Bacon Recipe Scaling

[jfmorris]

Ok, I bought an 10+ pound slab of pork belly at Costco at lunch (along with a pack of loin back ribs and a USDA prime brisket!). While I can cut it down to fit the recipe, if I have a ZIP lock bag big enough to cure the whole slab in, do I just double everything in the American Bacon recipes, including the liquid, so that the Sodium Nitrate PPM stays the same?

Also, my wife did NOT like the last batch of bacon I cured, which followed the basic recipe over on the free side exactly. It was not nearly salty enough for her, or me. Batch before that I had omitted the sugar, and increased the salt, and I will likely go back to that. Right now I assume I can monkey with amounts of salt, pepper and other spices as long as water to Prague Powder #1 ratio stays the same, right?

[EdF]

It's been a few years since I've cured bacon. I used the recipes in Michael Ruhlman's Charcuterie quite a few times. The salt to thickness ratio seemed to be the main thing. So, if you have a longer piece of pork belly, I'm not sure whether you would need to scale it much. But I'm guessing the Meathead recipe will spell it out.

[Jerod Broussard]

The calculator adjusts the cure amount and time, the other ingredients are simply multiplied up to match the increase in weight.

[CaptainMike]

What Jerod said. I do this often with good results. The last batch I did I started with the basic recipe (3 - 3lb slabs), added 1 Tbs of garlic powder and 2 tsp smoked jalapeno powder per bag, and used hickory to smoke. It was the best I've done and I'll probably always do it this way.

[jecucolo]

Did the jalapeno powder amp up the bacon? I have been trying to do that with sirrach sauce but never get the heat

[CaptainMike]

jecucolo not heatwise, but it gives another layer of flavor. I think I'll double up next time and see what happens. Another thought would be to make up a peppery rub and apply before smoking.

[Derickls]

I just picked up an 8 pounder yesterday and decided to put it in one giant bag. I scaled everything and then put the new liquid amount in the calculator.

[FishTalesNC]

I actually did that this morning. Had an 11lb slab from Costco I picked up yesterday. I cut it in thirds (each weighed exactly 3lbs 10oz, dunno how I got lucky) and put each in a 1g ziploc. I have nothing big enough to fit the entire thing! But it also let me experiment with just one of them, which got some garlic, chili powder and paprika... my family wanted it spicier. Curious what other people do, particularly for a bit more kick.

[CaptainMike]

As mentioned above, I'm thinking of making a spicy/peppery rub and apply before smoking.

[FishTalesNC]

I’d be interested in what you come up with!