Here is what I did
Brine
2 ltrs of water , 2ltrs of apple juice , 2 cups of kosher salt , 600mls of Molasses ( spelling ) , 1 cup of sugar and then 1 cup of maple ..
Please note Bacon was not sweet or to salty
(http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll225/jeepuk1974/Bradley/IMG_0585.jpg)
10lbs of pork belly
(http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll225/jeepuk1974/Bradley/IMG_0591.jpg)
..ok side note here folks I have done it with and without the skin ..I would say leave it on and here is a trick take the skin off after you have smoked it and its resting . Its a lot easier BUT LEAVE IT ON THE BACON !!!!!!!!! trust me on this it helps retain flavor moisture etc ..
Bacon in the brine bags
(http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll225/jeepuk1974/Bradley/IMG_0452.jpg)
Ok here is what I did every morning I would flip my bacon and sing it a song LOL ..hey its bacon we all love it LOL . I did this for 7 days you are on 5 but 7 if you can , by the way I kept it in the fridge !
so after its been in the brine it will have a nice colour and you will be super excited by your love of bacon !!!
(http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll225/jeepuk1974/Bradley/IMG_0505.jpg)
(http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll225/jeepuk1974/Bradley/IMG_0507.jpg)
(http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll225/jeepuk1974/Bradley/IMG_0486.jpg)
ok so let that happy wee bit of bacon chill in the fridge for at least a day ..give it a rinse first !!!!!!!!
now get yer smoker pumping smoke I went with maple 1 hour then apple the next and did this for 5 hours dont go to hot !!!!
Take that sucker out check the IT for 150
(http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll225/jeepuk1974/Bradley/IMG_0508.jpg)
Now take off the skin as said before and let that wonderful thing chill then pop it in the fridge ..I then sliced and vacum packed mine .
(http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll225/jeepuk1974/Bradley/IMG_0515.jpg)
(http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll225/jeepuk1974/Bradley/IMG_0512.jpg)
now I have head people asking about double smoked bacon and is 4 hours enough .
first off 4 hours is plenty everyone who has taken the bacon has said that the house smells of the smoke after .
Double smoke UK method is to do a 3 hour cold smoke after the meat has chilled .
thats it thats all my wife calls me the Baconator now...I am also making a hot sauce bacon will keep u posted ...
oops smoker temp was like 130
Dude that all looks good! Nice job!
Good looking stuff. I assume you used the 2 cups of kosher salt in lieu of any type of curing agent?
I was surprised by the lack of any curing agent too -- so this is a nitrate free bacon? Cool!
100 % niterate free !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
After I read up on the pink salt etc and found out how deadly it can be I went with kosher salt ... ;D
Quote from: sjmcdowall on May 15, 2012, 02:52:18 PM
I was surprised by the lack of any curing agent too -- so this is a nitrate free bacon? Cool!
Sure is
a rule of thumb with doing it this way is as my grandad said "The length of time its in the brine is how long its ok in the fridge without frezzing !!"
Nice job !! Thanks for the great pictures, You look like a hoot to be around :)
Quote from: Keymaster on May 15, 2012, 04:23:57 PM
Nice job !! Thanks for the great pictures, You look like a hoot to be around :)
My Mrs says deranged !!! LOL ..I am kinda hyper !!
Quote from: sjmcdowall on May 15, 2012, 02:52:18 PM
I was surprised by the lack of any curing agent too -- so this is a nitrate free bacon? Cool!
Guys, that would be Nitrite, not Nitrate. Nitrate is used for long term dry curing like salami, etc.
Used correctly both Nitrite and Nitrate are safe. Next time you go to the grocery and see Nitrite free cured bacon or organic cured bacon, check the ingredients list and see if you find celery powder. It is a form of Nitrite. :o
What Ky said.
I would not make bacon without cure............Trust me
I haven't calculated your salt, but making bacon without nitrites is alright with the proper amount of salt in your wet brine. I have made Alton Brown's Iron Chef's Bacon. If I recall the recipe correctly, the recipe is very similar to yours, and I just don't like the flavor. It is more like cooking fresh belly; which I do like on occasions. Salt cured bacon lacks the "bacon" flavor that nitrites bring to the meat, and the color.
Well the bacon taste like good old smoked bacon the smoke and the fact that the temp is at 150 IT kills what you are worried about ...Then the fact that it is vacum packed also ..try it before you say its not going to taste like this and that .. Because to be honest unless you make it and eat it how can you tell me it doesn't taste like bacon ?????
Quote from: NePaSmoKer on May 15, 2012, 08:04:17 PM
What Ky said.
