Discussion
I'm sure this has been covered but the infamous PH search isn't doing it's thing.
Having had a total disaster with some bacon this evening I'm determined to do better.
HFW suggests salting for 3-5 days, rinsing, drying etc and I don't think the basic process is a challenge. What I'm interested in is first hand experiences of wet/dry cure and smoking (I don't have a smoker).
Having had a total disaster with some bacon this evening I'm determined to do better.
HFW suggests salting for 3-5 days, rinsing, drying etc and I don't think the basic process is a challenge. What I'm interested in is first hand experiences of wet/dry cure and smoking (I don't have a smoker).
Back when I 'were a lad', my Granny would cure her own bacon from one of our pigs (I was a born on a farm) Oh how I wish I'd learned her secrets, it was the best bacon I had ever tasted, before and since.
Sorry it's no help to you, but I will be watching the thread with bated breath!
Sorry it's no help to you, but I will be watching the thread with bated breath!
I have done the hfw recipe as well as several others. Don't get me wrong- I really like hfw but I found the hfw recipe way too salty and that is also the general consensus on the curing website that I was getting help from. Sausagemaking.org I think. It did seem to mellow after a couple of weeks though. I would use much less salt than hfs recommends. His quantities of salt petre are also a bit worrying for a potentially hazardous ingredient.
Pete Franklin said:
I have done the hfw recipe as well as several others. Don't get me wrong- I really like hfw but I found the hfw recipe way too salty and that is also the general consensus on the curing website that I was getting help from. Sausagemaking.org I think. It did seem to mellow after a couple of weeks though. I would use much less salt than hfs recommends. His quantities of salt petre are also a bit worrying for a potentially hazardous ingredient.
Agreed - the H F-W recipe is very salty and would need soaking. However that's the traditional way in my quarter of north-eastern Europe. (No saltpetre is used, since it's cold enough not to need it.)I make my own bacon all the time now - as someone else has pointed out, it's a quarter the price of shop bought bacon but with the added benefit of knowing where your pork belly has come from (plus the ability to choose the one you want which I find helps)
I bought a pre-made cure from a source (which i'm trying to find as we speak) and just follow their instructions - which is basically 30-40grams of cure per kilo of meat, rub it thoroughly into the meat and then seal in a bag or tupperware for up to a week. Every day I turn it over and pop it back into the fridge, easy. I tend to cure my bacon for 7 days as I prefer it a bit more salty but that's easy enough to modulate for individual tastes.
After a week i then rinse the belly thoroughly in water, pat it dry with paper towels and then put it on a plate in the fridge for 24 hours or so to allow the pellicle to form - a sticky, vaguely slimy, sheen that forms on the surface, very important for the next step... smoking!
I bought one of these - www.macsbbq.co.uk/CSG.html - and use it in my Weber Smokey Mountain, but all you need is a cardboard box (they sell one on their site which seem a tad OTT for a cardboard box). I cold smoke it for about 6 hours depending upon the size of the belly and tend to use oak or apple wood.
I'm fortunate that there's a kitchen at work with a deli-slicer in it and a chef who's happy to be paid in bacon to use it!
The finished product is without a doubt the best bacon i've ever tasted - he says modestly!
I bought a pre-made cure from a source (which i'm trying to find as we speak) and just follow their instructions - which is basically 30-40grams of cure per kilo of meat, rub it thoroughly into the meat and then seal in a bag or tupperware for up to a week. Every day I turn it over and pop it back into the fridge, easy. I tend to cure my bacon for 7 days as I prefer it a bit more salty but that's easy enough to modulate for individual tastes.
After a week i then rinse the belly thoroughly in water, pat it dry with paper towels and then put it on a plate in the fridge for 24 hours or so to allow the pellicle to form - a sticky, vaguely slimy, sheen that forms on the surface, very important for the next step... smoking!
I bought one of these - www.macsbbq.co.uk/CSG.html - and use it in my Weber Smokey Mountain, but all you need is a cardboard box (they sell one on their site which seem a tad OTT for a cardboard box). I cold smoke it for about 6 hours depending upon the size of the belly and tend to use oak or apple wood.
I'm fortunate that there's a kitchen at work with a deli-slicer in it and a chef who's happy to be paid in bacon to use it!
