The 2017 Makin' Bacon Thread

Yessirs and ma-ams, this is all about BACON. One of the areas I wanted to branch out to this year is making my favorite food group. I'll warn you right now. You arent going to save money. But you will be able to flavor in any variation you want. You can't buy that at the store.

I'm starting out small. Anyone that has ready my other sausage posts knows that I like scaling. I even made a spreadsheet for that. So, I asked for 2 lbs and that's just what I got. If this "sails" as judged by my family, I'll order 5 to 10 lbs at a time.

For today's start, I found some pork belly at the local Asian market. It was cut kinda weird, like a big long strip with a big fat end, kinda like a brisket. It would take longer than 7 days to cure so I cut it off. That will get used in future sausage recipes that have venison.

I also removed the skin. It was my preference to do that and it will make some cracklins in due time.




Next come the spices and additives. I'm keeping it simple today - instead of making a bacon cure, I'm using Mortons Tender Quick mixed with cinnamon, pepper, and dark brown sugar. This is going to be an oven cure, so I also added a couple dashes of Colgans liquid smoke.




Here's what it looks like before the packaging. I'm using my Foodsaver and stopping it just short of a hard vacuum. I want the juices, spices, and cure circulate when I flip it over each day.




And finally - the product going into the meat keeper in the fridge. Only one more pic to post after this one, but that won't be for 7 more days!




PS. Some of the pics haven't shown up yet but they were saved. I think the server is resizing then because they were too large. I'll check back later and if they aren't there I'll resize and repost.

PSS. I fixed it

oven cure? how long and what temp? did you put in the oven prior to sealing?

Hi PMK, it is still curing in the fridge and it'll stay there for 6 more days. Each day I flip it over.

On the 7th day I'll insert a meat thermometer and finish cure in the oven until it gets to 155 F. It still needs cooking on a skillet before eating.

Here's the process I'm testing. This info comes from a lot of internet sources, but it is my my own. I'm documenting my process and recipes for my kids in case they want it someday. That's why it reads like a manual (cause it is). I tend to over explain, which is better than leaving questions on the table.

Bacon Cure with Morton Tender Quick
Provides a properly cured and cooked bacon slab or Canadian bacon. For bacon, go to an Asian market and buy a pork belly. For Canadian bacon, go to any store and buy a loin (backstrap). If this is wild hog, freeze it for 1 month at 0 F. before proceeding.

1. Trim the pork belly as needed to remove any loose ends and fillet off the skin.
2. Dry rub Morton Tender Quick on all surfaces of the meat.
3. Dry rub all additional spices, syrup, etc. on all surfaces of the meat.
4. Place meat into a Foodsaver bag and vacuum seal on the wet setting.
5. Place into the refrigerator and flip the meat once daily until cure time is over.
6. Cure time at a rate of 7 days per inch thickness using one application of Tender Quick.
7. Remove meat from bag and rinse thoroughly.
8. Soak meat in ice water in the refrigerator for 3 hours, then rinse again.
9. Cook in smoker at 200F with light smoke until internal temp reaches 150F.
10 Set in freezer until very firm and slice into desired strips.
11 Package as desired, vacuum seal and freeze for long term storage.

This his intrigued me. Really want to see how this turns out

Stay tuned 2Beez. Here's day 2 flipped over. The juices are developing into a brine just as expected; and it's starting to take up a red color.

I might have to give this a try.

my dad used to do all sorts of stuff like this including a wide variety of sausages. some how when we were cleaning out the house when my parents passed, the sausage cookbook with all of dad's little tweaks on their recipes got misplaced ... man oh man how I wish I still had that book!!! he had perfected several different sausage recipes that were as good or better than I have ever had since. He did bacon too but I don't recall him ever using syrup (none in our family were big on maple).

Day 4, Keeping the thread alive. Another expected change, the meaat is firming up nicey. Here it is fat side up again.

Looking good. Tuesday here we come. Thanks for updating it with a pic of the process

Twas the night before bacon
all is curing real nice
The burger is jealous
My taste buds are a-akin

Just 24 hours
and we leave the brine
And if this was a wasted effort
It will get no more time

So I leave one more photo
for ya-all to enjoy
Cause I'm sure after tomorrow
It'll be et by the boy

Where ya at decook

LOL, I'm still here and waiting just like you. The supreme owner of the kitchen told me to wait till the weekend

I have Friday off and she don't so this is goin' down tomorrow.

It's Friday.... We are all waiting for the results!!!!

