st time frying a home cured bacon .. I think I did pretty good, even though it was a "bit" darker than I wanted.
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Now, when I say crispy, I mean "brittle" to the bend kinda crispy, and it was perfect in that regard. I did notice that I need to turn the heat down a little compared to the store bought bacon I do and taking it off a minute or 2 earlier would have helped as well.

Tomorrow, the "basic" cure.
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Todd, are you back from Florida yet??? You're up!
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Bill
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">I did notice that I need to turn the heat down a little compared to the store bought bacon I do and taking it off a minute or 2 earlier would have helped as well. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

could be the sugar. in addition to be too salty, I found it overly sweet.

you're right though, it comes out great no matter how hard we try to screw it up.
 
Hey Jeff,

I was just looking at Saucisson Mac's blog (your brine cure source) and his bacon is just as dark as mine .. sooooo, I must be doing something right!
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Bill

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<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by j biesinger:
Cutting up the whole slab yielded an interesting surprize...a nipple!
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I guess it is belly after all, and hogs have lots of nipples. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

LOL J said nipple! I would like to try this some day. Thanks for sharing your experiences guys. BTW Bill Hays do own a chevy performance built pickup. I have a customer in NY that purchase a transmission and goes by bud hays on another forum. His first name is Bill. Just wunderin!
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Vince B:
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by j biesinger:
Cutting up the whole slab yielded an interesting surprize...a nipple!
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I guess it is belly after all, and hogs have lots of nipples. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

LOL J said nipple! I would like to try this some day. Thanks for sharing your experiences guys. BTW Bill Hays do own a chevy performance built pickup. I have a customer in NY that purchase a transmission and goes by bud hays on another forum. His first name is Bill. Just wunderin! </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
And it wasn't censored! Go figure.. Nope, not me .. I drive a Tundra.
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Vince, the hardest part about this (for us) has been procuring pork bellies. Jeff did all the leg work there and we definitely appreciate it. Anyway, the rest is easy ... Well, 'cept for the waitin' part.
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Go for it !!

Bill
 
Yep, I'm back. I've been following, just not much time so say anything. :) Both your works looks awesome. And I see I do gain a bit of an advantage waiting, brine cure it is! No ETA on me yet, I haven't even started brining. Belly is frozen solid in the basement freezer.

All of my free time is / will be spent rebuilding / remodeling my basement which is totally gutted, starting from scratch, been working on it off and on for 3+ years now, time for a final big push to finish before spring. Doing all the work myself. We will also be tackling a remodel job on the kitchen this winter (new floors, cabinets, knocking a wall out, new utilities). We will probably have to contract a lot of that out just so it can get done in a reasonable amount of time.

Todd
 
Better late to the party than never I suppose!

Finally, finally, finally, after having a third of a full belly (split with jb and Bill) in my freezer for more than a year, I finally got around to making BACON.

I had an email conversation with jb in which he reminded me of this Brine Recipe and that he liked it. So that's the way I went.

I started with a 12 lb belly. And ended up with 2 - 5.5 lb slabs after cutting in half and trimming.

It wasn't quite textbook. I brined for 4 days instead of 3 because that is just how life worked out. Hung the slabs in my fridge to dry for 2 days instead of 1. I arranged a full chimney unlit with A LOT of maple wood, and lit 15 briqs. All 3 bottom vents closed the entire cook. Only the top vent left open.

Hit 100 degrees after 1 hour.
150 after 2 hours.
175 at the 3 hour mark where it leveled and staying for the rest of the cook.
Took 6 hours total for the slabs to hit 140 internal. Rested them, then back into the fridge they went. Busted out the Globe slicer the following day and the foodsaver. Out of a 12 lb slab, I ended up netting 7 lbs of vac sealed bacon after slicing and trimming and whatnot.

I did not take a lot of pictures, but here is just 2.

Sealed in 1/2 pound packages.
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Badly needed fat and grease New Year's Day Morning
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Thanks for reading and thanks to Jeff for helping me out!

Todd
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Thanks for reading and thanks to Jeff for helping me out! </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

my pleasure!

how did the 4 day brine work out?
 
The 4 day brine wasn't intentional, so I didn't adjust the recipe for it at all. And I'm no connoisseur of bacon, but the wife and I thought the above plate tasted great. Didn't notice it being too salty or sweet. I also gave away a pound and got positive feedback on that too, so I'd say no worse for wear!
Todd
 
Fascinating conversation. It makes me want to do bacon. I have a question about the pork belly chunks. Do you have to reduce the brine time/cure time to avoid overcuring?
Lance
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Do you have to reduce the brine time/cure time to avoid overcuring? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

According to Todd, increasing brining time by as much as 33% didn't have a negative effect on the final product. I like the wet brine method because with anecdotes from guys like Todd, its seeming more and more like the method is bullet proof.

Belly is slab shaped. Cure penetration time is limited by the thickness of the belly. If you do a whole belly or two inches, both pieces will have the same thickness and would need a good 2-3 days for the cure to fully penetrate.
 
Ya, I really liked the brine method, and agree that it's a lot more bulletproof than other methods that I've read about (but not tried personally).

I literally made up the brine, stuck the slabs in it and into a fridge, and went out of town for 4 days.

Todd
 
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