Let's Talk BBQ
Cured Meats & Food Preservation => Cured meats & Food Preservation => Charcuterie: Ham, Bacon, Sausage, etc. => Topic started by: muralboy on June 12, 2016, 08:30:45 AM
-
Hello once again. It's been awhile since I've been able to spend time on the forum. Life's been crazy with work and life - lots of traveling. I missed you guys (and gals)!
I owe this post to TH who was a great help getting me to the smoker on this one.
First time bacon. Used TH's Cider Mill Brine recipe for the cure. 4 hours cold smoke with apple wood using the Big Kahuna cold smoker. Then hot smoke at 165 deg using beech until IT reached 152.
Sliced up the slabs into thick bacon. Left the 1-2" sections as is and package into smaller chunks - figured these would be perfect for dishes calling for bacon.
If anything, may cut back on brine time - a little salt forward but not overly so. I will definitely be doing this again.
Thanks again for everyone's help.
[attachments deleted after 6 months]
-
You had me at BACON!! I love the Cider Mill Brine. I have even used it on salmon and steelhead filets before cold smoking them. Add that to your list. It is worth it!
Art
-
Beautiful!
The brining time is not as impactful on the saltines of a product as we would think initially. You need the fluids inside the meat to equalize with those on the outside of the meat, via osmosis and exchange.
So less brine time is not going to yield a lower salt product ...unless you do not allow enough time for the brine to completely get drawn into the meat. Not a good idea, of course, because the brining's main purpose is to help insure that we prevent the botulinum bacteria ( cause of botulism - which can be deadly...) from having anywhere to propagate.
I would make sure that you are using the exact amount of cure required - no more..and certainly no less, ( see Tenthunters Brining 101 thread in the Charcuterie Section) and decrease the salt a little next time. But, bearing in mind that you will need to have enough salt to insure there is adequate osmotic pressure for the fluid exchange between the brine and the meat
Another option is that after you period of brining is complete - you can submerge the meat in cold tap water for a short period, say 1-2 hours - to reverse a little of the osmotic process, and the meat will release some of the the inducted brine in exchange to the fresh water. But, not too long -keep it cold, and proceed with smoking as soon as you remove it, just for food safety.
-
Bacon!
-
Don't know about you, but I haven't even considered buying bacon since I started curing and smoking my own. I'm partial to the "maple cured bacon" recipe from 10.5 on www.susanminor.org. It's a dry cure recipe, not a brine. I read a lot of positive things about the cider mill method, so I may have to give it a shot. Just kinda hard to try something different when you are happy with the results you get from using the "same old way", but hey, who knows, I could be missing out on something even better, right?
-
Love bacon and yours looks good!!! Don
-
"Everything is better with bacon - even bacon" nothing I can add to that except thanks for posting it.
-
Bacon!!!!!
-
Beautiful!
The brining time is not as impactful on the saltines of a product as we would think initially. You need the fluids inside the meat to equalize with those on the outside of the meat, via osmosis and exchange.
So less brine time is not going to yield a lower salt product ...unless you do not allow enough time for the brine to completely get drawn into the meat. Not a good idea, of course, because the brining's main purpose is to help insure that we prevent the botulinum bacteria ( cause of botulism - which can be deadly...) from having anywhere to propagate.
I would make sure that you are using the exact amount of cure required - no more..and certainly no less, ( see Tenthunters Brining 101 thread in the Charcuterie Section) and decrease the salt a little next time. But, bearing in mind that you will need to have enough salt to insure there is adequate osmotic pressure for the fluid exchange between the brine and the meat
Another option is that after you period of brining is complete - you can submerge the meat in cold tap water for a short period, say 1-2 hours - to reverse a little of the osmotic process, and the meat will release some of the the inducted brine in exchange to the fresh water. But, not too long -keep it cold, and proceed with smoking as soon as you remove it, just for food safety.
thanks for the advice/tips
-
Don't know about you, but I haven't even considered buying bacon since I started curing and smoking my own. I'm partial to the "maple cured bacon" recipe from 10.5 on www.susanminor.org. It's a dry cure recipe, not a brine. I read a lot of positive things about the cider mill method, so I may have to give it a shot. Just kinda hard to try something different when you are happy with the results you get from using the "same old way", but hey, who knows, I could be missing out on something even better, right?
I am becoming a convert - may only "buy" bacon in emergencies from this point out. Was thinking of dry cure next time just to see how I like it. May have to try this one