Try just slicing the raw bacon and package, then freeze. When you're ready to cook, season with black pepper, onion and, garlic powder, and a little salt. Beats cured and smoked bacon hands down.

It's in progress booger. I unpackaged it and it is resting in a fresh water ice bath to leach off excess salt.

Smelled great!

Here we are just rinsed and going into the water bath. Color looks great.

fmrmbmlm I'll remember this for another time. I'll work out this process as planned but will consider what you posted.
thanks!!

Here we go, the final cure at a leisurely 200 deg. sauna. I'll pull it out at 155F, then put it back in the fridge until tomorrow, when it gets sliced up,fried, and tried! I ground up some more fresh pepper over the meat side to replace what was washed off.

Looks awesome!

** Major Update - NEWS FLASH **
This stuff looks great, and the smell is even better. Wow, it came out better than I thought.

What say THF, and yes I know it isnt fried up yet. That'll be the next pic.
Now, back to slicing up the other hunk. Those small pieces go to the next pot of Texas beans I make.

That looks legit Decook Very well done and we need more pics

2Beez, it is stupid simple to make too. The hardest part is choosing the dry rub spices. Final pics tomorrow because after all this we didn't have eggs

So, I went hunting instead. Oh, speaking of, I met a lot of your namesakes, but there were a lot more than 2 (bees). I hunted SHNF so I had hunter orange on and every bee in the territory beelined right for me.

That bacon looks great!

Bazinga. That isn't what 2Bee'z stands for lol...

Today was bacon frying day.




This turned out better that I thought. The internal color of the cooked and fried bacon was great, just what I was looking for. The saltiness was perfect. This has a great base bacon flavor.

The texture was even better. I've had thick cut bacon before, but this is on a whole new level. The texture was "meaty", and a bit chewy. Kind of like eating a rare thin cut steak but with a bacon flavor. I'm not sure after eating this that I could go back to store bought again and enjoy it.

My added flavors need considering. The fresh course grind pepper was right on. The cinnamon was the wrong aromatic as much as I love that spice. The brown sugar just didn't seem to fit either and it made the product just a shade too dark for my bacon expectations.

I'm going to re-work those spices. I'm thinking about using pure honey instead of added processed sugar to offset the salt. I might also add in some fresh garlic and maybe another aromatic if it isn't too strong. We'll see.

The beauty of all this is I can do what I want.

Here's this morning's breakfast. It's a sight better than chicken livers (to me) -

Would Very nice write up Decook

Anyone else giving this a shot? Chime in here if you are. I'll be doing my next batch in a couple of weeks or so.

So I go through Montgomery to my lease, how bout a bacon hook up man.

Hey, text me next time you're passing through.

Might be end of Feb or in March.
Lease is in Richards.

That'll work. I'll see what I can do

Bacon for beer or whatever?

You help me drink it and I'll help you eat it. Fine plan indeed..

SCORE
Round two. This time it's 6.75 lbs, but some of this will get trimmed off. I'll post the recipe in a bit (when I decide on it).

Here's today's recipe. We worked it out today as a family by using the sniff and yum method of what we thought would taste great. I changed my mind on the brown sugar but I did scale it way back. The last batch had too much. Nothing in this list is too aromatic or overpowering. They all should go together very well.

I'll have to cut off about 1.5 lbs of meat that'll go towards the 2017 makin sausage thread when it gets started up. I figured about 4 lbs, but it'll get weighed and then the recipe scaled accordingly..

Bump to keep the interest up. In the curing fridge waiting for superbowl sunday.

I am in. Is this one going 7 days like the last one?

Haha. Yeah last time extended a little. Just for that wisecracking I'm gonna email you fresh homemade bacon cookin smell 2beez

Damn... what a d**k move lol. I didn't mean it the way you took it Didn't know if you were changing due to rub content and how that works with the curing process. No worries just learning.

No, last time I had to follow orders from 5he owner of the kitchen. The valuable lesson I learned is that it is easier to beg forgiveness than permission.

No worries 2beez I'm having as much fun as you are on this thread.

The business section of the Houston Chronicle reported that pork bellies were in short supply this year.

Yes I believe it Mr Oxner. The price of this cut is sky high. HEB has them but around 8 bucks a pound.

You can always grow your own, if you have the space. These two sows were trapped as shoats and penned up. My buddy raised them on corn & sweet feed. We slaughtered them Tuesday. He kept them not too fat/not too skinny. The pork bellies looked awfully good. A lot of good meat on these two porkers. They had a darn good fat to meat ratio and more fat than you would think.

It'll be done soon...

