60 replies to this topic

[Feck]

any tips ?

and i don't mean cooking store bought bacon, that i have down farily well

brine, dry, smoke, chill, slice ?

[ladygingechilla]

Can't help you with the preparation...

but if you need any help consuming said bacon...
I'm your lady:drool:

[Lazy Lightning]

Apple-wood smoked bacon is delightful!

[kramer]

I have recently perfected the art of makin bacon.

first off, i've been using the bottom pan from my panini press to get rid of some of the excess fat - you could use any pan that has ridges on it. it really helps drain the grease so you end up with perfectly crisp bacon.

i learned that the key to rendering the fat is to put the strips in the pan when it's still cold. warm it up sloowwwwly so you don't burn the strips. i don't use any sort of oil - just let em cook in their own grease. couple minutes on each side, and then pat dry with paper towels.

mmm-mmm good!!!

[kramer]

of course i should mention that i don't like my bacon all fatty or gristly - i like it crispy

if you don't like crispy then don't follow my instructions

[kramer]

oh for fuck's sake. i should read the original post in its entirety before answering.



i'm sorry! i have no idea how to make my own bacon.

yarrrrrr

[Baconman]

Hey Feck, check out Michael Ruhlmans book Charcuterie.

http://www.amazon.co...g/dp/0393058298

Great info for someone getting into making cured meats at home. I have alot of experience with bacon, let me know f you run into any questions

[sillyolbear]

Made my own duck bacon before, dry cured using a salt and sugar brine then cold smoked and chilled.sliced on top of new zealand mussels baked in a citrus compound butter. Play on clams casino

[Julius]

Don't do it naked. Ouchie.

[Feck]

ok, 4 lbs of fresh pork belly in salt/brown sugar/black pepper brine - day 1
lets see how this works

3lbs kosher salt, 3/4 cup brown sugar, 1/4 cup fresh ground black pepper.
brine+wrap then drain + add more salt mixture daily for a week.


day 2, came home after easter dinner, almost all of the salt cure had melted, a little liquid in the plastic pags.
recoated, will check after i get back from show on Monday night / Tuesday 1:00 AM.


Wed night, still a fair amount of salt on the outside, less liquid inthe bag.
i figure one more night in the salt, then dry them out for a day and into the smoker on Saturday.
Bacon for Sunday moring

[Feck]

Hey Feck, check out Michael Ruhlmans book Charcuterie.

http://www.amazon.co...g/dp/0393058298

Great info for someone getting into making cured meats at home. I have alot of experience with bacon, let me know f you run into any questions

thanks - by all accounts, that does seem to be the bacon bible

[Jim]

[Feck]

ok, looks, cooks and tastes like bacon - a little salty, but good:ura1:

[jme]

NICE... did you take any pictures / diary of the process?

I have to be sure to get a diary before I start any of the mad science. half my problem with my high heat cooking is that I often never do the same thing twice, but with smoking / roasting (and most other things) I'd be a fool to leave it to my own mind.

[Feck]

i took some pictures, but it was a pretty rough batch.
i didn't add new cure at exactly 24hr intervals, some days more, some days less
not really all the much to see.
i'll see if i can post some when i get home later

i have 1/2 the brine/rub left over, so maybe next time i'll try to time things better, might not make much difference though but then again i may try a liquid brine next time to see if it is any better / less salty.

i finished the bacon in very low oven, didn't have time to smoke it properly

i'm staying away from the saltpeter for now.

[jme]

No need to post if aren't psyched about it. Next round. So long as you documented so you know what to change.

This is gonna be a fun summer

And every recipe i've seen has comments that the salt was too heavy in the brine.

[Feck]

good news - test subjects still alive, said it tasted like bacon - also said it was very salty.
i froze some for saturday, better safe than sorry.

[MeOmYo]

I've been curious about the salt taste. Every once in a while I'll buy half of a pig or so and have our local butcher do it all, chops, roasts, hams, bacon etc. Every once in a while the brined meats (ham, bacon) come out really salty. Most of the time they are excellent in that they are not overly salty. Is there a way to mitigate the salt taste or does the length of brine, type of salt, etc. make it more/less salty? I do not like overly salty bacon/hams.

I should just ask him.

[Feck]

does the length of brine, type of salt, etc. make it more/less salty?

from what i've read- yes

also the addition of saltpeter will alter the amount of real salt you will need

[jme]

oh, hey.. here's the recipe I mentioned that I keep coming back to when I'm looking at how to do this: http://www.deejayssm...kBellyBacon.htm

I also got this in an email from a friend a while back: http://makeprojects....ade-Bacon/218/1

[Feck]

about the same as mine, i even got my pork from and Asain Market

i'll have to look a these a little closer, they both use saltpeter

[Feck]

round 2, could get large size pork belly so i'm usisng 1/4 - 1/3 lb slabs.
will do a wet brine this time. need to get the frig down to 38 degrees for few days.

[Feck]

Wet brined - 5 days, turning every other day.
then 6 hours drying before they went in.
smoker was a little hot 225, so they came off after about 2 hours.
Internal temp was around 130.
cooled overnight, had some for breakfast on Sunday.
inside color was still pink when sliced, even though i didn't use the nitrate.
Dry brined was not as pretty.

i'll try to get some photos up soon.

i also did some chicken sausage and turkey legs- since i was loading it up - made a nice lunch + dinner.

much less slaty, nice smoked flavor, will freeze some for Vibes and next weekend

[jme]

NICE!!!!

