Home Cured Bacon


 
I recently visited Italy and rediscovered carbonara and it just fueled my bacon addiction. Since then I've been eating carbonara almost non stop. My wife and I make a good team here - I make the bacon, she makes the carbonara, and we both eat it. The smokey flavour of the bacon really adds something special. I use back bacon because I don't like too much fat.

-Mark
 
I'm trying to make the "Charcuterie" Maple Bacon now. It's been curing for 8 days and still hasn't gotten harder/stiffer, as they say it should. Should I be worried? Just go ahead and smoke it?
 
I had the same thing. I didn't get nearly the amount of juice off of it that I expected, either. I went ahead and smoked it after 7 days curing. My fry sample was pretty salty, so I gotta believe it was "cured" enough.

Anybody else have any opinions on this?
 
S. - It usually gets stiffer but this can be hard to determine. If the belly was on the thin side then it is much harder to tell.

D - One often finds that the water that exudes from belly to be minimal. Not really an issue.

There isn't really a way to tell before smoking if curing is complete. If temps sre 37-40 during curing there should not be a problem. Curing slows as temps hit 36 and will stop if temps go much lower.
 
In using Maple Sugar Cure made by Allied Kenco, I noticed lots of moisture (small puddles of liquid) appearing on my slabs during the first few days of curing. But by the 8'th or 9'th day, the moisture was resorbed; it disappeared back into the meat.
 
Kevin wrote:
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">And see here for two good ones. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Thanks Kevin. Lots of pork bellies since 2006. In fact, a few minutes ago I just finished cutting up a 13+ lb'er. Made the Maple, Sichuan, and Savory Garlic (added some Bengali Five Spice for fun and hopefully an interesting taste). Here is a photo of the belly.
porkbelly010810.jpg


Making Greek-style yogurt from raw milk is my latest culinary kick. Of course, you know that raw milk is sold/labeled to be used only for pets! Meow!!

Regards to you all,

Richard
 
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