Ok, its not my first bacon. But it doesn't diminish the thrill in the least bit.
I smoked hocks and what I thought was good belly off a burnt belly last week. Bacon is good, I am happy, here is some sliced, (its been months since I ran out!) I have at least stopped the shakes! I probably got 10 or 12 lbs total.
I go to fry some up and I forgot! IT BURNS badly because of the sugar in the brine. I knew that, its why you let it mellow so long.
Then I remember what a friend told me, a secret he said worked for him. Molasses!
So I thaw out another side, luckily it wasn't as freezer burned as the last one.
I hunk that baby up to bucket size.
really not too bad looking, remember it does swell a little while curing and this has some fat!
I round up the wet cure ingredients
Brown sugar, white sugar, canning salt, and #1 pink! Also my multi tasker tupperware 1 gallon pitcher. I use it for brining chickens up to 6 lbs, whole fryers slide right in. But it perfect for "The cure" If I can fit it in that jug, its one gallon and perfect. I cool my hot solutions with ice in it and then just fill it up with whatever I want. That jug and Pop's wet cure, I mean how did the cave men make bacon without 'em?
Ok, the secret ingredients. OK, not so secret......
Maple extract, and some molasses. I can't find it any more, anyone know if they still sell "Grandma Molasses"? Anyway the maple extract fools the nose into believeing it and saves my precious store of real maple syrup hidden in the reefer. Its Louisiana, We get the best cane sugar and syrup, but alas no maple syrup.
BTW its Pops recipe. I do reduce the salt from 1 C to 3/4 C because its canning salt, its more finely ground to dissolve better. So its weight to volumne differs, so I compensate accordingly.
I failed to mention my canning bucket, you're gonna love this. Tractor transmission oil.
Its made of Polyethylene, Thats what I sold to make a living. Let me give you some hints. On nearly all plastic items, usually on the buttom there is a stamp, a triangle. It will give you a number in a triangle (made of three arrows), and usually the abberiation for either high density, mdeium density, or low density polyethylene. HDPE, MDPE, or LDPE.
If its HDPE your good its so dense nothing permeates the wall, MDPE about the same, LDPE is questionable. BUT its only used in the very cheapest of beach sand buckets and largely in the film sheeting industry. It may or may not say food grade. I know bad picture but.....
All poly will have a stamp somewhere.
Now add my go to cleaner before and after any project!
Now back to the 'spear-a-mint!
I sizeably reduced my white sugar and replaced it with molasses. If the sugar is in-fact the culprit in causing newly made bacon to burn before a long mellow cycle, we are going to find out! A friend said it did. I am going to see.
Its in the beer reefer for 2 weeks, we will see what happens. Who knows molasses might cause roping?
We will see what happens.
I smoked hocks and what I thought was good belly off a burnt belly last week. Bacon is good, I am happy, here is some sliced, (its been months since I ran out!) I have at least stopped the shakes! I probably got 10 or 12 lbs total.
I go to fry some up and I forgot! IT BURNS badly because of the sugar in the brine. I knew that, its why you let it mellow so long.
Then I remember what a friend told me, a secret he said worked for him. Molasses!
So I thaw out another side, luckily it wasn't as freezer burned as the last one.
I hunk that baby up to bucket size.
really not too bad looking, remember it does swell a little while curing and this has some fat!
I round up the wet cure ingredients
Brown sugar, white sugar, canning salt, and #1 pink! Also my multi tasker tupperware 1 gallon pitcher. I use it for brining chickens up to 6 lbs, whole fryers slide right in. But it perfect for "The cure" If I can fit it in that jug, its one gallon and perfect. I cool my hot solutions with ice in it and then just fill it up with whatever I want. That jug and Pop's wet cure, I mean how did the cave men make bacon without 'em?
Ok, the secret ingredients. OK, not so secret......
Maple extract, and some molasses. I can't find it any more, anyone know if they still sell "Grandma Molasses"? Anyway the maple extract fools the nose into believeing it and saves my precious store of real maple syrup hidden in the reefer. Its Louisiana, We get the best cane sugar and syrup, but alas no maple syrup.
BTW its Pops recipe. I do reduce the salt from 1 C to 3/4 C because its canning salt, its more finely ground to dissolve better. So its weight to volumne differs, so I compensate accordingly.
I failed to mention my canning bucket, you're gonna love this. Tractor transmission oil.
Its made of Polyethylene, Thats what I sold to make a living. Let me give you some hints. On nearly all plastic items, usually on the buttom there is a stamp, a triangle. It will give you a number in a triangle (made of three arrows), and usually the abberiation for either high density, mdeium density, or low density polyethylene. HDPE, MDPE, or LDPE.
If its HDPE your good its so dense nothing permeates the wall, MDPE about the same, LDPE is questionable. BUT its only used in the very cheapest of beach sand buckets and largely in the film sheeting industry. It may or may not say food grade. I know bad picture but.....
All poly will have a stamp somewhere.
Now add my go to cleaner before and after any project!
Now back to the 'spear-a-mint!
I sizeably reduced my white sugar and replaced it with molasses. If the sugar is in-fact the culprit in causing newly made bacon to burn before a long mellow cycle, we are going to find out! A friend said it did. I am going to see.
Its in the beer reefer for 2 weeks, we will see what happens. Who knows molasses might cause roping?
We will see what happens.