[USA] Makin' Bacon

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sawhorseray
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Post by sawhorseray » Sun Dec 22, 2013 07:20

That's some beautiful bacon Ross. I also have found throwing bacon in the oven to be very effective when thick-sliced, no curling or stove splatter to contend with. I had the last of my Sons of Bees bacon this morning done in the pan so I could fry my eggs in the fat, just the way my mama taught me to. RAY
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Back Bacon

Post by Shuswap » Sat Aug 23, 2014 23:33

This is my second batch of dry cured back bacon using the recipe posted by NorthFork. This time I added a small splash of maple extract to the cure. I cold smoked the loin for 2 hours then finished it in the oven at 200° until an IT of 150° was reached. It rested wrapped in foil for 2 hours and is now in the fridge waiting slicing. We have adopted this recipe and have given up on wet brine, which I had done a few times previously.

I finally got the right flow of air behind the venture type smoke generator to get a good smoke.

As CW has been promising for several months with diligence and patience success will come and this time it did.

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Post by ssorllih » Sun Aug 24, 2014 00:53

That looks mighty fine.
Ross- tightwad home cook
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Post by Darwin » Sun Aug 24, 2014 02:20

Pages & pages of great lookin bacon, well done folks :mrgreen:
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Post by ssorllih » Sun Aug 24, 2014 03:07

I was cleaning out a freezer a couple of days ago and found an unlabeled package of rather small pieces of meat. I thawed them and they were smoked boneless chicken thighs still smelling very fine. Tonight I sliced one into slabs about an 1/8th inch thick and along with half an onion and some leftover green beans made a two serving quiche. As we know chicken and turkey thighs cured and smoked are very acceptable substitutes for pork ham. Ham and green beans is always good and ham and cheddar cheese is very good.
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Post by Shuswap » Sun Aug 24, 2014 15:03

Ross your reference to ham reminds me that according to CW and DW I am making ham not bacon. I'm trying to convince her she'll know if it is ham or bacon by the way I slice it :roll:
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Post by ssorllih » Sun Aug 24, 2014 21:50

My dear wife tells me that lean in a strip of bacon tastes just like ham. Also that cured and smoked turkey thighs taste like ham and Damnit I like the taste of turkey without the cure and the smoke. ;-)
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Post by Darwin » Sun Aug 24, 2014 22:28

ssorllih wrote:My dear wife tells me that lean in a strip of bacon tastes just like ham. Also that cured and smoked turkey thighs taste like ham and Damnit I like the taste of turkey without the cure and the smoke. ;-)
I agree with your lovely wife, it does taste like ham to me to. Add the healthy fried pork fat and it's a wonderful Bacon :mrgreen:
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Post by two_MN_kids » Wed Aug 27, 2014 22:10

My first attempt at making bacon using pork belly. Ross, I love your formulation for shoulder bacon! I have been using it almost two years, I think. We dry cured 23 pounds of belly ($2.40/pound) for twelve day and placed it on hangers after covering it with fresh ground black pepper. It was dried for several hours under a fan, and then I gave it smoke for just over 8 hours. After a two day rest, we thick sliced it and packaged in one-pound bags.

Fantastic taste! There is never any remaining to refrigerate after breakfast!

Jim
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Post by two_MN_kids » Fri Aug 29, 2014 17:01

Here are some pictures of the recently finished first attempt at belly bacon. I didn't get any pictures of it sliced, or packaged.

After I removed the skin I covered that surface with fresh black pepper also.
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Smoked with Apple wood pellets. Started with 23 lbs. of belly, and the finished product weighed only 17.5 lbs.
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Post by crustyo44 » Fri Aug 29, 2014 19:55

Jim,
That's some might good looking bacon. I am with Ross though with making bacon
cut from the shoulder.
Pork belly sells here for up to $ 17.00 a kilo. Pork shoulder varies from $ 2.99 to $ 4.99 a kilo.
Have a guess what my deepfreeze is filled up with.
Care to share your dry cure recipe. I always use a wet cure but I like to broaden my horizon.
Cheers,
Jan.
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Post by two_MN_kids » Tue Sep 02, 2014 19:23

Jan, I used Ross's recipe for shoulder bacon. If not exact, it's based on his formula.

For 1 Kg of pork:
20g of Salt
2.5 g of Cure #1
13g of sugar
and a small splash (2-3 ml) of Honey, Molasses, or Pure Maple Syrup.

