Boredom bacon

[Northern_Smoke]

Well, its snowy, cold and there is no work till spring so whats a guy to do? Make yummy pork products is what i came up with. So i decided to do some more bacon cause you can never have enough. We ran out of pork belly bacon and are relying on Canadian back bacon so off to the store i went. They had a bunch of smaller cuts so i picked up 2-2 pounders and 1-3 pounder for a really good price. I didn't want to get too much because with boredom comes creativity. So 2 of these are an experiment(for me anyways). I did the 3 pounder as just plain bacon but 1 of the 2 pounders i added chili powder and lots of fresh cracked black to see if i could get a hotter spicier bacon. Tasted the mix before the cure went in and it didn't seem too hot but hoping the long cure will push the heat in. And the second 2 pounder is a molasses bacon. So now to sit and wait.


And on a side note while i was at the butchers, i picked up 3 racks of center cut ribs for supper ;)

[iceman]

I need to get more time off so I can get back to making things like that NS. That looks real good man.  :)

[Northern_Smoke]

Its funny cause i wish i didn't have so much time off ;)

[FLBentRider]

I have tried to do the spicy bacon, and I've found that you can get it on the exterior but the heat does not migrate into the meat.

The reason for this is that the heat component, capsaicin, is oil-soluble, not water-soluble so the osmosis process won't carry that seasoning into the meat.

[Northern_Smoke]

I have tried to do the spicy bacon, and I've found that you can get it on the exterior but the heat does not migrate into the meat.

The reason for this is that the heat component, capsaicin, is oil-soluble, not water-soluble so the osmosis process won't carry that seasoning into the meat.

What makes pepper corns hot? I didn't think they had capsaicin in them. Ohh well...any bacon is better than no bacon :D

[FLBentRider]

I have tried to do the spicy bacon, and I've found that you can get it on the exterior but the heat does not migrate into the meat.

The reason for this is that the heat component, capsaicin, is oil-soluble, not water-soluble so the osmosis process won't carry that seasoning into the meat.

What makes pepper corns hot? I didn't think they had capsaicin in them. Ohh well...any bacon is better than no bacon :D

I don't know what the flavor component of black pepper is, I was thinking more about the chili powder.

[Tenpoint5]

Looks like a fun project from here. Especially the Molasses bacon

[Ka Honu]

What makes pepper corns hot? I didn't think they had capsaicin in them.

Peppercorns don't have capsaicin; they are flavored mostly by an alkaloid called piperine which is slightly soluble in water.

(How did we ever answer questions like this before the internet provided everyone the ability to be instantly brilliant?)

[Northern_Smoke]

Yah, not sure what we did before the internet....back then my online IQ was about 35 points lower haha. Anyways, the reason i used black pepper with the chilli was because of the capsaicin not being water soluble. I figured i would try and push some heat through with the pepper corns as well. Anywyas, i hope to have some descent results to post back in 6-8 days.

[iceman]

What makes pepper corns hot? I didn't think they had capsaicin in them.

Peppercorns don't have capsaicin; they are flavored mostly by an alkaloid called piperine which is slightly soluble in water.

(How did we ever answer questions like this before the internet provided everyone the ability to be instantly brilliant?)

I don't know about you guys but Ann says the internet makes me just stupid enough to try dangerous things. :o  ;D I suppose she's right when she tells me knowlage and wisdom are two completely different things.  :D  ;)

[Ka Honu]

Seems like a good time to remind ourselves that "just because you can, doesn't mean you should."

[Tenpoint5]

Seems like a good time to remind ourselves that "just because you can, doesn't mean you should."

I was thinking more like "Just because you should, doesn't mean you can."

[hal4uk]

Well, NORMIE...  Pre-Internet Man, primarily consisting of barbaric nomads, accumulated very little wisdom, and attempts to share were often thwarted by the garbled nature of their grunts. 

[Northern_Smoke]

Well, NORMIE...  Pre-Internet Man, primarily consisting of barbaric nomads, accumulated very little wisdom, and attempts to share were often thwarted by the garbled nature of their grunts. 

Ohh how I miss Cliff Clavin. Thank you for busting that one out.

[Northern_Smoke]

Well the bacon has been smoked and is in the freezer for an hour or so to firm up before slicing. Just a few notes on how it all turned out. The plain/basic one was great like i imagined it would be. The one with both chili pepper and black pepper had NO difference in flavor from the basic one i did. FLBentRider, you were correct and the black pepper did not impart any flavor what so ever. Now the molasses cured was really quite different. I won't say its bad because its not. But it almost has a fruity flavor when it cooks(like berries of some sort)....not a sweet fresh fruity flavor but if you browned fruit JUST before the burning point. I can't put my finger on the flavor. But i am sure i will find somewhere to use it. I mean its bacon after all. Anyways, you can see in this one pic how deep the molasses went into the meat after 6 days.