[Feck]

[URL]http://www.gathering...php?albumid=256[/URL]

[URL="http://www.gatheringofthevibes.com/forum/album.php?albumid=256&pictureid=2342"]http://www.gathering...6238973&thumb=1[/URL]

[MeOmYo]

mmmmmm bacon

[jme]

[quote name='Feck'][URL]http://www.gathering...php?albumid=256[/URL]

[URL="http://www.gatheringofthevibes.com/forum/album.php?albumid=256&pictureid=2342"]http://www.gathering...6238973&thumb=1[/URL][/QUOTE]

lookin good, dude.

[Feck]

i'm going to the peter luger's style extra thick cut with these.

[Feck]

looks like we'll be havin the wet cured bacon @ B'port.
stop by early Friday, can't promise how long it will last

[Jam Fan]

[wonka]

fake'n bacon

[jme]

i need to do this before I cover up the unit for the winter.

[Jim]

[jme]

so i never got around to it last year, and this march was too busy.... It looks liek I'm gonna use father's day as my bacon making day.

I'm gonna go with this one:

http://www.formerche...n-my-own-bacon/ which is from Ruhlman's Pancetta recipe. I'm just going to smoke after a week of curing instead of dry hanging. i got the pink salt and the juniper berries... everything I need i have on hand, or can get easily. I haven't been this excited to make something since last smoking season.

[Feck]

good luck, i found the whole process very easy w/ a lot of waiting

once you make your own you will find it hard to buy it from a regular grocery store again.
i thawd my last package from 2011 the other day, so it's time for me to make some more too.

i found some non pink sodium nitrate in an Indian grocery so i'm going to try one with and one without.
good luck with the dry cure, if anything i over did it with the amount of mix i used.
maybe i'll try a dry cure / smoke this time too, but cut back on the amount of mix i used.

[jme]

yes i think my excitement is over shadowing the amount of "work"

what smoking temperature did you use? I've been reading at staying under 200, around 175 or so.

[Feck]

yeah, that's what i've read too.

when i did them in the oven i kept it at 200, looking for an internal 165.
the hotter it gets, it goes from regular bacon, to Canadain bacon to Russian bacon.

[Feck]

how did you do ?

6+ lbs smoked over the weekend

2 lbs wet brined/cured w maple syrup, black pepper and liq. apple smoke.

4+ lbs dry brined/cured just salts, pepper and some table sugar.
dried for 24 hrs,
smoked on hickory bricketts, lump charcoal and apple wood chips (soaked for 12 hrs) temps must have been running hot, got up to 150 in about an hour and change.

will taste test this weekend.

i figure it's either a 9 month supply for me, or one weekend in July

[JBetty]

i figure it's either a 9 month supply for me, or one weekend in July

Do it again this weekend and cover both bases.

[jme]

awesome!!!!!

i'm smoking it on Father's day... getitng the cure together next week.

[jme]

3.5 lbs curing now... sunday we smoke.

from what i've been reading, I'm going to wash it off in luke warm water, pat it down and leave it to dry COMPLETELY.. like on a baking rack with a fan blowing over it. If it's not DRY the smoke won't absorb.

I read you wanna keep the internal down to 128 so to avoid actually cooking the meat, but I'm going to look into that some more.


the italian joint down the road is gonna slice it for me. I also read that you want it REAL cold when slicing. so I'll prolly pop it in the freezer for an hour or so before I go.


I'm going to get it thick sliced, Luger style. slow roast some of it, and cast iron sear some more. gonna have friends over and make an amuse bouche. lardon & tomato on a toothpick with peter Luger sauce for dipping.

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm bacon.

[Feck]

yep , dry; 128 -140 max for american style, chill before slicing - a must.

why not go with a 1/2 or at least a few strips of thin ?
3.5 lbs is a lot no matter how you slice it.
not that i see anything wrong with a lot of bacon.

i saw that a ball park, maybe Baltimore, is selling grilled bacon on a stick -
wrap bacon on a soaked skewer, grill + eat.

[jme]

mainly going on the thick slice, because I have lots of people that are interested in trying this, and I think I'd like to serve it to them in the thick cut style. Some of my friends and family have never had that steakhouse style cut, and that's what got me wanting to do this in the first place.

but you're right, 3.5 is a lot, and I could even do .5 thin, just to try it for myself.

So if i want more a candian style I push it a little past 140?

Do you let it remain chilled (post smoke) for a few days before you slice and then ultimately fry and eat?

[Feck]

i forget the exact temp. but it gors from American / English style -needs to be recooked , Canadain then Russian style - i think both are ok to eat once they are smoked.

after mine cool, i will cut them inot serving sizes between a 1/2 and whole pound.
I put them allin vacume bags and freeze what i am not going to use.

Since you will probably get them all sliced at once, you can freeze them after.

check the recipie, they may give you an idea on how long they will stay in the refrigerator or freezer.
i think with nitrate it's longer than without.

i'll poke around and see if i can find some links

[Feck]

Canadain Bacon, still needs to be re cooked

For a finished fully-cooked product, keep cooking to internal of 155-160°F.
http://www.dizzypigb...cipesBacon.html

[jme]

yeah that's what I've been finding. i think i', going to take it off at 150, and we'll learn from there.

at $16.50 for 3.5 pounds, I'll be ok to take this on again.

[jme]

out of the cure and drying!!!!

[Kashmir]

You bacon makers are my heros

[jme]

DONE

[img]http://www.facebook....7&type=1&ref=nf[/img]

[jme]

DONE:

http://www.facebook....7&type=1&ref=nf