Michael Ruhlman's Maple Cured Bacon from "Charcuterie"


 
Originally posted by Brandon A:
My first bacon smoke is now in the books. It took quite awhile longer then I expected to reach the 147* temp goal. I used lump and lit only 3 smallish pieces. I also used water for the first time in a long time. I had no problem keeping the smoker under 200*. In fact, and this is probably why it took so long, I smoked mostly ~175*. I figured the longer it was subjected to smoke the better. It took all of 4 hours.

I will edit this post and add some picture links and report back on the taste tomarrow, sure smelled good
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Brandon
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Brandon, Looking forward to the pics. I smoke my bacon at 175-º-185º and it takes about 4-5 hrs.
 
My first bacon smoke is now in the books. It took quite awhile longer then I expected to reach the 147* temp goal. I used lump and lit only 3 smallish pieces. I also used water for the first time in a long time. I had no problem keeping the smoker under 200*. In fact, and this is probably why it took so long, I smoked mostly ~175*. I figured the longer it was subjected to smoke the better. It took all of 4 hours.

I will edit this post and add some picture links and report back on the taste tomarrow, sure smelled good
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Edit: I sliced one of the 4 belly parts up and fried half of it for BLT's for the wife and I. I was really happy with the bacon, beings I made it, but, I would have liked more salt and maple taste. I guessed at the salt (oz's messed me up) I think I used a quarter cup. I'll try things a little different next time, but I cant complain at all, its some awesome stuff. Here's a little slideshow I made up quick. Enjoy!

Brandon
 
Great job Bud, looks so good I thought I saw the bacon sizzling in the pics. Bet those BLT's were awsome.
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great pics. glad to see yours looked about the same. i question the maple taste as well would have liked a bit more but im unsure if i can adjust by just adding more maple syrup or sugar, or if i should use the fake stuff.. not sure. but damn its good stuff. bryan, im gonna try yours next amigo. it is a bit time consuming and a bit more difficult to schedule in but i love it. Brandon, did yours get cooked on a lower heat in the skillet or oven? was wandering if yours were sticking to each other a bit, like mine. wasn't a problem but i noticed and thought it was kinda funny....great stuff though, good pictures.
 
Dan, I cooked the bacon in a skillet at low/med heat, and didnt notice any sticking. Next time I plan to double the sugar and syrup, probably use a little extra kosher salt also, but I'll leave the pink salt alone. To me, it seemed there was barely enough cure to cover the meat. I dont think it would hurt to use more sugar and syrup to make the cure cover more "ground" and hopefully it will make the maple flavor stronger also. What do you think Bry? Kevin?

Brandon
 
On page 2, I mention wanting to use Dark Amber Maple Syrup. The maple flavor is the strongest with dark amber, medium amber is not as strong as the dark, and reg maple syrup is the weakest of the 3 grades. So if you're looking for more maple flavor, try and get the Dark Amber for the most maple flavor. I have since found some here in Amish town.
 
I agree with Bryan, the darker the syrup the better the flavor. You pay more for the fancy light syrup to put on your pancakes, but the darker syrups are much better for cooking, especially for baked beans..
 
the cure barely covered my bacon also. Thats when i questioned myself "am i missing something" and went back to the recipie and found i was doing it right. the taste was still good. next time dark amber for me and i think i'll leave the rest how it was. maybe a small amount less of the salt but maybe an extra day or two in the fridge to see what effect that has on it.
 
Locally, the best I could do was medium amber, I'll have to keep my eyes peeled when I get out of town. I still think I will add a bit more sugar and syrup to try to make the cure cover more. I wonder, is the dark amber actually made differently or is it just reduced further to concentrate the flavors more? If this is the case, it could be done at home on the stove top, no?

Brandon
 
Originally posted by Matt Albright:
About how long will this last in the refrigerator uncut?

-Thanks...

-Matt
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Matt,

I don't leave more than a couple weeks worth in my refrigerator. The rest is vacuum sealed and frozen, either sliced or in slab form.

Jim
 
I recently made this recipe. I had a 8.5lb belly and cut it in two. With one I used this recipe, the other I made a plain cure and smoked it with apple wood. Both came out way better than anything I could get in the store. However, the maple one had a slight hint of a hammy taste that the apple smoked didn't have. What do you think could've caused this?

As with all other recipes I try, I'll end up tweaking it to make it my own, but wanted to get ideas for the next go around.
 
Originally posted by Brandon A:
Locally, the best I could do was medium amber, I'll have to keep my eyes peeled when I get out of town.
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Hey Bud, Keep your eyes peeled on your mail box Monday November 10th.
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2 Questions:

1) Like Chris above, I also had an 8 lb. belly and cut it into two halves. How crazy do I have to be about adjusting the cure? The one in the book is for a 5 lb. belly. Do I need to reduce all ingredients by 20%, or is this being overly picky?

2) Some of the brine solution leaked out into the fridge this weekend from the ziploc bag. Not much, but a little. Do I need to worry about this, or will it have much of an impact at all?

Thanks for any advice.
 
i had one bag of 4 leak a bit on mine as well. i'de call it a small puddle about the size of a "Denny's" pancake. after fixing the problem with a double bag i tried not to worry to much about it and when all 4 bags were finished I couldn't tell the difference in any. The bacon was for a friend of mine but he gave me quite a load when he got it sliced up. He said it was ends from each one. it was very good. Not sure about the adjustment, someone will have you covered. Probably Kevin or Bryan. have a good day.
 
Originally posted by Justin L:
2 Questions:

1) Like Chris above, I also had an 8 lb. belly and cut it into two halves. How crazy do I have to be about adjusting the cure? The one in the book is for a 5 lb. belly. Do I need to reduce all ingredients by 20%, or is this being overly picky?

2) Some of the brine solution leaked out into the fridge this weekend from the ziploc bag. Not much, but a little. Do I need to worry about this, or will it have much of an impact at all?

Thanks for any advice.
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No need to scale down.
Don't worry about the leak, I often get a leak of about a TBS, not a problem.
 
Long post short, how much is 2oz in cups? Mortons kosher salt.

edit: I went searching and this is what I found.

The two most popular brand of kosher salt weigh in like this: Morton Kosher = 7 1/2 ounces per cup and Diamond Kosher = 5 ounces per cup.

You guys can do the math from here, I know I'm not the only one wondering...or maybe I am
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Thanks Kevin, not everyone has a scale that can measure grams/oz. After reading earlier posts about not being overly picky about adjusting the amount of cure. I went ahead and doubled this recipe for my almost 9 lb belly. I used the cure liberaly and still had some left over (that I didnt use) in my bowl at the end.

I didnt feel like I was trying to stretch the cure this time and that was nice
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Here's the slideshow of the begining of my second try at this recipe, enjoy!

Brandon
 
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