You Tune videos

[marauder11]

Hey watching some videos on bacon making on you tube. There are alot of them that do not add cure in there recipes. Salt and maple syrup etc. What ever happend to the if you do not cure it do not smoke it. I understand if your smoking and cooking it at a high temp your OK. Search it if you guys have time and watch some of the videos. let me know what you think. I must be bored today or something.

[Habanero Smoker]

There a few bacon recipes, both dry and wet brined, on this forum that do not have any sodium nitrites.

I haven't seen any of the videos, but be careful, anyone can post a video that may or may not be accurate.

[marauder11]

For sure thats what i was getting at i guess.

[viper125]

Way I see it is nitrates are a natural component of your body and don't scare me unless in rather large does. Now having family that started deep in the hills of Kentucky I have first hand experience with Botulism and the likes. As they canned smoked and salt cured mostly. Its like Playing Russian Roulette. Those bacteria are every where and if you ever see or even hear tale of the way you get or die you would be real worried too! People are afraid for many reasons, me untreated meat. That's why I use the experience on this board rather then some person who I don't know any thing about to learn.

But there is plenty out there trying to still cure the way we did since the rock ages. I'll stick with what we already have learned to be safer!

[Habanero Smoker]

I didn't mean to imply you can't cure bacon without nitrites. You just need to know what you are doing, and be careful of what videos you choose to follow. There are a couple of recipes on this board that don't use nitrites. I have mentioned on this board several times that you can cure bacon without nitrites, and posted links to Alton's Brown's Scape Iron Bacon.  For me its just too salty, and I like the flavor that nitrites bring to bacon.

If I were too cure bacon without nitrites, I would use the wet cure method, that will ensure you have the proper amount of salt to prevent botulism. For a wet brine you need a 10% brine solution.