Bacon

Started by crockett1929, July 27, 2004, 09:42:32 PM

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crockett1929

Newbie question about curing... I've got 10lbs. of pork bellies dry-curing in the fridge, waiting for my new BS to arrive (in a couple of days, I hope). I've got them in the standard Morton Tender Quick/Brown sugar dry cure, in a plastic lug, with a wood tray to allow the moisture to drip away... Anyway, here's the question: After a couple of days, I took a look at the meat, and it looked like the liquid that came out of the pork washed a lot of the cure off. So, I overhauled the meat and re-rubbed/repacked it. Will this make the finished bacon way too salty in the end, or is this what you're supposed to do?

jaeger

Hi Crockett,
   You are not wasting any time are you!!! When you dry rub bellies, you should cover them with wax paper or something to keep them from drying out and just let them cure for the prescribed time. Leave the liquid in the container until you are ready to smoke. The bellies are usually not all that thick, so the cure will reach the center of the bellies. If the bellies have some very thick ends, you could pump the ends and then rub cure. When you are ready to smoke, rinse the bellies well with cold water and then let them soak for at least a couple of hours.(Maybe longer if you think you really have a lot of salt/cure on them). When you smoke you may want to dry them off and then let them start warming up in the smokehouse before you hit them with the smoke. I think bellies only need to reach 145 degrees (since you will be cooking them again). If you let them chill well,(48 hours) they should slice better. They will get more firm after refrigerating for a while.
    Should be able to find some garden tomatoes for some great BLTS![:p][8D][:)]

MallardWacker

Crockett,

It looks like jaeger has you going there.  I will tell you I have never done belly.  I have only done butts and boneless loins.  It is my experience that you would of probably been fine by not reworking the meat.  In my research and and fellow bacon makers, I would only use as much cure as the directions say, too much can be a bad thing.  I leave my meat in the moisture produced and I turn them half way through the cure.(21-28 days total)  Even on the big ends of the loin, I have never had a problem about curing them through by just using dry rub/cure.  As far as the saltiness, when you pull the meat out, wash-baby-wash, then let them soak for a couple hours-then rinse again.  Jaeger is also correct on the temps, warm them up before you hit them with the smoke. Let us know how things go.  Have fun...

SmokeOn,

mski
Perryville, Arkansas
Wooo-Pig-Soooie

If a man says he knows anything at all, he knows nothing what he aught to know.  But...


SmokeOn,

Mike
Perryville, Arkansas

It's not how much you smoke but how many friends you make while doing it...

crockett1929

Great advice, that helps a lot. Thanks, guys!


crockett1929

Well, the bellies are in the smoker now... Soaked them for 8 hours, fried a piece to make sure the salt level wasn't too high. Tasted perfect. Anyway, eagerly waiting for the result. Thanks again for all the great advice...