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Macon Bacon

2K views 8 replies 5 participants last post by  hassell 
#1 ·
My son the chef did a class on curing and smoking pork bellies.The meat ended up superb,

This season I will have my own 25 lb of cured pork bellies with me on the line.

Anyone interest in the process?
 
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#6 ·
Welcome to the forum baboso.
 
#7 ·
Guys sorry for the late replies. Have some medical issues I am working on. My bodies getting worn out I guess...bad knee, rotator cuff, and pre diabetes/diabetes maybe. I need to get these addressed in the off season or I wont have any tails to share this winter! hahaha

Remember, "coyotes can't fly" and more importantly " GETTING OLD AIN'T FOR PUSSIES, YOU HAVE TO BE A TOUGH SON of a BITCH TO LIVE THROUGH IT!" ... so I hear.

Larry
 
#8 · (Edited by Moderator)
Had a few minutes so here is how I make bacon.

THE MEAT

I used to grab about any pork belly I could find. Especially when I lived in Nebraska as pork wasn't everywhere! Them I got to purchasing sow bellies. They reason was they had more meat on them and the fat like a good kolby steak was striated finely within. But any good pork belly will work as homemade bacon still exceeds store bought two fold. I prefer big slabs 15 to 20 lbs that way I can cut it to my own specifications. Normally you can purchase 14 pund bellies at least in Iowa!

SKINNING

Every pork belly has skin on one side. If you leave it on your bacon will be tough. Your job is to filet it off. Yes Filet it just as you would a fish. Get a good long bladed filet knife and gently draw it between the skin and the meat. Its okay to cut off a little fat.

CURING (Its great to have a son that's a Michelin star chef you learn allot!)

Dry rub- anyone can rub on salt. I prefer Morton Tender Quick but my son uses granulated kosher salt with great results. The issue with dry rub is two fold. One you have elevate the meat when curing. If you don not the meat will sit in its own moisture ion the bottom of the pan. This will cause hot spots on the meat an uneven curing results. Hot spots- even if you elevate the meat hot spots will occur as I know of no one that can achieve a 100% even coat of salt. It will gob up and also fall off. DRY CURE RATE- 7 days per inch thickness important we don't need to be sick from our bacon!! If you have a 2 inch thick bacon and do both sides its still 7 days if you rub both sides.

Brine- I prefer brine as it leaves no hot spots. However you cannot just add salt to the water and wipe it on. Dilute 1 cup salt with 4 cups brine. Bring to a three minute boil and then let sit till its room temp. Do not add ice to speed up the cool down. After its cool place the belly in a shallow pan and poor the brine over. Here's the catch. Daily you have to massage the meat with the brine. this opens the pours and allows the brine to penetrate. Use the same rule of thumb for dry rub. 7 days per inch thickness. Dont leave it to long or you'll get a salty tasting meat.

Rinsing- do not skip this step. Whether you use dry rub or brine rinsing is important. While most think that cold water is good. I like water that is room temperature. Again it opens the pours and gets any excess salt out of the meat.

SMOKING- I am the head smoker at my house despite having a son that is a chef. So these are my methods and advise. I like using mesquite or apple wood for bacon. But any wood will work and if you want a sweeter than normal bacon without making a maple syrup brine solution try cottonwood. This is smoking not barbecuing. That means the smoke is cold. 100 degrees or less. I am sure most know this but smoke also the meat some. 200 chemicals in smoke kill microbes and with salt they stay dead! MY RULE FOR SMOKING IS - 1 hour per pound of meat. This rule has not failed me yet. Hey when smoking keep the lid on the meat chamber closed. There's nothing to see, your not cooking the meat your flavoring it and completing the final cure.. To many people open and close the meat chamber and cannot figure out why the meat does not have the flavor they intended. Just open the smoke chamber to add a chunk of wood that's all you need to do. There's another trick to maintaining that nearly perfect 100 or so degree meat chamber temp. Dont smoke on a cloudy day or in the shade. My meat chamber that's painted black will maintain a 100-117 degree temp in direct sunlight without any fire in the chamber. This means all I need to do is get the smoke in there. Life is easy then, put in a large slit log and let it smolder, shut all the vents except the stack!

Thats it. Lots of blabbing but it's simple and oh so tasty.

hers the short version:

1) Get a large pok belly slab

2) Skin the slab

3) Salt it down with a dry rub of salt or a brine

4) smoke it at a rate of 1 lb per hour

If you like yours maple flavored, add 1 cup tightly packed brown sugar, and 1/4 cup maple syrup to your brine. Add few tea spoons of salt peeter. .
 
#9 ·
Sounds good, I've done it with and without the skin on. With sugar in the recipe it will keep the skin soft and a bit of the smoked skin is great in bean recipes. Using morton cure its 1 TBsp per pound, 1 1/2 TBsp brown sugar per pound. 7 days per inch as the rub or brine only penetrates 1/2 inch per side. Keep refrigerated, when done, rinse, soak and dry ( 24 hrs) or until the pelicle is formed which helps the smoke stick to the meat. I stay away from salt peter as its a nitrate and sometimes use Praque Powder #1 which is a nitrite and what you want - 1 oz. per 25 lbs meat.
 
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