How long to cure

Started by Chef57, August 09, 2012, 07:50:06 PM

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Chef57

I haven't used the Bradley cures before.  I have the Maple and the Honey cures right now and have used them on two of my pork belly slabs.  My question, how long do I leave the cure on?  Each piece is 2.5 lbs and vacuum sealed, though not all of the air was removed.  When I do the dry cure (salt, sugar) I leave it in the fridge for about 4-5 days and then soak the hell out of it because it is always way to salty.  I'm a Swede and love my salt but  :D ...  Thanks!

Habanero Smoker

I have not used any of the Bradley cures, but in their recipe they recommend one week and the belly should not be more the 2-inches thick.

You can down load their curing recipes, but note that it is 56.5 MB PDF file. The bacon recipe in on page 13.

Bradley Curing Recipes



     I
         don't
                   inhale.
  ::)

Chef57

Thanks!  I just put my bacon out to dry before smoking it.  I tried a small piece of each flavor (maple and honey) and were a tad salty but... tasted wonderful to me!  I just smoked my tried and true kosher salt cure - one piece I slathered with maple syrup and OMG they tasted good!  One thing I learned - Pecan is too strong for smoking bacon.  It left a bitter taste on the bacon.

Habanero Smoker

I now generally will use apple or maple, but have used pecan in the past with great results. I only use 2 hours of smoke on bacon.



     I
         don't
                   inhale.
  ::)