Hickory-Smoked Maple Bacon, with FINAL PIX!

Kevin A · June 04, 2012, 10:15:54 AM

It's makin' bacon time!

Got all the ingredients lined up for this recipe...

Into the dry ingredients, I add the 'wet.'

Well-mixed into a sticky paste that'll be rubbed into the bellies...

I picked up 16.5 pound of pork belly at a 'reasonable' price. Hard to get it in my area, I've discovered. Many places want upwards of $7-8 a pound! This was $3.99/lb special ordered at our local Whole Foods.

I gave the bellies a thorough rub-down with the maple/honey cure paste, distributing it evenly across all surfaces. These will sit in my fridge for two days while the salt draws moisture out and a brine develops. It's important to allow the brine to cover the meat so I may move the bellies into separate zip-locs to ensure good brine contact & submersion.

That's all for now. After 5-6 days of curing, it will then be on to the next step: SMOKING. :)

More to come!

Kevin

squirtthecat · June 04, 2012, 10:38:19 AM

I didn't think you could buy anything at Whole Foods for 3.99/lb! ;D

Kevin A · June 04, 2012, 11:00:36 AM

Quote from: squirtthecat on June 04, 2012, 10:38:19 AM

I didn't think you could buy anything at Whole Foods for 3.99/lb! ;D

Ain't that the truth!
So you can imagine my surprise when I asked the per-pound price —expecting it to be well-north of my previously gathered prices of $8 & up!

SouthernSmoked · June 04, 2012, 11:01:09 AM

I'm here and with ears and eyes wide open!

Purchased two bellies this weekend at the farmers market.

Smoker John · June 04, 2012, 11:57:58 AM

lookin' good so far

KyNola · June 04, 2012, 12:46:04 PM

How much cure #1 did you use for 16.5 lbs. of pork belly?

Kevin A · June 04, 2012, 01:46:40 PM

Quote from: KyNola on June 04, 2012, 12:46:04 PM
How much cure #1 did you use for 16.5 lbs. of pork belly?

The recipe called for 25lbs of pork belly with 1/4 cup of
Cure#1 (= 66.1g). Since my recipe was for 16.5 pounds (65.6%) I used 43.3g (65.5%).

Kevin

KyNola · June 04, 2012, 06:40:45 PM

Thanks.

mikecorn.1 · June 04, 2012, 06:44:01 PM

OOOOO. I bet that bacon gonna be goooooood! ;)

Kevin A · June 04, 2012, 09:00:35 PM

Well, after 4-6 hours, the brine has formed so I repacked the 4 bellies (2 whole square & 2 end trim pieces) into ziplocks where they are nicely covered in it. Now the wait begins.

ONE Note: I was in error in my original post. Cure time is 5-6 days, not 12 days. I've made that change in my initial post.

So it looks like some smoking will happen either next Sunday or Monday.

Kevin

KyNola · June 05, 2012, 06:57:37 AM

Kevin, you could have placed them directly in the ziplock bags when the paste was first applied. The brine would have formed in the bags just fine. That being said, the original pic of the raw bellies is some of the best looking bellies I have even seen.

Kevin A · June 05, 2012, 10:05:02 AM

Yeah, in hindsight, I could've save me some extra work had I put the bellies directly into the ziplocs.
But as it turned out, keeping the bellies in the lug allowed me time to a) buy the right-sized ziplocs (13x15'), and to clear sufficient room in our other fridge for the bellies.
Those bellies were beauties!
When the guy behind the counter first brought out the large slab (prior to cutting it into two large squares), I said to myself "Dang!"—& told him, "I'll take all you have in stock!" :) ;)

Kevin

squirtthecat · June 05, 2012, 11:13:57 AM

I'm wondering if those were supposed to be 13.99/lb!

4given · June 05, 2012, 04:01:57 PM

Can't wait to see those when they are done! :P

Kevin A · June 05, 2012, 08:00:06 PM

Here's a photo of one of the packed Ziplocs with the brine in evidence.

If all goes well—I'll sample a piece on Saturday for saltiness, and if it's on the mark, I'll hang dry 'em overnight & on to the smoker the next day.

Kevin