Belly Bacon,..Curing Times and Cooking Temps?

[coleman]

I was just wondering what the bacon experts on here had to say about curing times for a dry cure on a pork belly.  How long do you usually cure a belly for in a dry cure?  Also how long would you cure the belly in a wet brine?  I've been thinking of getting some bellies and makin' da bacon!  I will be using either Morton's tenderquick or the substitute for that with pink salt.  One last cure question,..I see alot of recipes for buckboard bacon, and canadian bacon, so my question is,..can you use these same cure recipes for belly bacon as well, without any modifications.


Also when your smoking it what temperature do you take the bellies up to when they are done.  I saw some posts that said about 150, but I wasn't sure if that was for canadian bacon or pork bellies.  If it was 150, then they should be cooked thru I would think, so you wouldn't even have to fry it when eating it??  But who can resist fryin  bacon I guess. ;) ;D  Thanks in adance.


Dan

[Tenpoint5]

Heres the recipe that I use and have had GREAT results with. Will even throw in some food porn to get you started.

Buckboard Bacon or Canadian Bacon

1 Tablespoon per pound Morton's Sugar Cure
1 Tablespoon per pound white sugar or brown sugar
1 5lb pork loin or Boston butt


1. Combine the sugar and Morton's Sugar Cure (one T of each for each pound of meat). This is your dry cure. Place the butt or loin in a large freezer bag and coat with the cure. Rub the cure into the meat, covering all sides. Squeeze the air out of the bag and seal. Store in the refrigerator for 1 day per pound of meat, flipping the meat over once a day. Liquid will begin to collect in the bag - this indicates that the cure is working. Do not drain it off.

2. When the meat is cured, remove the meat from the cure and soak in cold water for 1-2 hours to remove some of the salt. Dry off the meat and refrigerate for an hour.

3. Set up your smoker for indirect heat. Add hickory wood for smoke. If using Boston butt - cook at 225°F until the internal temperature of the meat hits 145°F. If using pork loin - cook at 225°F until the internal temperature of the meat hits 165°F.

4. Remove form the smoker, let cool, and slice. Note that the Canadian bacon is fully cooked and just needs to be warmed to serve. The Buckboard bacon is cured, but still needs to be cooked.

Canadian Bacon

[Habanero Smoker]

For bellies I generally cure about 5-7 days, sometimes I will add a day or two. The best test is to feel to the belly, if it feels firm in all areas it is good to go. The weight of the meat is not as important as the thickness. The thicker the longer curing times. I've only brine cures hams, so I can give you an answer for bellies, but other will surely have an answer for you.

For the internal temperature I prefer to take mine to 150°F, because I like a lot of sugar in my cure. Taking it to 150°F, you don't have to fry as long so less chance of burning. You should take it to at least 137°F, but 140°F is better because it gives you an extra margin of safety (probes are not 100% accurate)

Any cure mixture can be used to make any type of bacon as long as you use to proper amount; it depends on the flavor you want to achieve.

[FLBentRider]

I use the 1T MTQ / 1T Brown Sugar per pound, cure 7 to 9 days, smoke 3 hours to IT of 140.

[MRH]

Dan,

I did some belly bacon a while back and it turned out great! I need to do it again.  Here is a couple links to the posts when I did it.

http://forum.bradleysmoker.com/index.php?topic=4961.msg44800#msg44800

http://forum.bradleysmoker.com/index.php?topic=4986.msg45154#msg45154

Hope they help,
Mark

[coleman]

Thanks for the replies fellas.  I picked up 3 pieces of pork belly, just over a pound a piece.  I used Morton's Tenderquick and brown sugar, for the cure at the recommended 1 tbl per pound.  I also added some black pepper to one piece.  I just took them out of the cure last night,..after 6 days,.. rinsed, soaked and let them dry and they are in a bag with maple syrup right now, preparing to smoke this evening.  I also have 4 tenderloins to do at the same time.  I am pretty curious what the results will be, as it's my first stab at belly bacon.  I did some canadian bacon a while ago, and it was great. 

I thought I'd see how others did their belly bacon, in case I want to switch it up next time. 

MRH, and Tenpoint5 those pictures look great, hopefully mine turns out looking like that! 

Habs, do you use Tenderquick, or the pink salt substitute for tenderquick when you cure your bellies?

Thanks again.


Dan

[Habanero Smoker]

I don't use TQ for belly bacon. Generally I don't use the substitute (Basic Cure Mix) either for bellies. The recipes/formulas I use for bacon I generally mix the pink salt with the other ingredients that are called for.

I generally will use the Basic Cure Mix when I'm making Canadian bacon, or beef pastrami or cured pork chops.

[coleman]

Here's a couple of pictures of the bellies and pork tenderloins I smoked up a couple of days ago.  I was told the tenderloins were pretty good, and haven't had a chance to try the belly yet.  Not the best pictures, but at least they show I didn't burn it black. ;D

[Tenpoint5]

Coleman them looks great. I'm gonna put belly Bacon at the top of the to do list.

[KyNola]

Coleman,
Looks good to me.  Nice nice nice!

KyNola

[FLBentRider]

Looks good coleman!

[chrispy]

Coleman,

It looks great!!!  I have done mallard wackers canadian bacon and belly bacon.  All have come out great!!!  This reminds me I need to start curing more....

Chrispy

[coleman]

Thanks for the compliments.  Finally got around to trying the belly bacon and I thought it was pretty good.  I will be making some more like that for sure.