Bacon

[Johnny]

Hey Guys,
Today I picked up 2 beauty pork bellys that I ordered from my butcher.. looking to make some 🥓
Would someone be so kind to forward me direction on what I have to do please? I have no idea because ive never made bacon before!
Thanks in advance,
Johnny.

[cathouse willy]

Here's a link to a really good bacon recipe.

https://web.archive.org/web/20151016151147/http://www.susanminor.org/forums/showthread.php?542-Maple-Cured-Bacon

[Johnny]

Thanks Cathouse willy, can you omit the maple in this recipe?

[Grouperman941]

When I do bacon, I just use the Basic Dry Cure (MTQ substitute) in the proper amount for the weight. (Dry cure.) You could add other flavors here.

After a week, I rinse and season and let set overnight in the fridge before smoking. Before this rest, I season a little with pepper. This would be another time to experiment with seasoning.

I hot smoke at 200F to 140 IT. Then I cool, wrap, rest overnight, and slice.

It is a plain bacon, but delicious.

[Johnny]

Exactally what I'm looking for! Appreciate it, thanks!
Johnny.

[Johnny]

For the life of me I cant make sense of how much #1 cure to use.. Hopefully someone can shed some light here for me.. Rytex's recipe claims to use 1/4 cup per 25 lbs and Habs recipe calls for 2 tsp per 5lbs which to me is double the amount required for normal curing. I have 2 bellys witha total weight of 6.3 lbs. Is there such thing as using too much cure?

[Johnny]

What ive got figured out from Rytex's recipe is to use 3.4 grams per lb.. does this sound correct?

[Habanero Smoker]

For the life of me I cant make sense of how much #1 cure to use.. Hopefully someone can shed some light here for me.. Rytex's recipe claims to use 1/4 cup per 25 lbs and Habs recipe calls for 2 tsp per 5lbs which to me is double the amount required for normal curing. I have 2 bellys witha total weight of 6.3 lbs. Is there such thing as using too much cure?

If you are referring to the Maple Bacon, that is not my recipe. The recipe comes from "Charcuterie" by Michael Ruhlman & Brian Polcyn. The method used to cure in the pictorial is basically called dredging, with produces a safe product, but is not precise. The pictorial is by Tenpoint5. If you follow that recipe, and double it will be enough to cure both of your bellies. Rytek is basically using the same curing procedure. If this is your first time follow the recipe that cathouse gave you a link to; the Maple Cure recipe, and just don't use the syrup. You don't even have to use the maple or brown sugar, but it does cut down on the harshness of the salt.

I'll take a look and see how his cure ratio breaks down, but I've notice in his book he take a lot of liberty when he rounds off.

[Johnny]

Thanks for your reply Habs, I do apologize for assuming it was your recipe and hopefully I never offended you in any way  because it was never my intention. It is my first time curing bacon and I will indeed take your advice and follow that recipe! My only concern was that I would over cure the bellys.
Johnny.

[Johnny]

Another question.. for 2 bellys would you have them in 2 seperate bags or together? Also vacuum bags or ziplocks?

[Grouperman941]

https://web.archive.org/web/20151005014255/http://www.susanminor.org/forums/showthread.php?441-Basic-Dry-Cure-Morton-s-Tender-Quick-substitute

The above link is what I was talking about -- 1 T of that per pound of belly.

I have done Canadian bacons in the same bag and it's fine, as long as you have applied cure separately per the weight of each piece. Belly pieces I use are usually too big. The safer thing is to bag separately. Easier to deal with IMO.

[Habanero Smoker]

With either recipe it would be pretty hard to add too many nitrites. If you want more precise measurement use the formula that Grouperman941 provided a link to.

The actual formula is:

• By Weight: 2 parts salt + 1 part sugar + 10% of their combined weights of cure #1

You can stack belly bacon while curing, but I wouldn't recommend it. Especially if you vacuum seal them. If you stack them, it is recommended that you rotate the positions of the bellies each day, from top to bottom. When I cure bellies, it's hard to get one in a 2 gallon bag. My suggestion is to cure them separately.

I took a look at Rytak's recipe. If I calculated correctly, he is using 68 g of cure #1 for 25 lbs. of meat, that comes out to 2.72 g/lb.

[Habanero Smoker]

I forgot got add in my previous post. Rytek uses 1/4 cup of cure #1 for 25lbs; that is 12 teaspoons. So he is using 2.4 teaspoons per 5 lbs.; which is very close to the amount used in the other recipe.

[Johnny]

Thanks so much guys!
Here's what I ended up doing,,
Each belly weighed just over 3lbs as you know.
For each I used 1/4 cup of kosher salt and 2 tsp of #1
Rubbed into each belly and vacuum sealed.
Hopefully what I've done is ok.
Johnny.

[Johnny]