Honey Cured Bacon

[Bullmanbrett]

This is only my second attempt at bacon, but now that we're raising hogs at home AND I retired this year, I imagine I'll be doing a lot more in the future. I hope to do my own butchering in the near future too, but I don't even have a bone saw or kitchen scale yet.

I guestimate this half slab to be around 5 pounds. Here's my curing recipe.

Half cup kosher salt
Two tablespoons Insta Cure #1
Lots of fresh ground pepper
Two cups local honey

Cured in garage fridge for six days. Turning every day. Followed by rinsing off and soaking in fresh water over night. Allowed to air dry on a rack in fridge for a couple of days.

Put on my cheapy offset smoker and smoked with Kingsford "hickory " briquettes and apple wood chips. Went about three hours at 165° and then slowly dropped over the next few hours.

[Bullmanbrett]

Me and my Berkshires

[Meat Hunter]

Love the Berkshire s
, lucky you. Bacon looks great BUT, as you mentioned in your post, you dont b own a kithen scale yet and are guessing? I would say a scale should be on your list of items to get asap. 2 tbls of cure #1 is too much for said poundage of meat. For every 5# of meat, 1 tsp of cure is needed.

Using a scale will ensure that safe amount of cure are being used, and also let's you re-create a good recipe as you can kep a log what ingredients were used and how much.

[BBQ Engineer]

Tough to fully retire with livestock to tend...gonna be some good eats for sure!

[Richtee]

Love the Berkshire s
, lucky you. Bacon looks great BUT, as you mentioned in your post, you dont b own a kithen scale yet and are guessing? I would say a scale should be on your list of items to get asap. 2 tbls of cure #1 is too much for said poundage of meat. For every 5# of meat, 1 tsp of cure is needed.

Using a scale will ensure that safe amount of cure are being used, and also let's you re-create a good recipe as you can kep a log what ingredients were used and how much.

Yeah! Nice Berkies... but indeed... there was waay much nitrite ingoing there. Get you a good scale...25 bux, and look thru the Charcuterie forum here.

You used about 5X the cure required.

[Bullmanbrett]

Yes I did. Followed a recipe found somewhere on the net. Won't use it again. It wasn't as salty as I thought it might be. The problem was more in the sweetness/flavor area. Needed more smoke too. Oh well, looks like rain/snow tomorrow. ...wounds like a pot of beans are in order. Corn bread too.

[Richtee]

Yes I did. Followed a recipe found somewhere on the net. Won't use it again. It wasn't as salty as I thought it might be. The problem was more in the sweetness/flavor area. Needed more smoke too. Oh well, looks like rain/snow tomorrow. ...wounds like a pot of beans are in order. Corn bread too.

Saltiness is not a indication of too much cure 1. You may notice light greenish spots as a result.

http://www.butcher-packer.com/index....roducts_id=743

[Meat Hunter]

Just out of curiosity, what do you pay for them Berks? Only a few breeders up my way, and seems no one want's to part with them

Closet thing I can find around here are crosses or Duroc....

I can just imagine what a fresh ham cured up from one of them Berks would taste like

[Bullmanbrett]

$200/each.... pricey for sure. There are plenty of barrows available, but finding someone to part with a guilt are a whole other story. I found someone who will sell me one this spring, but they're 500 miles away. Let me see of I can find some pics of the ham I did for Thanksgiving.

[Bullmanbrett]

Thanks Richtee, but as you can see, no green spots or nitrate burn.

[eccj]

My prayer is to buy a small piece of land and raise my own pigs and a few head of cattle for food purposes in the next couple of years. You sir ARE Living the Dream! ;)

[Richtee]

Thanks Richtee, but as you can see, no green spots or nitrate burn.

Good...Just keep in mind that Cure #1 is 1 TEAspoon per 5 pounds. A rule of thumb for salt with it is 1.5 teaspoons for ground meat, 1 tablespoon for whole muscle curing. Those amounts should get you in the ballpark.