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Stop eating store bought bacon!

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    #16
    I have some curing in the fridge right now. I can’t wait to smoke it on Tuesday and try it. It’s my first time making it.

    update: Just smoked mine and all I can say is "OMG!!!". The maple bacon is so good words can’t describe.
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    Last edited by snookduff; March 10, 2020, 11:01 AM.

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    • rickgregory
      rickgregory commented
      Editing a comment
      Before you smoke it and after you wash off the cure, slice a bit off and fry it up. Taste it. If it's too salty, pop the belly in water for 8-24 hours to desalinate a bit.

    • marshall
      marshall commented
      Editing a comment
      Awesome! Take some pics, and tell us how you liked it

    #17
    Today I start brining my second pork belly! Results are amazing! My wife uses the final product in vegetables and many of her Chinese dishes... so tasty! I do desalinate for 4 hours as I don’t like salty bacon. I will use Red Oak and Cherry for the smoking!
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    • FireMan
      FireMan commented
      Editing a comment
      Hey, a charter dude & ya drop a bomb on us in 2020, welcome sorta, even though ya been around awhile.

    #18
    Reviving this thread. I’ve got a belly in the brine, currently on day 4. Will likely have time to smoke it Saturday. I’ve been waiting for my veggie guy, he’s got some purple Cherokee tomatoes ready. I see a monster BLT in my future!

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    • JoeSousa
      JoeSousa commented
      Editing a comment
      Aside from just eating the bacon by itself a good BLT is the best application for good bacon. And tomatoes for that matter.

    #19
    This post just jogged a memory from my youth...

    My Dad and I had an annual spring fishin' and campin' trip for years. It started with just him and I, but over the years friends and relatives joined in. One year a farming cousin joined us. He brought meats including home cured bacon. Fearing there wasn't enough, my dad cooked two pans of bacon - one pan had the bacon my cousin brought, and the other pan had store bought bacon.
    When breakfast was ready, my cousin went straight for the store bought because he very seldom got it while the rest of us dove into his bacon 'cause we very seldom had it. Great memories...

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      #20
      Timely post. I'm starting the cure on my first home made tomorrow using a variation on Meathead's maple using molasses and espresso coffee instead of maple syrup. I know - I can't just leave well enough alone.

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        #21
        It’s getting jiggy with it. Went with apple wood,
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          #22
          Heading to Costco in a few minutes, thanks for reminding me to put pork belly on the list!

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            #23
            Delicious! Now the hard part, let it relax in some plastic wrap and the chill chest until tomorrow.
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              #24
              Definitely one of the finer things in life!

              Comment


              • au4stree
                au4stree commented
                Editing a comment
                Bacon is undefeated.

              • Foehn Watts
                Foehn Watts commented
                Editing a comment
                au4stree when I first glanced at your post, I thought you said "Bacon is under rated". But then I read more carefully and gave a sigh of relief because bacon IS undefeated!

              #25
              I have been thinking of smoking my own bacon and found a site that does not use nitrites, just salt, sugar, and pepper.

              I know that it has to be kept frozen if you don't use nitirites (Pink salt, prague power, etc.). Wonder if anyone has tried it.

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              #26
              Originally posted by MauleGuy View Post
              I have been thinking of smoking my own bacon and found a site that does not use nitrites, just salt, sugar, and pepper.

              I know that it has to be kept frozen if you don't use nitirites (Pink salt, prague power, etc.). Wonder if anyone has tried it.
              The first batch I did I used a nitrate free recipe from some random site and got away with it, the flavour was great.
              At the time my eldest daughter had recently graduated Biotechnology and lectured me at length about the use of curing salt for safety.
              I must have discovered AR about the same time, as I recall reading up a lot about it here saying the same thing.
              Bought myself some #1 Pink salt and have used it ever since, not worth rolling the dice I reckon.

              Nitrites doesn't deserve all the bad press it gets, the amount you consume is minuscule per serve of bacon, do the math.
              Research Botulism and see how much you want to goad that sucker, as well as anyone else that enjoys your bacon.


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                #27
                Originally posted by MauleGuy View Post
                I have been thinking of smoking my own bacon and found a site that does not use nitrites, just salt, sugar, and pepper.

                I know that it has to be kept frozen if you don't use nitirites (Pink salt, prague power, etc.). Wonder if anyone has tried it.
                Don't do it. First off, botulism. Second, botulism. Third, b... well no. But nitrites exist in regular food too. The 'uncured' stuff being sold? Has celery salts. Which have... guess. Go ahead. The amount of nitrites you use is minuscule and, frankly, if you're all about health, bacon isn't precisely a healthy food in itself.

                Comment


                • Foehn Watts
                  Foehn Watts commented
                  Editing a comment
                  I gotta ask: then by your statement, shoud we eat ANY home smoked, non-nitrate/nitrite meat, smoked at around 200º F? The atmosphere in a smoker has plenty of oxygen in it, but humans would not like to breathe this because of the inhaled smoke.

                  Am I missing something? Is bacon more risky than any other meat/cut? Is it the length of time the stuff is smoked? Is it a lack of nitrites/nitrates? The time in the smoker? The smoker temperature? A combination of all of these?

                  Thank you.

                • rickgregory
                  rickgregory commented
                  Editing a comment
                  So, I'm not a health expert. Personally, I'd not eat a meat that was 'cured' for a long time without pink salt containing sodium nitrite and then smoked. It's the combination of curing for days or more and the smoking that, to my knowledge, increases the risk. If you put a rub on fresh belly then smoked it, you're fine. Same for fresh sausage. That's why there's no issue with brisket, chicken, pork butt, etc. They're not cured and then smoked, they're just rubbed, perhaps with salt, and smoked.
                  Last edited by rickgregory; September 17, 2020, 02:54 PM.

                • Foehn Watts
                  Foehn Watts commented
                  Editing a comment
                  rickgregory : I will start a new reply just below to pass on some info I found, please look below.

                #28
                rickgregory I will leave you with following I found, from the National Center for Home Food Preservation (NCHFP). Curing and Smoking Meats for Home Food Preservation Literature Review and Critical Preservation Point

                Paragraphs 3.1, 3.1.1 and 3.1.2 look to me to be addressing what you are talking about. Cold smoking is way different than hot smoking.

                Thanks! Good discussion, and an important one.

                And I almost forgot! This page Cold Smoking Meats: Don't Do It!
                Last edited by Foehn Watts; September 17, 2020, 06:25 PM.

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                • rickgregory
                  rickgregory commented
                  Editing a comment
                  Im not talking about cold smoking. And do what you want. Ultimately, unless you hurt someone else, it's your life.

                • ecowper
                  ecowper commented
                  Editing a comment
                  One of the big differences between bacon smoked to 155 and brisket smoked to 200, give or take, is .... the temperature. Once that meat has been over 160F for hours, there’s nothing left alive in it.

                #29
                I picked up some sliced pork bellies at Costco some time ago, and wet-cured them for five days with a salt with 0.5% NaNO2. I will smoke them tomorrow according to Prof. Meathead’s recommendation! Most of the salts Meathead references (e.g., Prague #1) have a 6.5% nitrite content, and I’m curious about the 10-fold difference in nitrite content (both were negative for nitrate) and its effect on the cure. Does Dr. Blonder have any insight?

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                  #30
                  Grew up in Claremont New Hampshire but since I left in '70 a local butcher opened North Country Smokehouse. It has taken off over the years with a great website and now some of the local NH chains carry their products. Love their bacon and the sausages are terrific. Now I haven't tried my own on the PBC but will. I'll have to do a taste test between NCS and what I produce. If curious here is their website https://ncsmokehouse.com/

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