I would not make bacon without cure............Trust me
its salted the old fashioned way ..then smoked ..then vacum packed then frozen then cooked to eat ... at what point do you think you will get the nasty attack????? .. trust me when i say you wont
I used to make bacon without cure. The process was to put the pork in enough salt to cover it and leave it for a few weeks until it got firm and dry. It worked and the bacon kept ok but I guess it was really just salt pork and was very salty, very often to the extent you had to soak it before using it, it was also a bit grey coloured when cooked. I find that with cure it keeps a nice pink colour and is much more palatable. Using cure isn't rocket science you just need to be a bit careful
Ahhh hell just throw a cr@p load of this on it and call it bacon :o
(http://i868.photobucket.com/albums/ab242/nepas1/saltpet.jpg)
Quote from: Waltz on May 16, 2012, 07:47:37 AM
I used to make bacon without cure. The process was to put the pork in enough salt to cover it and leave it for a few weeks until it got firm and dry. It worked and the bacon kept ok but I guess it was really just salt pork and was very salty, very often to the extent you had to soak it before using it, it was also a bit grey coloured when cooked. I find that with cure it keeps a nice pink colour and is much more palatable. Using cure isn't rocket science you just need to be a bit careful
100% agree ..bar the salty bit a good rinse and some leeching in water cure that issue
Quote from: NePaSmoKer on May 16, 2012, 07:53:15 AM
Ahhh hell just throw a cr@p load of this on it and call it bacon :o
(http://i868.photobucket.com/albums/ab242/nepas1/saltpet.jpg)
LMAO .......I rolled it in that before smoking !!! was awesome although i have noticed an odd twitch in my eye now LMAO
Quote from: destrouk on May 16, 2012, 08:00:10 AM
Quote from: NePaSmoKer on May 16, 2012, 07:53:15 AM
Ahhh hell just throw a cr@p load of this on it and call it bacon :o
(http://i868.photobucket.com/albums/ab242/nepas1/saltpet.jpg)
LMAO .......I rolled it in that before smoking !!! was awesome although i have noticed an odd twitch in my eye now LMAO
Now go smoke a good MonteCristo and your set ;D
I'm sorry I started this dust up about the lack of curing agent in your bacon. Certainly bacon can be cured with salt and sugar only. My grandparents had a saltbox in their smokehouse where they cured pork belly for periods of time prior to smoking.
My concern came from your continued use of the word nitrate. Nitrite and nitrate are not an interchangeable term nor item. Cure #1 or "pink salt" contains only nitrites, no nitrates. It made me question your knowledge of curing. Don't take offense to that as I mean no disrespect to you with that comment. For all I know you have a PhD in curing from Oxford.
I know you are originally from the UK and now reside in BC. Perhaps the bacon you are accustomed to in the UK is different from what we in the US are accustomed. The important thing is this. If your family, your friends and you like your bacon, that's all that matters.
Quote from: KyNola on May 16, 2012, 08:32:11 AM
I'm sorry I started this dust up about the lack of curing agent in your bacon. Certainly bacon can be cured with salt and sugar only. My grandparents had a saltbox in their smokehouse where they cured pork belly for periods of time prior to smoking.
My concern came from your continued use of the word nitrate. Nitrite and nitrate are not an interchangeable term nor item. Cure #1 or "pink salt" contains only nitrites, no nitrates. It made me question your knowledge of curing. Don't take offense to that as I mean no disrespect to you with that comment. For all I know you have a PhD in curing from Oxford.
I know you are originally from the UK and now reside in BC. Perhaps the bacon you are accustomed to in the UK is different from what we in the US are accustomed. The important thing is this. If your family, your friends and you like your bacon, that's all that matters.
Oh mate im new here so Ill let you know right now my skin is super thick and I didnt take any of your comments the wrong way at all ...No disrespect taken at all ...in fact I value the comments and there is a Uk / US difference but thats the cool bit we can learn from each other ....I never ever take offence ..if I did so everyone knows you will get a PM .. Now I gots to sprinkle some pink salt on me eggs LMAO
Sprinkle Jan's Rub on your eggs rather than pink salt. ;)
http://www.susanminor.org/forums/showthread.php?467-Jan-s-Dry-Rub
That bacon looks good, mmmm bacon
Quote from: destrouk on May 16, 2012, 07:16:55 AM
Well the bacon taste like good old smoked bacon the smoke and the fact that the temp is at 150 IT kills what you are worried about ...Then the fact that it is vacum packed also ..try it before you say its not going to taste like this and that .. Because to be honest unless you make it and eat it how can you tell me it doesn't taste like bacon ?????
As I mentioned in my other post, I have made salt cured bacon with a very similar recipe. I don't care for it. I tried to calculate your brine, but when I looked at the recipe I couldn't tell how much salt in weight you used. To be 100% sure that botulism will not occur, you need a 10% brine, which is about 14 ounces of salt in a gallon of water, but I have seen recipes with less. I believe the Alton Brown recipe uses close to 11%.
2 large cups of Kosher salt were used if that helps you ?
Quote from: destrouk on May 16, 2012, 01:26:08 PM
2 large cups of Kosher salt were used if that helps you ?
No, because there are so many brands of kosher salt, they could each weigh a different amount per volume. For example, Morton's Kosher weighs 8 ounces/cup; while Diamond Crystal Kosher weight 5.5 ounce/cup. It not that important at this point. If you bacon is coming out the way you like it, continue with the recipe.