My first "true" bacon project - v2.0

[TasunkaWitko]

Considering that some time has passed and conditions have changed since I opened up a topic on my first belly bacon project, I decided to start completely fresh with this new thread. I also want to I want to throw these parameters out there in order to reflect where I am with this project, as well as my expectations for it:

1. I have a six-ish-pound slab of pork belly, to be divided into two three-ish-pound slabs.

2. TQ is my curing agent - there is no real need for much discussion on this, since detemining the amount will be quite easy.

3. I want to keep it simple, but I do want to add a bit of some "sweet;" this is NOT to make sweet bacon (which I don't like), but I do want a little in there for balance.

Questions:

a) What "sweet' would YOU recommend (I have available: brown sugar, maple sugar, turbinado sugar, honey, maple syrup, molasses or agave)?

b) how much of the "sweet" would YOU recommend per pound order to give a little balance to the salt, yet not be so much that the stuff takes over the flavour and/or scorches in the pan?

NOTE/EDIT - A maple-cured bacon would be my "perfect world" result. Based on that, I have decided to go ahead and bite the bullet (if advised) and buy some maple sugar, if necessary. It is a bit expensive, but if it is indeed the "best tool for the job," then it's worth it. I'm a big fan of good, honest maple flavouring (not necessarily sweetness) in smoked pork, so if a reliable way to use it is recommended, I will most likely go with that. My concerns about over-powering sweetness and scorching in the pan are still the top priority, so if there's an option that is "better" than maple sugar, I will certainly consider it.

For some reason, pork bellies are a little hard to come by up here, even though the price is quite reasonable when they can be had. For this first project, I want to keep it very simple: cure, salt, and just enough sweet for balance.

The only real variation will be that I'll use hickory for one slab and another wood for the other slab (to be determined; either maple, apple, cherry, oak or beech). The reason for this single variation is due to a conversation that Brook (HistoricFoodie) and I were having on whether or not flavours from different varieties of wood smoke really do have any significant difference, assuming that all else is equal - but that's another thread.....

[Courser]

I just did forty pounds of belly on Saturday with Tenderquick. I was going to do half with brown sugar and half with turbinado. My last batch I used only the turbinado and it turned out very nicely. As I got into the middle of things Saturday I just decided stick with it instead of using the brown sugar. The turbinado doesn't pack down like brown sugar so I don't think you get as much sweetener with equal amounts of brown sugar.
That said, I've been using one tablespoon per pound. I don't think it came out too sweet but "your mileage may vary".

[cowgirl]

Morton's tenderquick recipe is 1 tsp of sugar per pound of meat. I'd use that as a starting point.

Good luck with your bacon!

[TasunkaWitko]

Thanks for the replies, Jeanie and Kent - Please keep 'em coming!

Considering the relative sweentess between Turbinado and other sugars, I'm thinking that a tablespoon per pound of Turbinado would be good for that sweetener. For other sugars, Morton's suggestion of a teaspoon per pound sounds quite reasonable - they have been doing this for a while, and surely know what they're talking about.

NOTE/EDIT - I should have put up there in the opening post that a maple-cured bacon would be my "perfect world" result. Based on that, I have decided to go ahead and bite the bullet (if advised) and buy some maple sugar, if necessary. It is a bit expensive, but if it is indeed the "best tool for the job," then it's worth it. I'm a big fan of good, honest maple flavouring (not necessarily sweetness) in smoked pork so, if a reliable way to use it is recommended, I will most likely go with that. My concerns about over-powering sweetness and scorching in the pan are still the top priority, so if there's an option that is "better" than maple sugar, I will certainly consider it.

[PitRow]

I've only ever made buckboard bacon, never from bellies, though I'd try it if I could ever get my hands on any.

Anyway, this is the recipe I use, and I'm pretty sure I got it from Jeanie fwiw. I wouldn't call it sweet by any means but it does have a hint of sweet that's not overpowering.

Per lb:
1 tbsp tenderquick
1 tsp turbinado sugar
1 tbsp garlic
1 tbsp black pepper
1 tbsp onion pwdr
1.5 tsp cayenne

[chefrob]

i use 5gm of raw sugar per # and it is not sweet......you could jump to 7 or 8 which for me is about equal parts sugar /salt but i use cure#1. any more than that could get too sweet....start there and see where it takes you, you could always go more next time. i do think brown sugar would be interesting and give you more depth than other sugars......if it were me, i'd do one with brown and the other with turbinado sugar measured in grams to create a baseline and go from there........some of the other sweeteners can be too strong.

[BriCan]

Do twenty slabs of Maple bacon a week ...

Maple Sugar :)

If done proper its not sweet at all ..

I use salt at 2% and cure #1 at 0.25%

Once salt and cure rubbed into bellies I 'dust' with a spice mixture that I make up followed by a 'dusting' of the maple sugar

Leave for one week, then rinse salt and cure off ~~ hang to dry for a couple of hours then re-dust with maple sugar (meat side) ~~ leave for one more week

At the end of the week just hang (do not rinse) to dry before smoking

I cold smoke mine only as this in my very humble opinion produces a far better end product due to the fact that I hang to mature/dry/age the bacon ... depending on the weather (heat/humidity) for up to ten days

The bacon is (if done right) not sweet at all but has a subtle maple flavour at a depth combined along with the spices used as well as the cold smoking that tends to make people do a double take

Just my two cents

[chefrob]

......Leave for one week, then rinse salt and cure off ~~ hang to dry for a couple of hours then re-dust with maple sugar (meat side) ~~ leave for one more week.........At the end of the week just hang (do not rinse) to dry before smoking..............I cold smoke mine only

Just my two cents

worth much more than $.02.................

