bluegrassDan
6 pointer
- Dec 17, 2008
- 223
Anyone have some good bacon recipes? This one is my Apple Pie bacon made with apple pie spice and apple butter cure. Smoked for 8 hours and thick cut.
Home Made Bacon
- Thread starter bluegrassDan
- Start date
baknblack
12 pointer
I've been curing mine and hot smoking because it's quicker. Great flavor but the hot smoke makes the texture more like Canadian bacon.
If you have any cure recipes and instructions for smoking (heat and time) I would appreciate it. Was just telling the wife I need to make some bacon with the new smoker.
I like traditional salted and smoked flavors as well as peppery bacon. Not really a fan of sweet bacon.
I like traditional salted and smoked flavors as well as peppery bacon. Not really a fan of sweet bacon.
baknblack
12 pointer
I use a 2 cups of salt, half cup of brown sugar, 1/4 cup of black pepper. Rub the belly down with it then hang in the shed for 5 to 7 days if it's not cold enough to freeze it. I then soak it in cold water for about 4 hours. Changing the water at about 2 hours. Dry it off and smoke it at 200-225 till the internal temperature gets to 140-145. Let it cool overnight and slice. I then vacuum seal and freeze.
Very similar taste to store bought hickory smoked bacon but, has the texture of Canadian bacon. Some people don't like it because of the texture but, I like it.
I think a cold smoke would have the texture of store bacon.
EdLongshanks
12 pointer
I’m stupid jealous. Looks amazing.
Gforcetrivers
12 pointer
I use salt, brown sugar, and curing salt as a base then add black pepper. I leave the bellies in a container in the fridge and overhaul once a day for a week. Cold smoke for about eight hours then turn it up to an internal of 150 skin side down. It makes taking the skin off a lot easier. Is the pic a skinless belly?
bluegrassDan
6 pointer
- Dec 17, 2008
- 223
I have tried traditional salt cure and like it, but balance wins out for me. The dry curing salt method can be balanced with a sugar to make it taste better and not be overly Salty. I use honey, maple syrup (real), molasses or things along those lines to replace any sugar called for in a cure or just add in about 5-8oz to every 5lbs of meat fir cures without sugar called for. Use the calculator found online to calculate the cure time.
bluegrassDan
6 pointer
- Dec 17, 2008
- 223
As for smoking, cold smoke is the way to go. A typical slab of pork belly I find easy to work with is no more than 5lbs, trimmed nice and square to make slicing easier. One work around to the long time is to cold smoke a slab that is room temp, dry and tacky on suface for 4-5 hours. Seal in a 2 gallon size ziploc bag with no air and bring it to 152-155 degrees in a water bath. You can set , walk away for 12 hours and it will never get over the 152 degree mark. Works great. I do mine overnight the chill down the next morning to set the fat and make it slice able.
Gforcetrivers
12 pointer
Making bacon, Corned Beef( goose, venison ), ham, pastrami, confit, jerky etc is all very easy to do and very satisfying.
Greyghost7
Fawn
Hmmmm! Now what meat are you using to make this? I may try see if vension can be used as well?
Meatstick
12 pointer
That's pig
Venison bacon ain't bacon
baknblack
12 pointer
Truer words were never spoken!
Stone Branch
10 pointer
Sure looks good.
G
G
bluegrassDan
6 pointer
- Dec 17, 2008
- 223
LOL...I have tried to do Venison, but around here they are too lean as far as fat to meat ratio in the belly/brisket area to make decent bacon style cured meat. I have done an entire ham this way and it turned out great. The draw back was the time it took. curing a 7lb ham was like 18 days in a wet brine, a day to hang and dry and another 12 hours in the smoke, followed by the water bath cooking to final temp (24 hours). It was too warm out that weekend to leave it in the cold smoke much longer and even then, I was pretty nervous about it.