I figured it was about that time

Pics later tonight when I do the slicing. Hang around a bit...

Annnnnnnnndddddd heeerrrreeeesssss
BACON!

Lots of pepper topping when it went into the final cure. My next test will prevent unneeded waste - I'll leave the skin on until the final cure then just peel it off. I'm too full to try this tonight so it'll wait until tomorrow and adjust from there.

That looks outstanding. Love me some peppered bacon. Is that cut a little thicker than the last batch?

Yeah. I tried one of those slicer things my wife had. Didn't work worth a darn and I had to go back to the knife and get it straightened out. The other hunk was started with the knife so it sliced up better. I really need to get a meat slicer.

DeCook,

If you chill the bacon down to about 28-30 degrees it will slice much more evenly. It almost has to be frozen to slice on a home meat slicer. It helps even when cutting with a knife. The meat and fat won't be frozen solid until it gets well below freezing, but it firms it up for cutting more easily.

David

Yeah, I did that David. I put the hunks in the freezer for about 45 minutes or so before I tried. It still cut the meat concave. The knife was much better but the carpal in my hands gets to hurting.

Wherever I get a lease this year is going to have pigs and I'm going into pork belly production. I want enough to make that electric slicer worth the money.

Going to lease at end of the month, will help you eat that bacon.

Looks tasty

Looks great. Next time try baking it in the oven instead of pan frying. Cookie sheet covered with parchment paper, place in an oven at 400 hundred degrees (I think it's a cold oven, but I could be wrong) and cook to the consistency you prefer. This allows you to easily cook large batches of bacon without all the mess and burns from popping grease.

Thanks bigjoe, I'll try that. The nice thing about this bacon is that the popping spitting and splattering is minimal. I don't inject a brine so there isn't all that added water to steam up. There's a little but nothing near a mass produced slab. They can't afford to make it like I do - time is money.

That is how Green's bacon is. You don't get the pop and spatter and it fries very nicely in a skillet.

Cured this and sliced up this week.

Man that looks perfect.

Perfect Buckrage. Man that looks good. I'm out of homemade bacon so I have to suffer through store bought till I kill a pig at the new lease.

Did you go light on the spices? That's going to be my next try. I'm thinking "lesser is better" in that department. What I made was good but not what I really wanted. I do like that pepper though.

So how did it taste?

Unbelievable taste. Cured 12 days with brown sugar. Coated in course pepper before it got a 6 hr cold smoke bath. Sliced it thick and man its good.

This was right after the cure and soaked in ice water to remove some salt. Patted dry and coated in course pepper. Had to cut in half to get it to hang right in the smoker.







When it was curing

That is some B A pork belly, where did you get it?

Your post is making me rethink my process. I am making a cold smoker and planned on doing this when it's ready. 6 hours is more than I would have done so I'm glad you wrote this. Yep, I think I'm on the right track of "lesser is better" when it comes to added spices.

Did you get the belly from HEB? They sell first class bellies.

Costco. I used a pellet tray in my smoker for the cold smoke. You might not need to as long with a traditional stick smoker. Depends how much smoke you like. There's no doubt mines smoked lol but I think it's perfect and so does everyone that's had it so far. Decook... what spices did you use for your cure process?

That slab....bout 10lbs turned into this. Each package has about 10 thick cut slices. Some real thick lol

Here's the first go at it,

Spice
Cinnamon, ground - 1.23 Grams
Sugar, Brown - 43.64 Grams
Couple dashes of Colgans

And then my second cure,

Spice
Pepper, black - 14.77 Grams
Sugar, brown - 11.35 Grams
Onion powder - 2.07 Grams
Paprika, ground - 1.18 Grams
Fennel, whole - 1.18 Grams
Coriander, ground - 0.89 Grams

Both tasted like bacon, but it also tasted like all those other flavors too. It wasn't bad but it wasn't exactly what i wanted either. That's why I'm going back to a simple recipe and if I want to add in something more later I will.

Try this...

Per 5lbs of belly

1/4 cup of salt
1/2 cup of brown sugar or maple syrup
1 teaspoon pink salt

Rub on pink salt first coating evenly
Then salt
Then Brown sugar

Put it in a large bag or container so it lays flat and turn daily. If using maple put the bacon in the bag first then add maple syrup and massage it around to evenly distribute. I use a vac sealed bag to get out the air and keep ingredients tight against the meat. Zip locks will work as well just push out the air. 7 days minimum but more the better. You can under cure but you can't over cure. When ready I take it out rinse it and put it in ice water for an hour at a time. At the end of each hour I cut off a small test piece from the center to cook and taste for saltiness. When it was what I wanted I took it out patted dry and coated with pepper. I let it air dry a little more then put in the cold smoker. I think you might have used to many seasonings IMO but that's the great thing..you can adjust flavor to your liking. Next I'm trying with honey (in place of sugar) and another with dark beer with brown sugar.