[TasunkaWitko]

G'morning, everyone, and thanks to all for the information and comments so far.

Do twenty slabs of Maple bacon a week ...

Maple Sugar :)

If done proper its not sweet at all ..

I use salt at 2% and cure #1 at 0.25%

Once salt and cure rubbed into bellies I 'dust' with a spice mixture that I make up followed by a 'dusting' of the maple sugar

Leave for one week, then rinse salt and cure off ~~ hang to dry for a couple of hours then re-dust with maple sugar (meat side) ~~ leave for one more week

At the end of the week just hang (do not rinse) to dry before smoking

I cold smoke mine only as this in my very humble opinion produces a far better end product due to the fact that I hang to mature/dry/age the bacon ... depending on the weather (heat/humidity) for up to ten days

The bacon is (if done right) not sweet at all but has a subtle maple flavour at a depth combined along with the spices used as well as the cold smoking that tends to make people do a double take

Just my two cents

I agree with Rob - definitely worth more than two cents, BriCan!

This:

The bacon is (if done right) not sweet at all but has a subtle maple flavour at a depth combined along with the spices used as well as the cold smoking that tends to make people do a double take

Is exactly what I am looking for, so my plan for now is to give your method a go. I will go ahead and push the button on the maple sugar, and go from there. The time table might need to be adjusted just a bit due to the fact that I am using TQ, but other than that, I am pretty sure that I can stick fairly closely to the method. Regarding the spice mixture, would I be correct in assuming that it's the Black Forest one you have mentioned before?

My cold-smoke delivery will be from an AMNPS using a Big Chief for an enclosure (it's all I've got, except possibly loading the AMNPS into my offset smoker and cold-smoking in there), so it should be "smokehouse-ish" enough to get the result you describe, I hope. For this first attempt, I might just stick to one smoking wood, rather than trying two different ones as mentioned above. Keeping with the theme, I'm thinking maple.

I don't expect it to be perfect on my first attempt, but with luck and attention to detail, it will hopefully be good.

[Bearcarver]

Ron,
I never measure the amount of Brown Sugar I use on my Bacons:
I put about enough in a bowl for all my pieces before I start, so I don't contaminate the whole bag of Brown Sugar.
Then I grab some out of the bowl with my fingers, & rub it on after I rub the cure on each piece. It's probably about a tsp per pound, like Jeanie said, but it doesn't seem to have to be exact, because they've all been good.
I tried Real Maple syrup in the past & never got much maple flavor. That Maple sugar is probably a much better idea.

Bear

[devo]

I use maple syrup as my liquid, I mix in 1/4 C. Maple sugar or packed brown sugar
1/4 C. Maple syrup. Add your cure to this and stir it up good to make a thick paste. Rub it on the bellies and bag it. Makes enough for a 5 lb. belly. You could make one with out the maple sugar or packed brown sugar just in case you find the combination to sweet.
I use hickory smoke for all my bacon.

[IrishChef]

Ron, Morton does make a sugar based cure:
http://www.mortonsalt.com/for-your-h...ar-cure-plain/

And IMO, if you can source some good sugar maple chunks, that will go a long ways for a good maple flavor as well.

[TasunkaWitko]

Thanks everyone -

Too many options; not enough pork belly!

[chefrob]

Thanks everyone -

Too many options; not enough pork belly!

welcome to "baconville"...........

[BriCan]

G'morning, everyone, and thanks to all for the information and comments so far.

This: Is exactly what I am looking for, so my plan for now is to give your method a go. I will go ahead and push the button on the maple sugar, and go from there. The time table might need to be adjusted just a bit due to the fact that I am using TQ, but other than that, I am pretty sure that I can stick fairly closely to the method. Regarding the spice mixture, would I be correct in assuming that it's the Black Forest one you have mentioned before?

Not sure of that

This is what I use ... (Bulk Mix)

600gm White pepper
1200gm White sugar
120gm Ground nutmeg
120gm Ground mace

Mix well and keep in a air tight opaque container

My cold-smoke delivery will be from an AMNPS using a Big Chief for an enclosure (it's all I've got, except possibly loading the AMNPS into my offset smoker and cold-smoking in there), so it should be "smokehouse-ish" enough to get the result you describe, I hope.

If you saw my get up you folks would be rolling around the floor dying of laughter

For this first attempt, I might just stick to one smoking wood, rather than trying two different ones as mentioned above. Keeping with the theme, I'm thinking maple.

I have a hardwood blend that I use all the time ..... Maple, Beach and Birch .. to this I add softwoods at a ratio two to one .... at this time I have no softwoods so I use a handful of Juniper berries

I don't expect it to be perfect on my first attempt, but with luck and attention to detail, it will hopefully be good.

Don't be too hard on yourself ... if I can do it ... anyone can do it