The Basics of Cooking Meat: How to Barbecue, Smoke, Grill, Cure Bacon and Otherwise Cook Meat (Homestead Basics Book 10) by Nash David

Author:Nash, David [Nash, David]
Language: eng
Format: azw3, epub
Publisher: Shepherd Publishing
Published: 2020-06-16T16:00:00+00:00

Ingredients

Pork belly (5-6 pounds)

Curing Salt

Optionally, brown sugar, molasses, coffee grounds and spices can be used to flavor your bacon, but in the video we went very simple and were pleased with the results.

Procedure

Obtain a whole, raw pork belly. Before I started raising pigs, I had the best luck finding pork belly at the international market. We also know a fancy butcher, but he is way too proud of his product for me to make an economical slab of bacon. However the better quality meat the better your bacon

You can remove the skin (which is great for making cracklings), or leave it on. I have read on various sites and books differing arguments on which is better, and I have tried both. Skin on is easier, but can cause the bacon to curve as it cures due to the difference in permeability. Skin off is harder, but you end up with skin to make cracklings.

Trim the edges of the belly so they are square with a clean cut.

Spread approximately 1/8 cup of the dry-cure mix out and dredge one side of the belly in it until you have a nice even coating.

Pour on another 1/8 cup of the mix and do the same to the other side and the edges.

Rub it in with your (gloved) hands.

If you want to use spices such as molasses, honey, brown sugar, or coffee grounds, drizzle on an even coat. On both sides

Carefully slide the belly into a zip lock bag. Alternatively, you don’t have to use a bag, place it in a large non-reactive bowl or dish. Just be aware the salt will pull out a lot of moisture and the bag keeps everything from turning into a mess.

Every 48 hours flip the belly over. This helps evenly distribute the brine for a better cure.

Different bellies will give up more water than others. Expect anywhere from 1/2 cup to almost 2 cups. In my experience bellies with the skin attached will be wetter than skinless ones.

Bacon will take 7-10 days to cure, depending on size, thickness etc… They are done curing when the meat is no longer squishy and springy like raw meat. It will have a consistency close to but with slightly more give than silly putty.

When the belly is done curing, rinse it thoroughly in the sink and pat it dry with paper towels. You want to remove as much of the remaining cure from the meat as possible. I did not do this very well the first time and ended up with an extremely salty product.

The night before smoking leave the belly sitting in the fridge uncovered for 12-24 hours. This will let the meat form a tacky pellicle that will help it absorb the smoke.

Before smoking, let the pork belly warm to room temperature.

Light your smoker. You want a cooking chamber temp between 150°-200°F. Any hotter than 200°F and you’ll be roasting the bellies, not smoking them.

I usually smoke with applewood chips, you can use whatever hardwood you want, but softwoods like pine have a high resin content that will tar up your bacon.

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