Oh and I wouldn't cure with whatever you decide to coat the outside with like pepper.

Macon Bacon great job guys

BuckRage I didn't say in my reply but I was using Morton TenderQuick that has both the sugar, salt, and curing salt. I have a bunch of this and I want to use it up. I thought about honey too and posted that a few weeks ago but at crunch time I didn't have any.

I used too many seasonings and I won't do that again. If there's a flavor I want to try, I'll start with the base which is what you posted. Then I'll add in whatever flavor ONE AT A TIME and try it. After years of reloading you'd think I'd know and use that approach.

Thanks Stub - you need to try this!

BEER - what a heck of an idea!

I like this thread, decook. Thanks for posting. Your bacon looks GOOD too BTW. I DANG sure would love to test it out.

Lots of great info in here. I am going to have to try to find some meat and try this. Thanks guys

Looks amazing!

going to pick up 20 more pounds of belly tonight and start another curing session. I'll post up some pics if I remember lol. Thinking about trying buckboard bacon soon as well. That'd make a heck of a BLT

Right on. How much per pound is Cosco asking now?

2.79 or .89. Just got done with one belly.

Wow that's a great price. HEB has the same type of slab for around 8 bucks a pound.

finished up another batch last night.

Had to dig this out from way back!!!

Finally found some pork belly where we live and going to try my hand at Making Bacon!!

If the plain method turns out good I may try to make some jalapeno style next.

I made a batch following BuckRage's recipe and cold smoked it for 7 hours with hickory pellets. It turned out great, I'll never buy bacon from the store again. Will try to remember to post some pics.

I'm on day 3 of the cure and having a hard time not getting into it now!!!

RESIST at all cost! You can do it. Don't forget to chill it nice and cold before you slice it.

Just took the bacon out and made 4 thick slices...
OH MY GOSH!! I will never buy bacon again!!!!

Now to sharpen my knife and wait for the chill.

I spoke to butcher at HEB and he said all they need is a couple days notice to get the belly in. I'll be taking them up on that.

Just a note: I did not have brown sugar so I used regular sugar. The flavor was really good but I can imagine how that will effect the taste. Also, I'm going to vacuum seal the belly instead of just a ziplock bag.

I'll try to get pictures tomorrow and post them if I can.

Having photobucket issues.... little help!!!

If there is anyone willing to post the pictures for me I'd be indebted!

That's ok booger - I know first hand what it looks like. C'mon 2Beez time for you to make a slab there brother -

Darn, I'm ready to rip off my sleeves and say git-r-done
-d

PM sent. text that over amigo.

Thanks for the help 2Beez!

Would

Just some FYI:

Bacon cured for 4 and a half days using the recipe listed earlier. I could not wait any longer so there was no smoke added either. In the pictures you can see some expensive commercial thick sliced bacon I had on hand to comparison.... there was none!!

Next round of bacon will be rubbed down with pepper purée then cured.

Here is my contribution. Used BuckRage's recipe and did one slab with brown sugar and the other with maple syrup, cured for 14 days. Soaked in ice water for a few hours and fried a small piece to taste every hour until I reached desired saltiness. Cold smoked both slabs for nearly 8hrs (all night) with hickory pellets then let them rest in the fridge. Chilled them in the deep freeze for a few hours prior to slicing. The slicer made it a quick and easy job and sliced up all 10 lbs in a matter of minutes, then I got out the chamber vacuum sealer and sealed everything up. Did a few 1/2 lb packages so I can give them away to friends.

This bacon is amazing...it actually tastes like pork. Perfect amount of smoke. The color in the pics doesn't quite do it justice as I was taking them with an old phone and the camera definitely lost its edge. I will definitely be making more in the cold months.

Looks great gentlemen

Bringing it to the top for a bud in the office. That's right Scott - time for you to join the THF.

Time for you to make another batch is what it is Where you at Scott?

So far I've made regular, extra brown sugar rubbed, jalapeño, extra cracked black pepper and they've all been great.

Next on my list??? Taking suggestions

I've also smoked a couple a batches with hickory which taste great too!

I just finished a batch of Bourbon Brown Sugar, that was cold smoked with hickory for 8 hours. My favorite so far!