My KISS salt/sugar bacon

[Northern_Hunting_Mom]

KISS, I love it. (for those who don't know, it means Keep It Simple, Stupid ;))

47lbs of pork belly, 4 cups of coarse canning salt, 12 cups of a syrup and brown sugar mix and peppercorns. Cure in vacuum seal bags in fridge for 10 days then fire up the Bradley. I did soak it in cold water in the bathtub for 2 hours then air dried in an open cold oven with a large box fan blowing over it for 2 hours.

1 hour in a preheated smoker without smoke then 4 hours with smoke until bacon is at IT of 150F.




Second and last batch is in the smoker.

[Tenpoint5]

You siad you cured it for 10 days but didnt mention using type of curing agent. Did you use cure 1 or was there some kind of cure in the mix you used?

[Northern_Hunting_Mom]

I used just salt and sugar. It won't keep as long in the fridge but is there anybody who can keep homemade bacon in the fridge for long? ;D

[WoodlawnSmoker]

I dunno, I'm probably one of the least conservative posters here when it comes to curing and temperatures but I think you need to add a bit of sodium nitrite to the cure.  Order yourself some Cure #1, a teaspoon goes a long way for peace of mind.

[Northern_Hunting_Mom]

I have made 100lbs of bacon like this and the person I got this recipe from has probably made 10000lbs like this and butchers his own pigs. It is delicious so I doubt I will change anything.

I have used saltpetre when making corned beef and venison. I posted a photo of it in my intro thread. I used round roasts instead of brisket. Briskets are hard to find in this town. I will have to order some from the butcher.

[Bear1968]

I used just salt and sugar. It won't keep as long in the fridge but is there anybody who can keep homemade bacon in the fridge for long? ;D

In my house the life expectancy of a pound of thawed bacon is about 12 hours and that is being conservative.  :)

[Quarlow]

Looks awesome NHM. Got love some good homemade bacon for sure.

[Habanero Smoker]

I dunno, I'm probably one of the least conservative posters here when it comes to curing and temperatures but I think you need to add a bit of sodium nitrite to the cure.  Order yourself some Cure #1, a teaspoon goes a long way for peace of mind.

If one doesn't like the flavor sodium nitrite gives to meat (bacon in this case), the salt only cure that was used contained enough salt to prevent the growth of harmful bacteria.

[WoodlawnSmoker]

I dunno, I'm probably one of the least conservative posters here when it comes to curing and temperatures but I think you need to add a bit of sodium nitrite to the cure.  Order yourself some Cure #1, a teaspoon goes a long way for peace of mind.

If one doesn't like the flavor sodium nitrite gives to meat (bacon in this case), the salt only cure that was used contained enough salt to prevent the growth of harmful bacteria.

Perfect, that's good to know, thanks.

[Grouperman941]

Somewhere out there is a really good article by Alton Brown on how salt (NaCl) cures meat. I couldn't find it just now, but here are two of his bacon recipes that only use salt.


http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/scrap-iron-chefs-bacon-recipe.html

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/honey-mustard-cure-recipe.html