Raw uncured pork belly.

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williemcd

Newbie
Original poster
May 18, 2016
11
10
Suburbs of Richmond, Va.
Went and bought 1/2 pig and the butcher/processor didn't cure the bacon.  So now I have about 12-15 lbs of thick cut strips of belly. Awaiting the arrival of Pink Salt to cure.. Any other options avail for smoking this stuff?   Some sort of wet-brine?  
 
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I just made my first bacon lately (if thats what you want). I used a basic Pop's brine with a few dollops of Maple Extract in a bucket for a couple of weeks and it came out great. You could also do a dry cure (see some of Bearcarver's posts). To me the brine treatment is simpler...
Dan
 
 
Would you put sliced belly in pops cure, if so how long?
I don't see why not.

It would depend on how thick the slices are.

Anywhere from 2 to 4 days would be long enough.

If they are rather thin & tend to stick together then I would shake or stir them around daily.

Al
 
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Went and bought 1/2 pig and the butcher/processor didn't cure the bacon.  So now I have about 12-15 lbs of thick cut strips of belly. Awaiting the arrival of Pink Salt to cure.. Any other options avail for smoking this stuff?   Some sort of wet-brine?  
With a brine you're still going to have to wait for the Pink stuff....
 
Received it yesterday.. Now in a zip lock with a couple of pinches of pink and coarse kosher salt.  Seems too simple.. Should I add some brown sugar or maple syrup?  Or both?  (I can see this road is going to be long!) 
 
Received it yesterday.. Now in a zip lock with a couple of pinches of pink and coarse kosher salt.  Seems too simple.. Should I add some brown sugar or maple syrup?  Or both?  (I can see this road is going to be long!) 
Not sure what you mean by pinches. Are you following a brine recipe?
 
I think I've messed up and merged multiple pieces of advice from various sources!  SO far, all I've done is put the sliced raw bacon (1 lb.) back into a zip lock, a couple of pinches.. 1/4 teaspoon? of Prague pink #2 and repeated with Kosher salt!

What would be the best way to salvage this 12-15 lbs of sliced bacon?

Thanks for your patience!

Bill 
 
 
I think I've messed up and merged multiple pieces of advice from various sources!  SO far, all I've done is put the sliced raw bacon (1 lb.) back into a zip lock, a couple of pinches.. 1/4 teaspoon? of Prague pink #2 and repeated with Kosher salt!

What would be the best way to salvage this 12-15 lbs of sliced bacon?

Thanks for your patience!

Bill 
I think I would rinse it off and put it in some brine like Al suggested. Pop's brine is really simple to make (and you can add some Maple extract if you like). Hopefully you have enough refrigerator space for the container(s).

Dan
 
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