So I have 5# of bacon ready to cure tomorrow...
My only problem is, is that I dont know what I want to cure it with! I've done maple, I've done honey, I've done my "pancetta-style"...
I'm trying to break out of my mental image of bacon as a burger topping, or a breakfast side. At my school, they brined salmon with cucumber infused gin.
Anything crazy ideas you can come up with?
There's always garlic.
Yeah... I was thinking I could do curry bacon... but I don't think I'd want to do 5# of it! (And I never really found one I was happy with)
Sounds like you haven't tried plain yet. :D
Are you hot or cold smoking?
If you have time to experiment, you can try "Triple Smoked Bacon" (http://www.susanminor.org/forums/showthread.php?459-Triple-Smoked-Bacon&p=709#post709).
Another thought is to change how you cook your bacon. The flavors are infinite as to what you can do with one 5 pound cured slab that is already cured. After the bacon is cured you can season the individual strips with any thing you like, such as cracked pepper, brown sugar, favorite rubs (try to use rubs with low salt or no salt), sauces etc (just be careful of high sugar content, and using fresh herbs they can burn easily, so use a temperature of 375° and monitor closely). Place them on a rimmed cookie sheet lined with foil. I use a half size sheet pan. Place the pan(s) in the center of the oven. If you have more then one pan, you may want to rotate the pans from top to bottom, back to front; half way through the cook time. Roast in a preheated oven at 400°F for about 8 - 20 minutes; depending on the thickness of the bacon and how crisp you want it.
The triple smoked is good if you have the time. I'd do that on about 3 1/2 pounds. I'd do what's left is a very savory cure and use that for lardons, both cubes and strips to lard some lean beef.
Experimenting is fun :D
I've done Onion, Garlic and Black Pepper. All three together and indiviually...all very good. I have been thinking of a chili or jalapeno version but have not gotten around to it yet.
Daryl
I read up on the triple smoked a few weeks ago and was intrigued, but wasn't sure how lazy I was going to be on the day I actually decided to do it :)
Maybe I'll do the split and see if I have the time in 5-6 days to go all the way, and worse comes to worse I have regular bacon :)
Random brain fart: I'll continue to do a regular cure, but throw in some finely chopped/pureed dried apricots/figs/rosemary/thyme on the smaller piece. I'll probably end up dropping some of the sugar in the cure mixture. That might make some bangin' paninis.