Home Curing Bacon? Anyone? page 3

[gregpoole]

That's what I would like to try next.....hmmm beef bacon. Just have to find a supply?

[The Tall Tree]

I haven't made PORK bacon but we did turn some of the BEEF belly into bacon last year. Did a salt brine and then smoked it. We tried a couple mixtures. We did a plain salt brine and one with maple syrup in it too and the we smoked them in a couple batches. One with Applewood and one with hickory. It's pretty good. It has a pretty different flavor from pork bacon but I like it.

That would turn out a bit like pastrami, yeah? You could eat it raw (as you could bacon, I suppose...)
Sounds good.

[KimInGA]

I haven't made PORK bacon but we did turn some of the BEEF belly into bacon last year. Did a salt brine and then smoked it. We tried a couple mixtures. We did a plain salt brine and one with maple syrup in it too and the we smoked them in a couple batches. One with Applewood and one with hickory. It's pretty good. It has a pretty different flavor from pork bacon but I like it.

Beef bacon is SO GOOD. I've had it once, from US Wellness Meats, but it was pricey. It's like bacon and beef jerky combined. I'd love to make my own. What cut of beef did you buy to make it? How long did you brine it? And then after you pulled it out of the brine, you smoked it? For how long? Sorry for so many questions ... but I seriously LOVE beef bacon!

[solstice]

I've cured my own pork belly! Straight from the butcher! I usually get a 3-5lb. slab...brine it in sea salt, peppercorns and maple syrup. Flip it regularly in the fridge---like once a day---for 7 days. THen---make sure you rinse it off after 7 days...this gets all that excess salt off---rinse it well. I dont have a smoker but I will then bake the slab in the oven on low ---200 degrees---for around 3 hours. Voila---it is ready to refrigerate and used liberally! The fat is amazing when you do it this way---as compared to store bought---and usually TONS cheaper too!

[KimInGA]

I've cured my own pork belly! Straight from the butcher! I usually get a 3-5lb. slab...brine it in sea salt, peppercorns and maple syrup. Flip it regularly in the fridge---like once a day---for 7 days. THen---make sure you rinse it off after 7 days...this gets all that excess salt off---rinse it well. I dont have a smoker but I will then bake the slab in the oven on low ---200 degrees---for around 3 hours. Voila---it is ready to refrigerate and used liberally! The fat is amazing when you do it this way---as compared to store bought---and usually TONS cheaper too!

Ok, I think that's what I was missing. I brined it but didn't smoke/bake it afterward. Does the fat not render out when you bake it though?? Because when I make pulled pork I keep it at 200-250 degrees for a long time and a lot of the fat renders out.

[The Tall Tree]

Drying it in an oven is a good idea for those who don't have a smoker! One of those simple things I somehow failed to think of before I made one.
A smoker really isn't that hard to make, though. A box to smoulder the chips in (over a gas burner or on a small fire), a connecting pipe/duct/flue, and a smoke chamber to hang the small-goods in. Keeping the smoke chamber cool is the hard bit, but you need to just make sure the connector is long enough. Mine runs in a suburban backyard and takes up less a cubic metre of space.

[johnmjoy]

Here's another you can try, especially if you don't want to smoke: duck prosciutto. I tried it a year or so ago when I had a couple of extra duck breasts, and was surprised how good it came out.

Go here:
The Institute of Culinary Education: About Us
and scroll to the bottom for Brian Polcyn's recipe (which was the one I used).

[MissJecka]

Reading through this thread made me really eager to finally get out of apartment-living and get a house... with a deep freezer... get a side of beef (and other delicious meats) and cure, cook, and otherwise enjoy more than I can hold in my teenie apartment at the moment!

I'm going to add that meat book to my "to-buy" list, too... just to torture myself as I save up for a home.

[AuroraB]

I guess I must be pretty lazy. Or to scared to mess up a large amount of meat. The last hog we had butchered I got side-pork instead of bacon. I sprinkle/rub smoked sea salt on it before I cook it. It ain't pretty but it do taste mighty fine.

[AussieNana]

I've made my own bacon from pork belly. I laid it in a roasting dish on top of and covered by salt. Over the next two days I poured the released liquid out and added more salt. Then I put it in a ziplock bag and surrounded it by more salt for another 5 days, pouring the liquid out just once more. It didn't need it after that. Then I smoked it for an hour or so. The first time was better than the second as the second time I had the heat up too high and it partially cooked it dripping the fat down into the sawdust. The first time was VERY salty as I didn't wash the salt off enough. The second one was still quite salty but OK for me, though too salty for my husband. All up I must have used almost a kilo of salt for the two times I made it - for about 7lbs of meat.

I didn't use sugar or maple syrup as I'm sugar free.

Though salty I found it much more substantial than the bought stuff. A lot more expensive though as we get cheap imported bacon and fresh pork belly is expensive and filled with water.