Let's Talk BBQ
Cured Meats & Food Preservation => Cured meats & Food Preservation => Charcuterie: Ham, Bacon, Sausage, etc. => Topic started by: TentHunteR on January 17, 2012, 08:02:38 PM
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This is a recipe I created a few years back, which was inspired by the Farmland brand "Cider House Applewood-smoked bacon." Ever since, it has become our overall favorite bacon around here. It has a nice hint of sweetness, balance with a slight tang from the cider. And the Applewood smoke just completes the flavor profile. We love the stuff!
Of course you can use whatever smoke flavor you like, but for this bacon, I really like the applewood best.
Start with fresh pork belly.
(https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-hiF6cSVyb8Q/UNzSZ-bYRsI/AAAAAAAAELw/LcnDuLpw6wA/s640/CHBACN01.JPG)
Skinned & trimmed into slabs.
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-GMwv1GieOQE/UWuQD74oCqI/AAAAAAAAEtw/rA3kzcm3Ijw/s740/BACON02.JPG)
I like to mix the brine in a large stock pot, where I can stir it vigorously without making a mess. As long as you use filtered or distilled water, there is no need to boil the brine. If you use tap water, boil and let it cool to room temp BEFORE adding the cure #1!
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-bKRTK00b618/UWuQDyHURFI/AAAAAAAAEus/tzlWj-z_ImM/s640/BACON03b.JPG)
Single batch:
(enough for a 10 - 12lb belly)
4 Quarts Water (preferably filtered or distilled)
2 Quarts Apple Cider
1 - 1.25 cups Pickling Salt (depending on how salty you want it.)
6 tsp. Curing Salt #1 (Insta-cure #1, Prague Powder #1, etc.)
1/2 Cup Sugar
1 Cup Brown Sugar (packed)
This recipe can be used two ways:
1) Immersion Cure Only (just stick it in the brine) for 10 - 14 days, or...
2) Inject at a 30% pump rate, then brine for 3 - 5 days.
I now prefer injecting the pork bellies. It gets more of the cider flavor into the bacon and I just simply get better results. Not to mention it cuts the brining time down to 3 days!
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-N5q6KYfKcQ8/Up9tpdR4c0I/AAAAAAAAFzI/7p4lzkrCCPcDIHTbp8LrAyTRzJKiakxyQCCo/s739-Ic42/HORZRULE.GIF)
To inject:
1) Measure out 6 liq oz of brine for each 1.25 lbs of pork belly, or follow the "Brine Pump Rate Chart" for a 30%
pump in the Ham Brining 101 thread - Section 4 (http://www.letstalkbbq.com/index.php?topic=7137.msg92454#msg92454).
2) Use a regular meat injector and inject the brine evenly about every 2 inches or so. It does NOT have to
be perfect.
3) Some brine will leak out. Don't worry, just collect what leaked out and re-inject a second time. Most of the
brine will be absorbed, but you will have some that seeps out. This is fine, because the bacon will be going
into the brine!
Pour the remaining brine into your brining container and go on to the next step.
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-N5q6KYfKcQ8/Up9tpdR4c0I/AAAAAAAAFzI/7p4lzkrCCPcDIHTbp8LrAyTRzJKiakxyQCCo/s739-Ic42/HORZRULE.GIF)
Cover the slabs with brine, add a weight to keep them submerged, cover and place into the fridge for: 10 - 14 days if not injecting, or 3 - 5 days if injecting. Overhaul (flip & rotate) every couple days.
(https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-k7bgjSJBIlQ/UWuQEVIkBKI/AAAAAAAAEuo/EIIN5P5K3sY/s740/BACON04.JPG)
Cured and, air drying on racks under a fan to form a pellicle.
(https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-YEmp1g_FX_g/UWuQEU5P1JI/AAAAAAAAEt8/Bx41hkSbvoY/s740/BACON05.JPG)
I like to start off with a good 5 - 6 hour cold smoke using 100% Apple pellets in the A-Maze-N tube smoker to compliment the apple cider flavor.
(https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-bCsewHXQrGs/UWuQEtsvo5I/AAAAAAAAEuI/KryRVYpDUQg/s640/BACON06.JPG)
Getting some nice color already! Next, it's time to hot-smoke at 165° - 185° (smoke mode on the MAK), until an Internal Temperature of 145° - 152° is reach. Again my preference is apple wood smoke.
(https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-tLuJMzVdevA/UWuQE3uRCDI/AAAAAAAAEuQ/XcvVQpK6_9Y/s740/BACON07.JPG)
Hot smoking to an I.T. of 145° - 152° sets the bacon a little better than cold-smoking alone.
