INFO
Name: Chris
Location: Prairieville, LA (suburb of Baton Rouge)
Hometown: New Orleans
Helpers: Nessa (yellow lab) and Brooks (catahoula/lab mix) SMOKERS AND GRILLS
I am going to be making another batch of bacon this week and will be starting the brine process while we are out of town for christmas. I will be making almost 30 lbs of bacon this batch. I have a big cambro tub that i use for certain things like this and was wondering what I should do if not all the bacon is completely submerged in the brine.
Should I double the brine mixture minus the curing salt (will still have enough curing salt in the brine)? Just add more water? (Will this dilute the brine?)
do you have a cooling rack or something you can fit in the cambro that you can weigh the meat down with to keep it submerged? do it in a big ziplock bag?
INFO
Name: Chris
Location: Prairieville, LA (suburb of Baton Rouge)
Hometown: New Orleans
Helpers: Nessa (yellow lab) and Brooks (catahoula/lab mix) SMOKERS AND GRILLS
the meat floating is not the issue. never had the belly float on me. it sits on the bottom. it is just the amount of liquid the brine calls for in meatheads recipe. I use a big tub that has a lot of surface area so the liquid is spread out.
I don't have big zip locks to do this and not sure if I want to since it is close to 30 lbs of belly that will be in my fridge.
Equipment:
'88 Vintage Fire Magic gasser with over 4000 cooks to its credit
Large Big Green Egg
18 Inch Weber Kettle (Rescued from neighbor's trash)
Rotisserie for 18 inch kettle
Dyna Glo propane smoker
Pit Barrel Cooker
Smokey Joe with mini WSM mod
Garcima paella burner
Anova Sous Vide
Slaiya Sous Vide (gift)
LEM grinder, sausage stuffer and meat slicer (all gifts)
Take a look at Dr. Blonder's Cure Calculator here. It will help you figure the amount of curing salt to add to compensate for added water. Don't know about the amount of salt and other spices that you may use in your brine, but I'd think you would want to add them too so that the concentration is maintained.
What about placing some milk jugs, filled with water, into the tub? If you could put two or three in there, maybe it would displace enough liquid to cover the pork belly. Just an idea. Don't shoot! LOL
INFO
Name: Chris
Location: Prairieville, LA (suburb of Baton Rouge)
Hometown: New Orleans
Helpers: Nessa (yellow lab) and Brooks (catahoula/lab mix) SMOKERS AND GRILLS
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