trogdor 07:53 PM 09-27-2017
I've tried a couple of different bacon curing recipes and prefer savory to sweet.
The interwebs have lots of recipes to choose from - what are your tried and true ones?
Show me your best bacon!
:-)
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Chainsaw13 08:26 PM 09-27-2017
I usually do just a simple salt/sugar cure myself. 2% salt (1.75% salt, 0.25% cure #1) and 2% sugar to weight of meat. Cover meat and let equilibrium cure for a week. Then smoke.
But for savory, try lessening the sugar (still want some to balance the salt) and add items like Chinese five spice powder, say 0.5% to start. Or used Korean hot chili flakes instead of the five spice.
Another good one is coffee/bourbon. Or garlic and fennel seed.
Another is black pepper, juniper berries and thyme.
[Reply]
Chainsaw13 08:29 PM 09-27-2017
trogdor 08:32 PM 09-27-2017
Thanks for the suggestions!
Coffee and bourbon together? About how much coffee grounds? Does the bourbon make it more of a wet cure, or are we only talking a few oz per slab??
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Chainsaw13 08:43 PM 09-27-2017
Again I'd start light with weight to percentage of meat. That way you can easily adjust on the next batch either up or down. Start with 0.5%. So for 1000g of belly, 50 grams of grounds. Bourbon will make it a wet rub, so increase the percentages a bit to compensate. I'd start with a half cup per kilo. Weigh if you can just for future reference.
That's the cool thing about eq curing, it'll never get too salty as there's only 2% salt in the cure.
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Chainsaw13 08:44 PM 09-27-2017
If you're on FB, look for the group, The Salt Cured Pig. Lots of recipes there if you use the search function. Although FB searching blows.
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trogdor 09:13 PM 09-27-2017
Awesome, thanks! I've got some stuff to try now
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Chainsaw13 09:20 PM 09-27-2017
Sounds good. The thing with each curing is giving it enough time to penetrate all the way through. 7-10 days should be plenty.
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icehog3 10:19 PM 09-27-2017
Single white male seeking petite brunette or redhead fully draped in cooked bacon.
Am I in the wrong place?
:-)
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