(https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-vhsBzrFgRBw/UWuQFT6P6tI/AAAAAAAAEuU/B5sCPzVIavo/s740/BACON08.JPG)
Once cooled, it goes back into the fridge to rest for 48 hours before slicing, to allow the smoke permeate.
(https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-bcaxRwnlKXM/UWuQFi4U17I/AAAAAAAAEuk/4XWkVk6pKfw/s543/BACON09.JPG)
Sliced and ready for packaging.
(https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-D8GCvvwX994/UWuQFuqPBYI/AAAAAAAAEug/Lnv4ytF3IkE/s740/BACON10.JPG)
Thanks for looking!
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Thanks for taking the time to offer us this very informative thread!
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Cliff-
OUTSTANDING thread!!!!! Great pics, and awesome explanations. Really like this as bacon is near and dear to me ;D
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People should be shipped out of this great country of ours if they don't eat bacon!! We will make exceptions for medical restrictions though ;D ;D
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Bravo!
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excellent!
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That looks so good!
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I see that your post was the first I saw that used Filtered or Distilled Water. Is that due to the fact you do not boil the water or is based on taste?
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I see that your post was the first I saw that used Filtered or Distilled Water. Is that due to the fact you do not boil the water or is based on taste?
Good question! It's based on taste. I don't want chlorine or anything else from tap water affecting the flavor.
I look at it this way: In the brine, water is the cheapest and the largest quantity ingredient. It's so cheap to filter the water or buy filtered water that it doesn't make sense not to. I do the same for homemade sauces, etc. where I'm using water as an ingredient.
Hope this makes sense. :)
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And in my case, our village tap water is 'softened' at the plant... And laced with sodium and other funk. (you should see our shower heads after a few months)
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It makes great sense to me. I plan on doing it from now on using distilled water as even filtered water can not remove everything.
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Anyone that wants a horror story as a reason to filter your water thorughly - pleas contact me. I do not want post it here, and come off like a wacko......
But - I have to tell you - it has been a real eye opener for me.......
T
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Tee....you a wacko....no way....well maybe for other reasons...... :o :o :o 8) 8)
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With me - it's kina like drawin' straws...there are way too many short ones in my bundle...... ;D
T
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Cliff, Thanks for the informative post. Doing bacon is on my bucket list. Dee
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Tee....you a wacko....no way....well maybe for other reasons...... :o :o :o 8) 8)
Yes he is but we love him anyways ☆¸.✿¸.•°*”˜ƸӜƷ˜”*°•.•.¸ღ¸☆
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Cliff...
That's great looking bacon. I just did some for the first time the other day (see other post) and it turned out great.
Brining some pork loins for American-style Canadian bacon now... hope to smoke it next weekend.
Apple wood is my "go to" wood for any pork! For the streaky bacon I combined apple and maple to compliment the maple sugar brine.
Thanks for the tip about adding the cure after the brine cools... I never knew that!
Mike
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Hey Mike, I saw your post and like it too! I love maple too, but alas the wife doesn't, so I had to come up with another flavor profile.
BTW - I like you apple/sugar maple blend idea! Sugar Maple is a very under-rated and great smoking wood for sausage, ham, etc. I recently used sugar maple for the holiday summer sausage and our holiday ham.
Cliff
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I screwed up one time and grabbed sugar maple by mistake and used it for a brisket cook and the brisket came out nice...go figure.......
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I live on Cape Cod but my oldest daughter lives in Vermont. One of her co-workers has his own sugar shack so I get real maple syrup from him. It's expensive but well worth the cost!
For cooking I prefer Grade B syrup. For pouring onto pancakes, etc. Grade A.
Imitation maple syrup is just plain nasty!
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Awesome post tee. I want to make this when I get my mak. How long to let it sit to get pellicle. What am I looking for ? If I want to freeze the finished product should I not slice it ?
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Awesome post tee. I want to make this when I get my mak. How long to let it sit to get pellicle. What am I looking for ? If I want to freeze the finished product should I not slice it ?
Thanks!
Some guys will let the pellicle form for hours, but honestly the amount of time to let it sit and form the pellicle is NOT really all that critical. The pellicle is a layer of sticky protein that starts forming as soon as you pull it out of the brine and pat it off. As soon as the bacon feels slightly tacky to the touch you are good to go. The pellicle will continue to form while you are cold-smoking. I usually just pat it off with really well with some paper towels, sit it on some racks on the stove with the vent/hood turned on for about an hour or so.
I usually slice all of the bacon, then vac-seal and freeze in 1 lb packs. this way I only have to clean the slicer once, and I can pull a pack out of the freezer when needed and it's already sliced.