Bacon question

[garbadee]

I want a quicker way to make bacon for those times when I don't have a 7-10 day advance notice to make a batch (like family calls Friday saying they will be here Saturday).  So... 

Ideas that come to mind as possibilities include:
- Curing smaller slabs overnight (ie. less time to cure since it is smaller even if it has to be cured as individual slices).
- Smoking w/o curing by using short cycles to avoid spoilage.
- Combination of above.
- Using a different method to cure the slab like injection or a different cure product.

Any thoughts on impact to taste?

Ed

[NePaSmoKer]

I dont think that would happen. Not enough time for the bacon cure to penetrate the meat.

Smoking without any type of cure and your inviting trouble even with shorter times.
Even with an injection of bacon cure you would not have the flavor and more than likely when you cook the bacon you will loose the injection.

My advice is if you dont have the time for a full bacon cure and want to be the hit of the family get together, go buy some hardwood smoked bacon and hit it with 20 mins (1) puck of hickory @ 140* then cook as normal.

[FLBentRider]

Make about 20 lbs.

Vac seal in 1lb packages.

Freeze.

[garbadee]

Only problem with your note FLB is if I have 20 pounds of bacon in the freezer, I know its there...  Won't last until the relatives show up...  :D

[BuyLowSellHigh]

Must cure or treat it as fresh pork.  The shortest curing cycle I know of is wet curing (soaking in a brine) which can be done in 3 days.

[Mr Walleye]

You could wet cure like BLSH said.

I'm with FLB though, I usually do about 30 lbs at a time and vac seal & freeze.

Works for me.  ;)

Mike

[Habanero Smoker]

If you have the room then as already mentioned, wet curing will accelerate the curing process, injecting may have some effect (but I'm not sure how much you can injected into fat). Another alternative is to add sodium ascorbate, which accelerates the curing process, but when use for curing whole muscle; it is used in a wet cure. I have never use sodium ascorbate for whole muscle, so I could not tell you how much time it will save.

Also as already mentioned, if not cured it should be cooked as fresh pork. Here is a link to how I smoke fresh pork bellies (you can use any marinade you like).

[http://www.susanminor.org/forums/showthread.php?434-Smoked-Pork-Belly]Smoked Pork Belly[/url]