Hillbilly Bacon Question

[Habanero Smoker]

Habenaro I was going by the fact he said when he cut his butts they were 2" or thinner. Was I wrong on that? If so let me know I'm also new to bacon and these short time curing. I always cured my sausage overnight. But my bacon was also around 2 inches or less.

After reading my last post I see it may cause some confusion. The additional time I am referring to is the cut that is being cured in the original recipe; not the two inch slices.

I will let you know how things turn out, this is obviously my first attempt at bacon also. I've been doing sausage for years but this bacon seems like a bit of an art to get perfect (or at least good)

Corey

Curing is not that difficult, but when you are first starting out; when it comes to a reliable recipe you should follow it as instructed, until you learn more about cures and curing times.

Since you slice the butt into 2" slabs, if you want to turn one or some your slabs into Tasso ham; then mix :

3 T ground white pepper
1 1/2 T cayenne pepper
3 T dried marjoram (or oregano)
3 T ground allspice

After the pork has been cure, uniformly coat the cured pork on all sides with the above mix; prior to smoking/cooking.

[CoreyMac]

Smoked up the bacon (sorry no pics but it did happen 8)). Its a good thing I pulled out the pork from the cure when I did, it had completly gone through. Salt was almost perfect didn't have to soak it at all, just gave it a good rinse. The thinner slices made it a bit more touchy with cook time and one of the real thin ones got a little dry, but not bad.

Kind of took on a ham taste but still tastes like bacon also weird.  Next time Im going to try and get some larger shoulder butts, seems to me now the thicker the slabs the easier it is to do because everything happens slower so less chance of making a mistake.


Thanks more to come

Corey

[djkost]

When I cure my bacon, I use Mortons Sugar Cure. I put it in the cooler at 36-38 degrees for 24 hours. I cut off a thinner potion and fry it up to taste, now after doing this a few times and you remember how big your pieces of pork are and how much cure you used on them you shouldn't have to check them in the future for taste. I write mine down so I don't forget. I then cold smoke the pork.