Minimum curing time for bacon?


 

Mary M

TVWBB Fan
I know the standard length given is seven days, but...has anyone ever done it for less time? I've got house guests coming and I got caught with a short supply.

TIA,
 
Yes. If you're belly is already curing and is in one piece, remove it from the cure then cut it, crosswise, into 3 sections. Rub the now-exposed cut sides with cure from the bag or container--or add a little new cure to the sides if you have it. (If not, cut crosswise prior to rubbing with cure.) 3 days will usually do just fine.
 
I feel for you. I'm doing the Buckboard Bacon recipe and they just reached their 10th and final day of curing this early a.m. Of course, I picked up two 8 pound pork shoulders, so I should have enough bacon left over to last a few months. Luckily, I found a vacuum sealer at Goodwill a little while back, so, once again, I'll just have to stock up my freezer. I highly recommend a Seal-A-Meal or FoodSaver. That way you can do your cook ahead of time and plan for these little emergencies like drop in friends and relatives.
 
Hi, I was just wondering what process is used for making bacon on the WSM? I have some pork belly here and have to do something with it!!

Thanks

Clark
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Clark Deutscher:
Hi, I was just wondering what process is used for making bacon on the WSM? I have some pork belly here and have to do something with it!!

Thanks

Clark </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Basic, easy process:

Cure the meat for DAYS not hours
Rinse off the excess cure
Soak meat in water for a short time
Smoke the meat
Let rest, slice
Cook it up

The Buckboard Bacon recipe on TVWB features butt/shoulder roast not pork bellies. The result is NOT the American style crunchy bacon. It is closer to ham in flavor although much less salty. It is quite delicious. I have no doubt the process for Buckboard Bacon would be excellent for pork shoulders. In fact, I will be looking shoulders next time I'm at Cash & Carry.

You could probably find a pork belly bacon recipe in the Charcuterie book.

I just smoked my first Buckboard Bacon last weekend. It turned out quite nice. The hardest part was finding Hi Mountain Seasonings Bacon Cure. I searched high and low in Seattle and couldn't find it. Fortunately, Hi Mountain does deliver. I ordered a case which turns out to be enough for about 150 pounds of bacon. I don't believe I'll be buying much bacon for a while.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Cure the meat for DAYS not hours
Rinse off the excess cure
Soak meat in water for a short time
<span class="ev_code_RED">Dry, then air dry to form pellicle</span>
Smoke the meat
Let rest, slice
Cook it up </div></BLOCKQUOTE>--or vac-pack and fridge/freeze


Bacon is not difficult. You need to decide if you want to using curing agents in the cure or not. They're not vital but this depends on what else you're putting in the cure.

Search the Forum. Many posts on bacon. One, Of Josh Z's is here. I have two slabs curing now--a sweet and a savory, my preference--that I'll smoke when I get home. I used DC Curing Salt in the mix this time; I usually don't bother.

Homemade bacon is delicious. Since it is not pumped it is less loaded with moisture so it doesn't shrink as much when cooked. You can cut a belly into halves or thirds and cure each differently.
 
Thanks for all the replies -- these slabs are going in the WSM Friday morning for the weekend guests!

Kevin, you were talking about not using curing agents -- I've always used Tender Quick. If you weren't curing, what would you do? Just smoke the bellies and be done with it? Apart from the color problem, what would happen differently?
 
I just wanted to thank everyone for the replies also.

Kevin thanks for the tips on all of the topics you have contributed, I have tried a number of your recipes now and they are great!

Thanks everyone!
 
Mary-- One stills cures but, instead, includes no curing agents (TQ, DC, Insta-cure, et al.) in the mix. The primary ingredient that makes a cure a cure is salt. One makes up a salt-based cure (essentially the same or a very similar mix as one would make if including an agent--i.e., with some sugar, spices, herbs, flavorings, etc.), rubs the belly, and cures for the required amount of days. This bacon should be cooked before consumption.

The color (usually) leans toward red though not the brighter color of meat cured with nitrite. Choice of smokewood can affect color when smoking no-nitrite meats.


The belly should be dry before smoking with a good pellicle. Hot-smoking rather than cold smoking is required--temps should be no lower than 140 to start (or soon after starting if using a MM) and should be bumped up to at least 160 to 200 as smoking progresses. An internal temp of 140 is the minimum, 150-155 at max for best quality. After smoking, the belly should rest no more than 5-7 minutes then should be immediately and completely chilled by placing the belly (cut it if necessary) in Zip-loc bags and plunging them into iced water. There they should remain till cold.

When the bagged portions are cold, the belly can be sliced, or not, and vac-packed (or tightly wrapped in plastic then Zip-loc'd). Whatever the amount one is planning to use in the short term ahould be stored immediately at <40F; the remainder should be frozen.

The flavor is a bit different than cured-with-nitrite bacon but I quite like it. Salt, again, is the defining item in anything cured--and so is its flavor/flavor-enhancing quality; this remains unaffected.

My pleasure, Clark. I'm glad you've enjoyed them.
 
Kevin, thanks for all the help. I got an entire belly about the size of a boogie board (from Hatfield Beef in Hatfield MA, fyi for anyone located out this way -- probably the best source of bellies), total 15.21 pounds. I cut it into thirds (each of which was still enormous, cured it in biiiig bags, and smoked two of the three today (the third one could have fit but would really have crowded the WSM). I'll smoke the third one on Monday probably. I didn't do the pellicle thang for lack of time but will do that with the third one when I smoke it on Monday.

What is the purpose for chilling the bacon prior to wrapping and refrigerating? I've never done that before. Is it just to eliminate condensation in the packaging?
 
Wow. That's HUGE.

My bacon day is Sunday. I should get home Saturday at some point, probably late, so Sunday is it. Off to Las Vegas on Monday. I'll bring some with me.

If the bacon isn't too mist going in, and the come-up time on the smoker is sufficient, the bacon usually dries well enough soon enough. I suggest forming a pellicle pre-smoking simply because I don't know the circumstances of everyone's cooks and it is important to have a dry somewhat sticky surface to avoid smudging. If yours didn't smudge then you're doing just fine the way you're doing it.

The ice water bath is to arrest further cooking. Though the internal temp is fairly low the temps are higher nearer the surfaces of the bacon. Further cooking might cause excessive fat softening--which doesn't really fix itself as the bacon cools on its own. Cooling quickly eliminates that. It also brings the temps down so that, once wrapped and fridged or frozen, the bacon cools to <40F quickly, important for food safety purposes (though salt and nitrite, if using, helps immensely here, neither eliminates entirely the possibility of pathogen issues, especially those that might contaminate post smoking). You can, however, forgo rapid cooling in ice water if it is not convenient; but I still suggest cooling as quickly as possible--rest uncovered, cool on racks for good air circulation in a cool room, then finish cooling in the fridge before wrapping (loosely cover in the fridge lest something from above spill).

And, yes, it helps eliminate condensation.

Enjoy your bacon!
 

 

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