I received some strange "bacon"

[love the smoke]

I recently purchased a 1/2 hog from a friend, when I received the meat I was going through it and there was a lot of pkg that looked like bacon, but the color was off a little so I looked into it a little further and this is what I found

It is not cured, not smoked,     "bacon" well I fried some up and the traditional bacon taste is not there, I think because there is no CURE in the meat, I really don't care for the taste, but what can I do about this

I have a lot of this bacon and I really would like to give it that bacon taste, can I cure it after it is all sliced up ? How about smoking it ?

Thanks

LTS 

[Smokin Sparky]

  What you have there is called side pork.  When I was working as a custom butcher, we would sometimes get an order to slice but not cure the bellies.  What you can do is when you want to have some for a meal, put the slices in you smoker and hot smoke them for about an hour or so.  Then you have to fry them right away because with no cure they will not keep.

Blake

[Habanero Smoker]

When you fried some up, was it salty, or did it taste like fresh pork? The reason I ask, is that it may be salt cured.

If it is all sliced how thick did they slice it?

Smoking the slices as Smokin Sparky suggests, will add the smoke flavor. Though it will give your bacon additional flavor, it will not be the traditional bacon taste that sodium nitrites adds.

[love the smoke]

It did not have  a salty taste at all, tasted alot like pork,its sliced like normal bacon

Label reads
Uncured Bacon
No Nitrites or nitrates  added
Ingredients Pork Bellies,No nitrite bacon cure No MSG (salt,Brown sugar,spice extractives.

Not preserved keep refrigerated below 40 degrees at all times




So can I cure this after it is sliced ? How about cold smoke some ?

I really am after that traditional bacon taste

I have made "ten points" bacon many times and I really like that flavor, that is kinda what I am looking for 


LTS

[devo]

The problem with curing already sliced bacon is the cure will get into the meat a lot faster. How long to leave it curing for would be the big question I would think.

[Habanero Smoker]

By the label it is salt cured bacon. With it already being salt cure, I'm not sure if additional curing with sodium nitrite will work.

Let me preference this by saying I have never cure slices. There are two things that you can try, that will be safe, but I'm not sure how much "bacon" flavor you will get. I would not use a dry cure, such as 10.5 tutorial. If you use a wet cure, all pieces will cure at the same rate, because they are surrounded by a balanced solution, and no matter how long you cure, the nitrite level will remain within safe limits. One way you can do this is to bunch the slices up by tying them together (but not too tightly), or you can cure them as individual pieces. Either way, after curing I would treat and store the bacon as if it were fresh belly.

The brine formula you should use is:
1 gal. water
10 oz salt
3 oz cure #1
Sugar is optional, but you can add up to 6 oz (or more if you want it sweeter).

You can half the recipe or double it. You can play around with the salt and sugar to some degree, but keep the proportion of cure #1 to water the same. If you tie the pieces together (not too tight) I would brine them for 2 days. If you choose to keep the slices separate. Place them in the brine for about 4 hours; stirring every 15 - 30 minutes. Which either method, after brining rinse, place the slices on elevated racks and air dry in the refrigerator, but don't air dry too long. Package and store like you would fresh pork.

[love the smoke]

Thanks Habs I will give that a try

LTS

[love the smoke]

Well I finally had a chance to fry some of this bacon up
This is the exactly the "bacon" flavor I was looking for

I did cold smoke it a little, I need to have that smoked flavor also

Thanks alot Habs this is awesome you are the man thanks

LTS

[KyNola]

There you go LTS!

Great save Habs!

[Habanero Smoker]

I'm glad it worked for you. Did you bundle the strips together, or did you keep them separate when you cured them?

[love the smoke]

I separated the slices

LTS

[Habanero Smoker]

Thanks for the feedback. It's good to know how it was done, if that information is needed again.