Welcome!

**realdocBBQ** · January 12, 2019, 01:12 PM

If you don't cure it, it's just pork belly, not bacon. Maybe I am missing what you are asking?

**JeffJ** · January 12, 2019, 01:18 PM

It depends on how long you are planning on keeping it before eating it. Like realdocBBQ said, if it's not cured it's just pork belly - the flavor and texture will be different and it won't keep nearly as long as cured bacon.

**Donw** · January 12, 2019, 01:29 PM

The USDA definition of bacon is "the cured belly of a swine (hog) carcass." While what you are smoking isn’t technically bacon, I’m sure it still tastes good.

**ecowper** · January 12, 2019, 01:37 PM

If you don’t use Prague Powder, you need to be really careful in the brining process. Make sure you are using distilled water (or boiled) and that the meat is never exposed to the air.

As others have noted, without Prague Powder, this is brined pork belly, not bacon. It won’t taste like bacon, but it will be delicious. It won’t keep as long as bacon, either.

The cured meats in the grocery store that claim to not have nitrites/nitrates are cured using celery powder, a natural source of nitrates .... which is why they taste like cured meats. :-)

**cowgirl2004** · January 12, 2019, 04:18 PM

just curious, I have taken pork belly and cold smoked it then vacuum sealed it in spices as I am trying to stay away from nitrates currently. I know the taste will be nothing like bacon which I am okay with but I was told even though I am going to cook it before I eat it that my danger of botulism is high. is this true?

**Backroadmeats** · January 12, 2019, 04:40 PM

Originally posted by cowgirl2004 View Post

just curious, I have taken pork belly and cold smoked it then vacuum sealed it in spices as I am trying to stay away from nitrates currently. I know the taste will be nothing like bacon which I am okay with but I was told even though I am going to cook it before I eat it that my danger of botulism is high. is this true?

High risk?? Not sure of that but you can only die once.. cold smoke with no cure it s sketchy at best.. freezing will not kill botulism either..

**Ramfan781** · January 12, 2019, 05:46 PM

Thx all for all the information .. I will continue to use cure and do a light rinse before smoke

**Baltassar** · January 12, 2019, 06:59 PM

Next time I make bacon (tomorrow) I'm just going to slice off a few pieces before they go in the bag, sprinkle with salt, pepper, and brown sugar, and roast until done. Am pretty sure I had something like that served to me as "bacon" years ago, and it was delicious, but also unlike any other bacon I've ever had -- since it was not, in fact, bacon. I'm only doing this for science, obviously...

**FireMan** · January 12, 2019, 07:36 PM

Wow! I haven’t seen this ever a’fore. Trial Members knockin it out of the park. Congratulations Ramfan781 Backroadmeats & cowgirl2004 . Continue the participation, cool havin ya join in on the fun. I think two of ya might need to innerduce yerselves. 👍👍👍 ðŸ•¶

**HAH** · April 9, 2019, 08:16 PM

Pretty new to the site, gain a lot from reading various posts. Just tried/trying some brining. While we, my son and I, got the pork belly in some liquid brine, we also put 1/3 or so of a belly in a dry brine and vacuum sealed it. Son had researched some brine recipes with the pink salt for brining (not sure it was Prague, is that the only kind?). It will be two weeks this Saturday on the wet and dry brine. What's the longest any should be brining? I'm hoping to smoke it on my pellet smoker this Saturday. Son had also already brined some goose breast we smoked for some goose pastrami. Came out pretty good and tasty. That same day we mixed up some deer scraps and pork (50-50 or so), added some mix he came up with along with a smidgen of cure salt, had enough mix to fill six 9x12 or so aluminum pans. Put into fridge and next day put two slabs onto the smoker for some 8 hours. First batch we cooked to 165, able to eat it even cold the. Was a bit crumbly but not too bad. Second batch we only smoked to 155 or so so has to still be cooked. Last batch he used by jerky gun to make "bacon" strips, wish the tip was wider and allowed them to be thicker, but he smoked the strips up to basically 155 as well. Grilled them up and they're pretty tasty too, adds a little crispy to the outside. So these area all shrink wrapped and most in the freezer. I'll post some photos later as I don't have them off the camera yet. Geez...sorry this got so long as I do have a question. What temp to smoke the brined pork belly at and to what finish temp? Thanks all.