Makin BACON

[Sailor]

Call up the manager of the meat market this morning to see if I was a lucky winner of a belly.  He says it came in last night and is ready to be picked up.  2 slabs each in a cryovac from Smithfield's.  I call up FLBR to see if he wants one of the slabs and he confirms that he will take one.  I get home and cut my slab into thirds and vac seal and freeze 2 of the thirds.  Mix up some of the 10.5 maple cure and rub the the slab down and now in the beer fridge to cure.  After I got the hunk of pig in the fridge I went back to 10.5 recipe and reread it and went to the thread to see how Ms Rachel did hers and did a hand to face and had a sinking moment.  Seems that I don't follow directions so pretty good.  Instead of mixing all of the dry ingredients together and then rubbing on the meat and THEN pour on the syrup, I added the maple syrup to the bowl and mixed them all together.  I wondered how she did such a nice clean job because I had a sticky mess.  Glad I was wearing gloves!  So I call up Mr. 10.5 to see if I needed to start all over again or if I can salvage hunk of pig.  Chris said it will be fine as he has done it both ways and either way will work.  So I wipe the sweat off my brow and start to feel better about this project.  I wanted this to make Christmas breakfast and I am going to be pushing the time but Chris said that I can wash it off on Friday and then dry it in the Bradley on Friday and then smoke it so I should be able to slice it Friday evening and ready for Christmas. 

Slab for FLBR that is now resting in the beer fridge.



Cure mix all mixed and ready to rub.



Sealed up and going into the fridge.  Not as nice and neat as Ms Rachel's.

[Tenpoint5]

If your wanting to slice it Friday night you better start early in the morning. So the Bacon has time to chill so you can slice it. I usually let it sit wrapped in plastic overnight in the fridge before slicing. But you could probably toss in the freezer for an hour to set it up before slicing. I overnight so the smoke has a chance to penetrate in deeper.

What kind of syrup did you use? Pure 100% Maple syrup, I hope. The mix looks awful watery. Other than that everything looks great.

[classicrockgriller]

I too picked up some piggy belly and got mine into cure yesterday.

We'll be eating Bacon Christmas Morning.

Looks good Sailor.

[Sailor]

Used 100% pure maple on it.  Used 1/4 cup per the recipe.  It was really thick when I rubbed it.  I think it looks thin because of the slop I made on the bag.  ;D

[KyNola]

Looks like the Bacon Channel is back on the air!  Sailor, once you try that first slice of the bacon you made, you're gonna kick yourself for offering that second belly slab to FLBR! :D (Sorry Randy ;))

Awesome.

[GusRobin]

Sailor - so your Publix will order you bellies? I will have to try it with mine. What specifically did you order? (One time at Wally world I asled if they had any and the guy brought me out pig stomach. SO I want tomake sure that I ask for the right stuff.)

[Sailor]

If your wanting to slice it Friday night you better start early in the morning. So the Bacon has time to chill so you can slice it. I usually let it sit wrapped in plastic overnight in the fridge before slicing. But you could probably toss in the freezer for an hour to set it up before slicing. I overnight so the smoke has a chance to penetrate in deeper.

What kind of syrup did you use? Pure 100% Maple syrup, I hope. The mix looks awful watery. Other than that everything looks great.

So I got to thinking about this and didn't want to take any chances that I skewed up so I pull the belly and wash it off and pat dry.  I remix the dry ingredients and rub them in on both sides then 1/8 cup of Maple syrup on both sides and reseal.  I think I used the 1/3 cup measure instead of the 1/4 cup the 1st time.  This time it is not very thin and looks more like what Ms Rachel did.

[Sailor]

Sailor - so your Publix will order you bellies? I will have to try it with mine. What specifically did you order? (One time at Wally world I asled if they had any and the guy brought me out pig stomach. SO I want tomake sure that I ask for the right stuff.)

Yep got the belly at Publix.  Go to the meat manager and have him order a case of pork bellies.  They will come 2 to a case.  When he tries to put the code into his computer he will not be able to show pork belly but will have to use the code for "sliced belly".  I don't know why this is but all of the stores around here are set up that way.  You may not get the belly on the first order as I was told the warehouse does not carry many.  Keep after them and you will get one.

[Tenpoint5]

You didn't have to redo the cure Sailor. I was just curious and asked if you used the 1/3 instead of the 1/4 you would have just had more maple flavor in there is all.

[Sailor]

You didn't have to redo the cure Sailor. I was just curious and asked if you used the 1/3 instead of the 1/4 you would have just had more maple flavor in there is all.

Do'h.......as my signature says.....enough ain't enough and too much is just about right  ;D  I many just go pour the entire 12 oz in then  ;D  ;D ;D

[BuyLowSellHigh]

If we all keep this up, the price of pork bellies is gonna go up.

As long as you got all the stuff in the bag Sailor, it will work.

[deb415611]

Looking good Sailor!  I do mine the way you started,  mix the maple syrup with the dry but it is paste like.

[Sailor]

For all you BACON pros out there, this will be old news for you.  As a rookie I find the curing process fascinating.  Just went out to check on the BACON and it is rendering moisture.  I sloshed it around a bit and put it back to bed until this afternoon when I will flip it over.  Tried to get more air out of the bag but there is still air in there.  I guess I don't suck as hard as the FoodSaver sucks  ;D

[Tenpoint5]

Its not old news. I am still fascinated by the same thing.

[KyNola]

Ditto!