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This stuff has ruined store bought bacon , my wife and i can't believe how delicious this is. I did 1 maple and 1 original, i like the maple the best,. Im slightly sick right now by how much i consumed but when i feel better i will go eat the rest, give this recipe a try if you haven't yet, thanks to Meathead and everyone in the pit for the amazing recipes and support ! Im gonna head back to the fryin pan and finish what i started
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My daughter who is a bacon fanatic wasn't so keen on the homemade bacon the first time I made it and she tried it.
I thought it was good and tasted better than store bought but she disagreed.
Well know she refuses to eat store bought. She has also converted a lot of her friends and their families (pressure on me).
The hard part is getting over the difference in texture and taste of the all too familiar store bought product.
Can't agree more nothing beats homemade. -
That bacon looks deliciousComment
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That reminds me, mine is done curing and I need to smoke it. As for taste... one of the things I like is that you can adjust the cure ingredients and can coat it, or not, in different things as you smoke it. Bacon is also probably the easiest thing to make and honestly you could even simply roast it in the oven to 150F or so if you didn't have a smoker handyComment
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Looks fantastic! Congrats!Comment
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We had homemade bacon and eggs pizza for breakfast this morning, such a treat!Comment
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It may be hard to believe but I struggle to find pork belly in my area.Comment
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You can order it, I'd bet. OF course, given that you're where you are, you can also just order Benton's, some of the best bacon I've ever had. I can too, but...Originally posted by DavidNorcross View PostComment
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So what gives the store bought bacon the crispiness that you don't really get with homemade bacon?Last edited by Shockwave; February 28, 2020, 08:51 AM.Comment
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Although thinking about it- the Prague powder probably doesn't have much to do with it. -
Store bacon uses prague 1 and 2 plus cold smoking. The meathead method uses only prague 1 which has sodium nitrite but not nitrate. Although I dont profess to fully understand the chemical reaction differences here, those are the main reasons it will not get as crispy. -
I know that Meathead's article on bacon says store bought bacon uses Prague powder #2, but 9CFR 424.23(b) prohibits use of nitrate in bacon. Store bought bacon is cured and (maybe) smoked, but otherwise raw. When fried at high temperature, it becomes crispy. Home made bacon made IAW the free site recipe is cured and cooked.
Can't speak to "uncured" bacon that is cured with natural sources of nitrite/nitrate like celery powder.
Last edited by johnec00; September 17, 2020, 08:56 PM.
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Something else to contrast this with would be a good artisanal bacon like Bentons which is surprising affordable ($8/lb plus shipping). Smoked in a traditional smoke shack, it's pretty awesome stuff... and very smoky. I don't try to replicate it at home, but it's a good way to experience what you can do at a scale not achievable at home but still with traditional methods.
Video about them here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UUE2v2lPQeQ and here https://vimeo.com/29677209, site here https://bentonscountryhams2.com
I type this having just cooked breakfast with my own bacon... mmm....
PS: Their hams are amazing.Comment
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Bentons is excellent. I am just over an hour away - haven't been up there in awhile, but this thread has reminded me to make a trip up there...Comment
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I have been making my own bacon for a few years now and have bought commercial bacon a couple times since then. There really is no comparison. I like my bacon thick too so I love slicing some nice, thick slices on my slicer. Even the thick cut commercial bacon is too thin for me now.
Earlier this week I tried some Nueske's bacon which is another popular "artisinal" bacon producer along the lines of Bentons, Nodine's, etc. Compared to standard grocery store fare it was good but still couldn't hold a candle to homemade. The smoke and sweet just didn't balance right and there were some other slightly off tastes going on.
And I think I am down to 4 pounds of homemade bacon in the freezer so time to make a Costco run this weekend for some bellies.Comment
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That's the other thing, Joe... the ability to tailor the flavor the way you want. -
You mentioned some " . . . some other slightly off tastes going on. . . . " which brought back a memory: Many, many years ago, I had some dry-cured, smoked bacon and tried to microwave it: my gawd it was nasty and dead tasting. BUT I when I tried frying some (I really love bacon and don't want to waste it), it was absolutely delicious, no bad flavor at all.Last edited by Foehn Watts; February 28, 2020, 03:29 PM.
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Smoking my own is SO much better. It doesn’t initially look cheaper, comparing the cheapest brand at the grocery store vs the cost of my finished product... but it tastes much better AND mine has more meat on it. The grocery store stuff is a lot of fat and water/ shrinks 50% in the pan whereas mine being much meatier doesn’t shrink much. So a better deal all around looking at the after cooking volume 🙂. I usually cut a whole pork belly in 1/2. I do half maple and half savory 😋Comment
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