Cold smoked dry cure back bacon.

[manxman]

I experimented with some bacon a while ago and the last part of the experiment was seeing how long it would keep in the fridge without going off! 8)

Well, I have now reached the 8 week mark and all is well. Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall in his book, which I know some members of the forum have, says it will keep indefinately although you may need to scrape any mould that grows off!  :o

Anyway, so far so good. I have kept it loosely wrapped in aluminium foil and it still looks and tastes as good as the first tasting. ;D

My butcher then phoned at the end of last week as promised to say he had a full pork loin from a proper "baconer".. a pig bred for bacon production.

He boned it out for me and I also got some pork fillet and a kidney! When I went to collect it I had no idea how big it would be, I began to be slightly concerned when he shouted out from the walk-in fridge that it was that big I would need two hands to hold it. At that point a little old lady in the shop promptly fainted! Well, at 30 inches long and 25lb in weight who could blame her!

Walking down the main street in the village with it over my shoulder was interesting, local dogs who normally spend all their time fighting amongst themselves looked suspiciously like they were ganging together to mug me whilst the local bobby (policeman) asked who I had bumped off. :o

Finally got the thing home, my partner said that she had never seen anything that big and suggested cutting it into 10 inch lengths, because 10inches is enough for anyone!  ::)

So the current state of play is that I have 3 x 10 inch lengths of pork loin curing in the fridge, I will cure for about 9 - 10 days, discarding any liquid that comes off every couple of days then cold smoke for 8 hours in either apple or oak. After that I will wrap and refridgerate for 2 -3 days when it will be ready.

Being cold smoked it will require grilling or frying prior to eating. Even after curing I should get 20lbs of bacon, just as well as there is already a list of family and friends wanting to try some! ;D

[3rensho]

LMAO.  Your're a funny man Manxman.  Look forward to seeing pix of the John Holmes of bacons when it is finished.

Tom

[Oldman]

At that point a little old lady in the shop promptly fainted! Well, at 30 inches long and 25lb in weight who could blame her!

You're a BAD MAN!

Finally got the thing home, my partner said that she had never seen anything that big and suggested cutting it into 10 inch lengths, because 10inches is enough for anyone!

All I can say about your "partner" is it must be party time~~!

[whitetailfan]

 ;D ;D ;DLMAO Manx ;D ;D ;D

[MallardWacker]

Oh my freek'n word....still laughing, that must become a classic, well written. The rest of you guys are in need of some serious alone time with the little women in your lives....


Man of Manx....

Couple of questions about curing loin.

First why do you drain off the liquid?

Second, what are you curing it with?...flavoring or type of cure?

I was going to say "I would like to of got a hold one of those things" but I am afraid of the as to the other above for mentioned folks would go hog wild on it.

[iceman]

manx your too much! :D Please post a couple of pictures when you finish making the bacon. Have a good time ;)

[Habanero Smoker]

That has to be a once in a life time experience. ;D

[manxman]

Hi Folks,

Of course I have always impressed on Karen that it is all about quality and well as quantity but when I plonked it on the kitchen worksurface she said she had no problems with quantity or quality!! :o

First why do you drain off the liquid?

Second, what are you curing it with?...flavoring or type of cure?

The local butcher told me for true dry cure traditional back bacon the liquid needs draining off, obviously this liquid is water from the meat mixed with cure and is therefore a brine .... which is used to wet cure food. Hence every couple of days I pour off the liquid and rub in a little more cure.

The recipe he uses to produce his bacon is four generations old so I am quite happy to follow these instructions.

One of the well known wet cure bacons is "Wiltshire cured" which is also popular in the UK, one of the problems with dry curing is that you lose a higher percentage of the original weight of the meat so wet curing is more popular in many commercial outlets!

The cure itself is a "traditional british bacon cure" bought commercially ready made up, as far as I am aware it contains salt, demerera sugar, sodium nitrite together with some spices. Next time I may take up the butcher's offer of some of his homemade cure.

The pork is from pigs specifically bred to produce bacon and to quote the butcher the "curing and smoking is designed to bring out the flavour of the meat" hence he recommended not adding too much else that would mask the flavour of the meat.

The bacon in his shop is just fabulous and people come from far and wide to buy it so if I can produce a comparible product I would be more than happy.

However, after this project for my next batch I plan to include maybe some honey or maple syrup in the curing process and experiment a little. ;D

"I would like to of got a hold one of those things"

Haha, yes, might be a good idea not to spread that around too much Mallard Wacker, could just be misconstrued!! ::)

Loved your animations Olds, brilliant!  :o

[Oldman]

he recommended not adding too much else that would mask the flavour of the meat.

I cannot agree more. That is why I do my BuckBoard Bacons, Double Smoked Hams, and Boston Butts using my T-shirt Method. I view smoke in the same context I do salt and pepper. To enhance an item not over power it.

[manxman]

To enhance an item not over power it

So true Olds, in my view that is why it is so important to start with good quality produce in the first place, be it meat, fish, vegetables or cheese.

Curing, smoking etc. will not make a poor product good!

[Ded Leg]

I am taking my first shot at smoking bacon this weekend.  I am following Phone Guy's recipe from the recipe web site.  I got a pork shoulder on sale last weekend $1/pound.  I boned it out (basicially I split the shoulder into two pieces) then I put on the dry rub (MTQ & brown suger) and put it in the fridge last Sunday.  (I was going to add some Maple flavoring but the store was out so I will save that for next time.)  I poured off the liquid on Wed. and will be cold smoking it this weekend. 

[manxman]

Good luck Ded Leg, let us know how it works out.  8)

[ChefBill]

I agree with OldMan 100% about not masking what you're smoking OR eating. I think that's why I don't particularly like honey baked hams. If I want a sweet ham sandwich I'll have a ham & Jelly on white bread. Sweet ham and swiss on rye, don't think so.  :( PLUS, if it masked too much then it's not good to cook with. 

[MallardWacker]

Please...just my observations and results.  I too do not like overpowering flavors, I kind of like them to a piggy back.  One reason why I have never used that strong maple flavoring in my cures...I like the over tones of a flavor.  I usually smoke my cured meats with a maple or a lighter wood, I have never tried hickory but I will say this...the way I start my smoke after it has been brought up to heat has never let the smoke flavor become a large part of the overall flavor.  This last batch of Jalapeno/Serrano...you could taste the loin backed up with the little bite of pepper and then a slight enhancement of smoke flavor from the maple wood.

Humbly submitted.

[Ded Leg]

The bacon came out absolutely great. very lean with great flavor.  I slathered em' with honey and used a fan to form a pellicle prior to smoking so they taste a little more like ham than bacon but still great.  In fact we ate half of it with breakfast on Sunday.  I smoked it last Saturday at 205 degrees with six hours of cherry smoke.  It came out so good that I already started another pork shoulder to make some more.  Plus the recipe from Phone Guy on the recipe site is simple and straight forward.  I highly recommend it. ;D ;D

Ded Leg