The finished product is without a doubt the best bacon i've ever tasted - he says modestly!
I don't do it often because it's hard to slice, but diced it's fantastic.Yes, as a rule of thumb (or belly!) 2 days per inch thickness + 2 days. But that is for a few stacked up, so maybe lose a day.
A 3-4 day cure won't keep for ages, but will be less salty and will be fine in the fridge in some muslin.
Maybe add some brown sugar to the cure too.
As others have said, it is more pancetta style than breakfast rashers. Lovely though.
A 3-4 day cure won't keep for ages, but will be less salty and will be fine in the fridge in some muslin.
Maybe add some brown sugar to the cure too.
As others have said, it is more pancetta style than breakfast rashers. Lovely though.
Todzilla said:
How wide is the small piece of belly you've got? The ratio of cure to pork is the key from what I understand - so you'll need to establish the weight to get an idea of the amount of cure. Time wise i'd err on the side of slightly longer, something more like 4-5 days...
Ah, I've just rubbed a handful on and bunged it in a box in the bottom of the fridge. It's only about 8x4 inches. Weighs .6kg
http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2006/nov/11...
This is what I've done IIRC. (Don't have his book to hand.)
This is what I've done IIRC. (Don't have his book to hand.)
I have been working on getting a really good bacon cure for a while (after trying HFWs method and coming up with an incredibly salty disaster!)
The latest incarnation of my dry cure is as follows;
For 1kg belly pork - boned and trimmed weight
18.5g sea salt
10.0g soft molasses sugar
2.5g Prague powder #1
Rub the pork thoroughly with the cure mix and place in a poly bag in the fridge for 5/6 days
Rinse and hang to dry in a cool draft for 24 hours
optionaly cold smoke over apple or plum wood for 7 hours
Rest in the fridge for 3 days before slicing
I know it doesn't look like much cure mix for the quantity of meat but it really does work well. Any more leaves an inedibly salty bacon. The Prague powder is particularly important as the nitrites act as a antimicrobial for clostridium botulinum which is essential in a long cure and smoking at moderate temperatures.
The latest incarnation of my dry cure is as follows;
For 1kg belly pork - boned and trimmed weight
18.5g sea salt
10.0g soft molasses sugar
2.5g Prague powder #1
Rub the pork thoroughly with the cure mix and place in a poly bag in the fridge for 5/6 days
Rinse and hang to dry in a cool draft for 24 hours
optionaly cold smoke over apple or plum wood for 7 hours
Rest in the fridge for 3 days before slicing
I know it doesn't look like much cure mix for the quantity of meat but it really does work well. Any more leaves an inedibly salty bacon. The Prague powder is particularly important as the nitrites act as a antimicrobial for clostridium botulinum which is essential in a long cure and smoking at moderate temperatures.
Well it sort of worked. I left it until Sunday to try it so that was just barely 5 days. Each day I drained off any liquid and rubbed a bit more of the cure on it.
On Sunday was desperate to try it so I rinsed it off and sliced a bit off, fried it...
Sort of expected that though. So stuck it in a pot of cold water for a couple of hours. Rinsed and dried. Sliced half into rashers and fried it to make bacon sandwiches for lunch. 
After soaking the initial saltiness went which was good but it definitely needs more than 5 days. Local butcher who uses the same method says 10 days. One thing that threw me was (without the sodium nitrate) my "bacon" was white/grey like cooked pork and not pink. As I'm curing the next batch for longer and probably smoking it as well I'll use some nitrate to see the effect.
Anyway the last bit just went in after refitting the oven for a late lunch.
On Sunday was desperate to try it so I rinsed it off and sliced a bit off, fried it...
Sort of expected that though. So stuck it in a pot of cold water for a couple of hours. Rinsed and dried. Sliced half into rashers and fried it to make bacon sandwiches for lunch. After soaking the initial saltiness went which was good but it definitely needs more than 5 days. Local butcher who uses the same method says 10 days. One thing that threw me was (without the sodium nitrate) my "bacon" was white/grey like cooked pork and not pink. As I'm curing the next batch for longer and probably smoking it as well I'll use some nitrate to see the effect.
Anyway the last bit just went in after refitting the oven for a late lunch.
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