Bacon Cure Question

STICKSTRING
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Post by STICKSTRING » Thu May 15, 2014 05:15

Baconologist wrote:Yup, that's one heck of a lot of sugar.


Do you fry your bacon crispy or do you prefer it otherwise?
Baconologist,
I really appreciate your willingness to help me out, especially considering I have a 14lb slab of pork belly in the fridge waiting for me to do something with it.

I personally like my bacon a little on the soft side. My wife prefers hers crispy. So she usually tries her best to pull some out of the pan before they get too crispy.

By no means though are we a BIG fan of SWEET. We were just hoping for a "hint" of honey with the pepper coating.

Thanks!
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Post by STICKSTRING » Fri May 16, 2014 06:19

14lb pork belly

Salt 3%
Cure#1 .25%
Honey 3/4 cup
Brown sugar 3/4 cup
Black pepper Enough to cover bacon (meat side) after cure, before smoke

What do you guys think about this recipe? Any suggestions? Advice?
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Post by STICKSTRING » Fri May 16, 2014 07:25

My wife and I are not big salt eaters either. Is 3% salt too much? Should I stick with 2%? also what percentage of honey, and brown sugar should I use? 2% also?

Thanks again.
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Post by Bob K » Fri May 16, 2014 16:20

Baconologist wrote:That's a VERY bad recipe!!!!
I wouldn't use it unless you like bacon that easily chars to a cinder, is EXTREMELY salty and is laden with excess nitrite beyond any well respected safe and practical standard.
(this was referring to .47%)

And to quote from Marianski :

Pastrami may be dry cured. For 1 kg (2.20 lb.) beef use: Salt, 35 g, 2 Tbsp. Cure #1, 5 g (1 tsp). This comes to 312 ppm of sodium nitrite. The USDA allows 625 ppm for dry curing meat. Sodium nitrite dissipates rapidly, after curing, smoking and cooking not much is left. Note: there is 4.69 g salt in Cure #1

(0.5%)

Rytek is also up in the .5% range for dry cure

What is the correct % of cure #1 to use for DRY CURE ?
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Post by STICKSTRING » Fri May 16, 2014 18:22

Bob K wrote:
Baconologist wrote:That's a VERY bad recipe!!!!
I wouldn't use it unless you like bacon that easily chars to a cinder, is EXTREMELY salty and is laden with excess nitrite beyond any well respected safe and practical standard.
(this was referring to .47%)

And to quote from Marianski :

Pastrami may be dry cured. For 1 kg (2.20 lb.) beef use: Salt, 35 g, 2 Tbsp. Cure #1, 5 g (1 tsp). This comes to 312 ppm of sodium nitrite. The USDA allows 625 ppm for dry curing meat. Sodium nitrite dissipates rapidly, after curing, smoking and cooking not much is left. Note: there is 4.69 g salt in Cure #1

(0.5%)

Rytek is also up in the .5% range for dry cure

What is the correct % of cure #1 to use for DRY CURE ?

.25% has always been my go to percentage for dry cures using cure #1 and cure #2
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Post by Baconologist » Fri May 16, 2014 22:07

Bob K wrote:
Baconologist wrote:That's a VERY bad recipe!!!!
I wouldn't use it unless you like bacon that easily chars to a cinder, is EXTREMELY salty and is laden with excess nitrite beyond any well respected safe and practical standard.
(this was referring to .47%)

And to quote from Marianski :

Pastrami may be dry cured. For 1 kg (2.20 lb.) beef use: Salt, 35 g, 2 Tbsp. Cure #1, 5 g (1 tsp). This comes to 312 ppm of sodium nitrite. The USDA allows 625 ppm for dry curing meat. Sodium nitrite dissipates rapidly, after curing, smoking and cooking not much is left. Note: there is 4.69 g salt in Cure #1

(0.5%)

Rytek is also up in the .5% range for dry cure

What is the correct % of cure #1 to use for DRY CURE ?
The 625ppm limit applies to true dry curing where meat is cured and dried for an extended period of time, it does not apply to short term curing.

If one chooses to use government nitrite limits as a guide when curing bacon, 120ppm is the appropriate amount of nitrite to use when curing bacon short term.
I personally use 120ppm to 156ppm.
Godspeed!

Bob
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Post by Bob K » Fri May 16, 2014 22:55

What I understood is that the 156ppm applies to what can be added to comminuted product.
Last edited by Bob K on Fri May 16, 2014 23:32, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by Baconologist » Fri May 16, 2014 23:00

Yes, that's true in terms of government limits but it's also an acceptable amount of nitrite for many other applications.
Godspeed!

Bob
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Post by Bob K » Fri May 16, 2014 23:09

Ok so for say 1 kg meat how many grams of cure #1 should be applied to a whole muscle product?

ThanKs
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Post by Baconologist » Fri May 16, 2014 23:16

If one chooses to apply 156ppm nitrite, 2.5 grams (.25%) of Cure #1 is the correct amount for one kilo of meat.
Godspeed!

Bob
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Post by STICKSTRING » Fri May 23, 2014 04:46

I ended up with the following numbers:

Pork belly. 2389.864 grams

Salt. 60 grams. 2.5%
Cure#1. 6 grams .25%
Brown sugar. 25 grams. 1.0 %
Honey. 40 grams. 1.7%
Maple. 40 grams. 1.7%

According to everything I have read, this recipe would be considered a equilibrium cure. I have two pork belly's, both weigh approx the exact same amount and are curing in separate bags. How long should I cure this bacon for? I have read 1 day per pound. But not sure. It is just a dry cure rubbed in and I have been flipping and massaging once a day.


Thank you for the help!
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Post by ssorllih » Fri May 23, 2014 15:05

I allow about 10 days for bacon cure. The exudate gets mostly reabsorbed in that time.
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Post by Bob K » Fri May 23, 2014 16:42

Don't forget your pepper! Adding now during the curing time will add to the flavor.
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Post by STICKSTRING » Fri May 23, 2014 18:27

Bob K wrote:Don't forget your pepper! Adding now during the curing time will add to the flavor.
Yes, I wish I did! The bacon is sealed up in foodsaver bags curing. Today is actually day 7. For this bacon, I will rub cracked black pepper on meat side of bacon (skin is still on), before smoking.
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Post by STICKSTRING » Mon May 26, 2014 05:33

Ok guys, so I just pulled bacon out of fridge, rinsed all cure off, dried off and covered meat side of bacon with cracked black pepper. It's back in the fridge for a day or so to dry before smoking.

After rinsing but before adding pepper, I cut off a piece of lean meat to fry up and test for salt... I was very suprised. It tastes like honey baked ham! I hope after smoking, resting, and frying up with fat it will bring out that honey cured bacon flavor I am looking for!
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