Jim
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Post by crustyo44 » Wed Sep 03, 2014 04:23

Thank you Jim and Ross of course!!!
Cheers,
Jan
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Post by el Ducko » Mon Apr 13, 2015 19:06

RedZed, I saw your "correction" to Rytek Kutas` "Sons of Bees" bacon recipe (worked over by Chuckwagon, Dave Zack, and others) at http://wedlinydomowe.pl/en/viewtopic.php?t=4979 which was annotated as follows:
Note by Moderator: This recipe for a 25lb batch of smoked bacon calls for 1/4 cup of cure #1, which is way over the USDA allowable limit. 1/4 cup is equal to 12 teaspoons, weighing 72 grams which works out to 397ppm. That is more than triple the allowable level of ingoing sodium nitrite of 120 ppm for bacon. If you are preparing bacon using this recipe, please adjust accordingly.
Having used the recipe before with excellent results, I figured that the recipe couldn`t be THAT far off, so I weighed a quarter cup of cure #1. It came out to 62 gm, not quite 15% lower but still in the ball park, so no problem. I`ll continue to use your bulk density here, for consistency.

Next, I checked your calculations:
(72 gm cure #1)/ [(25# bacon) * 454 gm/#) ] * (0.0625 frac. nitrite in cure #1) * (10**6 conversion frac to ppm)
= 397 ppm. No problem with your math.

Then, I went back into the recipe. I noted:
Place the slabs belly-side up for two days while the salt draws moisture from the meat and a brine develops. By the third day, if the brine has not quite covered the meat, add a little water - up to two quarts if necessary.
Further down,
...wash the bacon well and scrub away all the surface salt and sticky maple or honey residue. It is important NOT to soak the bacon at this point.
Two notes, there: Number 1, brine develops on mine each time I make it, and Number 2, I always wash it off. The batches that I`ve made, I`ve not needed to add water, but I HAVE washed everything off. Therefore, not all added ingredients remain with the bacon.

So, that raises the question, how much nitrite goes into the meat? Bacon has considerably less lean meat than, say, Boston butt, turkey, and just about every processed meat out there. They all state on the package, "up to 14% extra liquid added..." or some such verbiage. Look at the various traditional recipes and you`ll find quite a bit more nitrite and brine than could possibly be good for you if it all stayed in the meat. The reason is that most of the contents of the brine are thrown away or rinsed off. The meat never absorbs 100% of the added material, even with a dry rub. Most brined recipes assume a liquid uptake of 10% to 15%. Only in the case of sausage, where 100% of the herbs and spices are mixed in, can you assume 100 percent uptake. As for dry rub, it falls somewhere in between.

So what`s the verdict on dry-rub recipes like this one? It`s hard to say. 100% uptake is out of the question. Even 15% is doubtful because during a week or two brining period, the fat portion does not take up appreciable liquid, only the lean portion. So I`d estimate the following nitrite content for bacon recipes, with an upper limit of 100% uptake, or 397 ppm
● 15% uptake (washed, or perhaps Canadian Bacon) = 60 ppm
● 5% uptake (washed, typical bacon)= 20 ppm
These are well below your 120 ppm limit.

What`s the right answer? Without chemical analysis, I couldn`t tell you, and beside that, being as how bacon has such non-uniform lean content, it may not matter. At any rate, this recipe is in line with traditional recipes, gives good results, gets nitrite into the lean portion (which is, after all, the real reason for concern if not present), and above all...
- - - - - - - - - - It`s safe and it`s tasty! - - - - - - - - - -

Don`t be afraid of this recipe,. It`s a good one. If you want to cut back on the nitrite, fine. You`ll be reducing the amount in the bacon slightly, but as long as there`s nitrite present, you`re protected. Flavor resulting from curing will be less, but then, American-style bacon flavor results mostly from frying the fat.
Best regards,
el Ducko
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Post by Bob K » Mon Apr 13, 2015 20:53

El Quacko-
Nice to see ya fly-by again!

We are going by the maximum allowed by the USDA..and the CA counterpart recommends less.

Go to page 28 of this Document:
http://www.fsis.usda.gov/OPPDE/rdad/FSI ... 7620-3.pdf

Nice picture of your yard!
Have you been able to teach Chuckwagon how to post Pictures yet?
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