I am going to buy a couple of bellies to make bacon. One of the bellies I am going to use for maple bacon and the other I would like to make just plain old smoked bacon. All of the recipes I have looked at are for maple bacon. Anyone have a plain bacon recipe or should I just omit the maple from the maple bacon recipe. This is going to be my first try at bacon so I want to make sure I am doing it right.... Thanks
Just omit the maple syrup. Will be some good smokey bacon!
Quote from: KyNola on April 20, 2011, 07:24:48 PM
Just omit the maple syrup. Will be some good smokey bacon!
x2
That's what I thought but figured I should ask. Thanks guys!!!!
The Maple Cure Recipe that you are referring to has about twice as much cure as needed, than if you just apply a dry cure directly to the belly. If you remove the syrup you will still be in safe limits, but my feeling is why use more then you need. The extra cure in that recipe is to compensate for any nitrites that may be suspended in the syrup that may not come in contact with the meat.
You may want to make a batch of Basic Dry Cure (http://www.susanminor.org/forums/showthread.php?441-Basic-Dry-Cure-Morton-s-Tender-Quick-substitute&p=691#post691), and use that at a rate of 1 tablespoon per pound. Then once you have measured out your cure you can add your other flavorings to it, such as more sugar, herbs and seasonings. You don't half to make the whole batch, you can scale it down by 50% or 25% etc.
The simplest is sometimes the best. Don't make it harder than it is.
Morton's Tender quick and brown sugar is all you need. If you want maple add maple syrup to the belly before applying the TQ/Brown Sugar mixture.
This was exactly what I was looking for an answer because I want to make just plain ole bacon. No maple. I know the Mortons TQ I use 1 T. per pound. How much brown sugar per pound?
Equal amount of brown sugar to offset the amount of salt in the MTQ. 1 tbsp of MTQ=1 tbsp of brown sugar.
The amount of sugar is up to you, it depends on how sweet you want your bacon. Keep in mind that TQ is about 20% - 21% sugar which already offsets some of the salt. So if you just want plain bacon use it as is, if you want a sweeter bacon then you can add sugar. I like to go with 1 teaspoon of added sugar per pound. I also prefer the Basic Cure over TQ, but that is as personal preference.