Emergency Bacon!

[humanpest]

So I decided to jump into bacon without doing all of my homework.

I'm the proud and nervous owner of a 15 pound pork belly with ribmeat.

I was planning on not using instacure in my cure (hopefully I dont get disowned by you guys! But I dont have time to special order it from a website since its almost the weekend... and in NYC we dont have too many hunting/outdoor shops and the speciality restaurant supply stores are mostly membership only)

Modifying what I think was Habanero's recipe for a basic Maple

Per 5 Lbs:
1/4 cu salt
1/4 cu brown sugar
1/4 cup maple

I still haven't decided what i'm doing with the other 10... but i'm open to suggestions.

If its possible, I could freeze this until I was able to get a delivery of BBB or something similiar? I'm trying not to kill the money I spent on the bellies with bad bacon :(

-HP

[FLBentRider]

I think you will need some kind of cure.

there is a way to cure using just salt but it takes forever and I would need to consult my Charcuterie book to verify that it would even work.

Your best bet is probably freezing it, unless you can find it at a sausage supply store or similar location.

[KyNola]

I'm with FLBR on this.  I would freeze the belly until I can lay my hands on some cure.  Can you find Morton's Tenderquick in NYC?  If you can, it is quite easy to work with.  I have used it to cure bacon many times.  It works well.  If you use it omit any additional salt as the Morton's is already over 90% salt.

KyNola

[OU812]

I'm with FLBR and KyNola on this.

You need cure #1 or Tenderquick.

You can do it with just salt but it will take aprox 3 weeks and you have to overhaul (rotate) and add more salt every week.

I would freeze and order some cure or TQ

[deb415611]

Humanpest,

Googled &  just read a blog post about making prosciutto in NYC.  One of the comments was where to buy pink salt in NYC, someone replied we have it the Brooklyn Kitchen.  Looks like it might be a store/classroom  http://www.thebrooklynkitchen.com/store-info/

Deb

[Habanero Smoker]

You can cure bacon with just salt (salt is a cure), you just won't get that bacon flavor we are used to with bacon cured with instacure #1.

As a matter of fact I remember watching Alton Brown making bacon with salt as the cure. He used a wet brine (pickle), which cuts down on the curing time. Here is a link.

Scrap Iron Chef's Bacon

[humanpest]

Thats for the responses all! And great find DEB!

I'm on my way to pick some up from there now (Lady on the phone sounded awfully nice too  ;) )

I was thinking about doing one of Altons recipes with the 5 lbs that I didn't freeze... but it looks like I get to have some more fun/not worry as much about killing my family with food poisoning now!!

I'm going to have to make more friends to unload all this bacon when its done, but I get the feeling it shouldn't be that hard

[KyNola]

Good for you HP!

As for making new friends, if your friends are like mine you won't have to go find them once you give it away once.  When I mention that I'm curing bacon my friends now just ask when they should come by to get theirs.

Have fun!
KyNola

[Habanero Smoker]

Thats for the responses all! And great find DEB!

I'm on my way to pick some up from there now (Lady on the phone sounded awfully nice too  ;) )

I was thinking about doing one of Altons recipes with the 5 lbs that I didn't freeze... but it looks like I get to have some more fun/not worry as much about killing my family with food poisoning now!!

I'm going to have to make more friends to unload all this bacon when its done, but I get the feeling it shouldn't be that hard

If you follow tried and true recipes, curing bacon with only salt is safe. If you look in the bacon aisle of most major grocery chains, I'm sure you will find salt cured bacon amoung your choices.

[humanpest]

So I cured my bacon and smoked it. Waited until the fleshy part was firm to the touch, which ended up being a full week. After slicing I noticed a slight color difference on the side of the meat that was directly exposed to the cure vs the side that was covered by the skin (which I trimmed.. probably taking off way too much fat, but hey its my first time).

In any case, I'm not sure if you can diagnose over the interwebs, but I just wanted to get a general opinion of whether or not its safe to eat (I dont want to kill any of my friends)

The only area i'm slightly worried about is the bottom part of the bacon that was on the inside of the skin
There was no funny smell when i opened the cure-bag before I smoked it/No funny smell of the meat after (although the smoke does cover a lot of things i guess)
I cooked a piece of bacon and am in the process of eating it... If i dont respond by sunday I guess we know the answer :)

Click the link for the big picture :)
http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/CH6uGymj7TDI0LOkiJhoOQ?feat=directlink


Thanks for your help :)

-Andrew

[KyNola]

HP,
I'm fairly confident that you are SO good to go but because I am concerned about your well being, I would like for you to send me about 5 pounds of that slab bacon and I will do a thorough analysis and get back to you. ;)

I think you're fine.

KyNola

[HawkeyeSmokes]

HP,
I'm fairly confident that you are SO good to go but because I am concerned about your well being, I would like for you to send me about 5 pounds of that slab bacon and I will do a thorough analysis and get back to you. ;)

I think you're fine.

KyNola

And to help insure your safety, send 5 lbs my way. Much less left to harm you that way!  :D

[KyNola]

See how much we are concerned about your well being?  Both Hawkeye and I are willing to risk our lives to insure your personal well being.

KyNola

[HawkeyeSmokes]

See how much we are concerned about your well being?  Both Hawkeye and I are willing to risk our lives to insure your personal well being.

KyNola

About spit out my beer! :D :D :D :D

[humanpest]

hahahah <3 you guys... I'm not dead yet so I'll start giving my friends the okay to eat it I guess :)

When I cook the other 10 lbs I'll start taking shipping orders on the forums!