Michael Ruhlman's Maple Cured Bacon from "Charcuterie"


 
I would say use a slicer. You can't make consistent thin slices with a knife. Maybe kevin K can but i can't. The slicer is good for many things and you do need a new toy. I have a chef's choice vary tilt slicer and it is easy to clean and great.
 
Maybe kevin K can but i can't.
Click to expand...
That's because you're blind!
icon_smile.gif
(It amazes me that you do what you do!)

Actually, par-freeze the bacon first if you want to use a knife. Use a thin-bladed, wider knife, if you have one.
 
Just took my first maple smoked bacon off the smoker. Sliced it by hand while still warm with now problem. I fried up a couple of slices and wow! I'm hooked. Thanks to all for answering my questions along the way.

Steve
 
Originally posted by Steve Carson:
Just took my first maple smoked bacon off the smoker. Sliced it by hand while still warm with now problem. I fried up a couple of slices and wow! I'm hooked. Thanks to all for answering my questions along the way.

Steve
Click to expand...

I smoked 4 slabs of pork bellies on the weekend. I used apple wood on two of them and maple on the other two. We did a taste taste on the two (tough job, but someone's gotta do it!) and found that the apple wood imparted a milder taste. Not surprising, perhaps. I actually think I preferred the apple smoke. What did you use?
 
Elsie,

I ended up using apple and the bacon turned out great. It had plenty of smoke flavor, I don't think I would have preferred anything stronger.

Steve
 
a couple questions:

1) I'm planning on getting a case of bellies that will clock in around 50 lbs. Does anybody know what I can expect to get in the case? 5 10# pieces? 10 5# pieces?

2)Has anyone tried standing slabs up in a rib rack? I read about problems with the outside hot zone and thought this might work.
 
Just picked up a full belly slab at T&T Supermarket for $2.38/lb, bone-in. It was just over 10 lbs - and not the largest one there.
icon_eek.gif


Anyone in the Vancouver area who wants to get in on this deal - pork bellies are on sale at this price until tomorrow.

Now I have to figure out which dry brine I'm going to use. I'll be smoking with Alder, so something savory is most likely.

I'm kinda leaning towards Kevin's savory mix, but I don't have any juniper berries or Prague powder (so instead of that, hopefully, just 1.5 T/lb of kosher salt will do the trick).

I was also thinking of adding some toasted fennel and coriander to the dry brine spice mix.
 
J - THe rib racks work great. I use them often when I'm doing a large amount of bacon, including leaning extra pieces on the sides of them.

Bruce, wish I would have gotten in on that deal!

Clark
 
I once did 4 full bellies at once and used 2 sets of rib racks on my 22" WSM. There was a problem in that the bellie slabs were crowded against each other, so there wasn't much browning/smoke penetration on the flat surfaces.

I think ribs work better because the bone maintains a rigid shape that keeps the racks separated, where the slabs, if thick, just bump up against each other.

I saved the batch by removing and finishing the smoke laying them flat.

Bottom line, if using a rack, I'd use every other slot.
 
This is great. I've been looking for a bacon recipe and this looks like the one. Anxious to try it. I think a good Sunday morning pairing would be home fries cooked in duck fat. It's worth cooking a duck and saving the fat just for that. If you think lard is great, duck fat rules!
Oh, Bruce McLeod: Porko Rosso is my hero.
 
did anybody else find Ruhlman's recipe excessively sweet? I found the bacon was burning in the pan before browning, which I could only assume was from the sugar.
 
Originally posted by j biesinger:
did anybody else find Ruhlman's recipe excessively sweet? I found the bacon was burning in the pan before browning, which I could only assume was from the sugar.
Click to expand...

I have had that problem when i cook it in my cast iorn pan with med high heat. I have found using a cold non stick alum. clad skillet with med. heat produces "perfect" bacon with this recipe.
 
I had the same problem. Once I dialed the heat down under the pan the bacon did not burn.
Click to expand...

that's exactly what I did this morning!

I'm going to have to call this recipe "bullet proof." I started curing my slab in my basement fridge. The next day I went down to grab some steaks out. Three days later I realize I left the fridge door open. The slab was warm but smelled clean so I left it to cure for a total of 11 days when I finally got around to smoking it. I tossed on my kettle since my wsm's haven't been cleaned since m last comp. The kettle got up to 375* and my slab got to temp in less than a hour.

despite all the deviation from the original recipe it still cam out great (if not a bit too sweet for me).
 
J, I wonder if the extra days curing, and 3 of those days at a warmer temp might have made the bacon sweeter.

I've got my cure salt, maple sugar & syrup, just need a belly to get started on this recipe.

Several years ago I cured bacon often, using just Morton's Tenderquick, and smoked in an electric smoker.
I haven't had bacon as good since, and I'm sure this will taste even better than that did.
 
Originally posted by Bob Correll:
J, I wonder if the extra days curing, and 3 of those days at a warmer temp might have made the bacon sweeter.

I've got my cure salt, maple sugar & syrup, just need a belly to get started on this recipe.

Several years ago I cured bacon often, using just Morton's Tenderquick, and smoked in an electric smoker.
I haven't had bacon as good since, and I'm sure this will taste even better than that did.
Click to expand...

Bob, what make was your electric smoker?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

 

Back
Top