Applewood smoked bacon ?

[watchdog56]

I plan on making some apple flavored bacon. I got 1/2 a pig so I told butcher to leave some belly meat for me to make bacon with. This is what I plan on using. Instead of Morton's tender quick can I use cure #1? and I plan on using apple sauce as part of the brine. This is based on 5 lbs of belly; Or should I up the amounts

1/4 cup Kosher salt
1 tsp cure #1
1/4 cup of brown sugar
1 cup of apple sauce.
 
Mix together in bowl and spread over pork. Put in zip lock  bag and in frig for 5-7 days.
Turning over every day. Took bacon out and rinsed under water then pat dry. Had to soak
1 hour. Put back in frig uncovered and on top of inverted smoker rack overnight so
pellicle forms. Put in 130 preheated smoker with vent half open. Apply 2 hours of
smoke(apple ) then move temp to 170 until internal temp is 150.Remove from smoker and
allow to cool slightly. When cool enough to handle but still warm, pull the skin off
leaving as much fat as possible. let cool slightly .vacuum seal and put in frig for 2 days.
Slice and package.

[cathouse willy]

These are the ingredients for a 5 lb belly from tenpoint5's recipe for maple bacon.I use it all the time and it works well. He calls for more #1 salt than your recipe.


    Maple Cured Bacon
    From Tenpoint5
     

     

    Ingredients:
 
      2 oz. Kosher salt (about 1/4 cup)
      2 tsp. Cure #1 (aka pink salt, InstaCure #1, Prague Powder #1)
      1/4 C. Maple sugar or packed brown sugar
      1/4 C. Maple syrup


      5 lb. fresh pork belly
      (Makes enough for a 5 lb. belly)

[watchdog56]

Thanks going to use apple sauce instead of syrup

[watchdog56]

 Well was afraid I might not have enough mix for 6 1/2 lbs of belly so this is what I ended up doing.

1/2 cup kosher salt
1 1/3 tsp cure #1
1/2 cup brown sugar
and 1 cup apple sauce
Mixed into belly and put in zip lock and in frig for  a week turning everyday.
We will see how firm it is next Tuesday.

[Habanero Smoker]

You may get less of a that bacon type of flavor.

Google Boiled Apple Cider; the next time you make this recipe that would work better than apple sauce. Boiled Apple Cider is apple cider boiled down and reduced to a syrup. It gives you a real concentrated apple flavor. When I make competition ribs I will use Boiled Apple Cider in place of honey or agave. I like the brand that King Arthur Flour sells.

[watchdog56]

The mix was more liquid than I thought and my guess is only half of it stuck to the belly. The rest did not go in the bag so I am not sure if the actual mix has the right amount of salt or cure in it. Habs-do you think I should do something else to it?

[Habanero Smoker]

Sorry! I didn't see your first post until today.

You have a lot of pork belly. If it were me, I would take the belly and rinse it off; since you only were able to place about half the mixture into the bag with the belly. I would divide it into 1 to 2 pound sections. The smaller sections are easier to work with. If you don't currently have all the supplies to cure the bellies again, then freeze the bellies for now, and purchase the supplies you need. Those smaller sections will fit easily in 2 gallon sealable bags or maybe even a one gallon bag.

Go to the link below, and read the information about Equilibrium Curing. Then go to the Digging Farms calculator. Since you already partially cured the belly, in the calculator separately add the weight of each belly section, change the percentage of Salt to 1.5% (or leave it at 2%), change the Parts Per Million (PPM) to 100. Changing the PPM to 100 will keep you in the safe zone for the maximum amount of nitrites.  As long as the meat has at least 40 PPM, your meat is protected from bacteria that can cause botulism. Since you are adding brown sugar, and other sweeteners you can ignore the Sugar section.

Equilibrium Curing

Cure Calculator

Another thing you can do is look up recipes for fresh pork belly. I have hot smoke fresh pork belly in the Bradley for a couple of hours, then finished it in a hot oven or over a grill. Do a search for grilled fresh pork belly. It's a rich meal, but very good; though I don't think you would want to turn all 6 pounds of belly into grilled fresh belly. Just keep in mind that you may want to reduce the salt in the recipe.

[watchdog56]

Thanks I will have to redo it tomorrow

[Habanero Smoker]

I forgot to mention, you should skip the apple sauce. I don't believe that will add any apple flavor. If you can't get the Boiled Cider, then use frozen canned apple juice concentrate. Use that in place of the maple syrup.

If you don't have a scale, I may be able to convert the grams of cure #1 into volume for you. Just post the amount of grams.

[watchdog56]

When it asks for salt is that kosher salt? I might just forget about the apple flavor and just use applewood for smoking.

[watchdog56]

So one piece is 1454 grams; If I am doing it right that piece needs 2.33 grm cure,19.63 grm salt and 14.54 grm sugar. The next piece is 1671 grms which calls for 2.67 grm cure, 22.56 grm salt and 16.71 grm sugar. Again I am using kosher slat so are those figures correct?

[Habanero Smoker]

Your calculations are correct.

The kosher salt you are using will be fine to use, because you are going by weight and not volume. Therefore it doesn't matter what type of salt you use, as long as it is being weighted they will be of equal amounts; whether if it is kosher, or non-iodine salt (table salt), or pickling salt.

If you were measuring by volume, then that would make a difference between the types of salts.

[watchdog56]

Thanks I will rub them up and put back in frig. I won't be able to smoke them until the 19th. I will be able to mix the belly every day until next Thursday the 15  then they will just sit in frig until I get back on the 19th.

[Habanero Smoker]

Let us know how they turned out.

[watchdog56]

I have noticed that there is no liquid mix in the bag. I would have thought that the salt would have started to pull some juices out by now.