Need some help..... 1st timer with bacon

[bossk4hire]

So i got my ANMPS in the mail on sat and would love to use it to cold smoke some bacon.......... but I've never done it and I'm having trouble understanding things I see in this forum.

The cure mixture.... I see posts about "cure #1 and cure #2" but havn't been able to find a recipie for either.

How long to cure... wet vs dry?

What cut of pork to use? I"ve seen some pork belly and boston butt posts.....

How long to smoke it?

Thank you so much!!!!

Jeff Cameron

 

[jrod62]

Before doing some bacon do a lot of reading on here. Lots of good info.
Bacon is easy to do. You want cure 1. (Cure 2 is a whole different ball game )
You can do a dry or wet cure. Wet is easy. Use Pops wet brine . Just do a search for it.
I did mine for 14 days. Mix the brine and put meat in the mix and into frig for 10 + days.
As far as what type of meat . Belly bacon is great. Its more like the bacon you buy in the store.
Pork butt is for buckboard bacon . Which is great too.
Then a loin for Candian bacon . I cold smoked for 12 hours
If i was you do all three :yahoo:

Good luck, hope this helps

 

[diggingdogfarm]

You must buy the cure #1, it's not a mix that you make.
Personally, I would dry cure belly bacon,for bbb, either dry, brine or combination cure.
Real cold smoking,

 

[bossk4hire]

Thanks for the info.... any good places to get the cure #1? Thanks

 

[alblancher]

Do a search on the internet and check prices and shipping.  There are several large suppliers that can help you out.  It is also available at local butcher supply companies or at your local mom and pop butcher.

If you are interested in trying a dry cure you may want to look at this Wiki

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/a/dry-cured-bacon-calculator-and-procedure

good luck,  just ask if you have any questions

 

[diggingdogfarm]

Thanks for the info.... any good places to get the cure #1? Thanks

Butcher & Packer is a good place.
DQ Curing Salt=Cure #1
http://www.butcher-packer.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=237_12

 

[smokinhusker]

Good morning Jeff! 

I feel I am still a newbie, but I have done bacon numerous times. I've dry cured Canadian, Buckboard and Belly and I use Hi Mountain's Buckboard Bacon Cure. Starting out I used Morton's Tender Quick and for us, even after soaking in water, the bacon was still too salty. It's easy to use and at the time, locally available. I've got a piece of pork butt curing now that I'll smoke on Thursday.

 

[daveomak]

Jeff, morning....  All the info here is good info....  there are many methods to cure and smoke bacon....  The one ingredient that is not adjustable is the amount of cure you use per pound of meat...  

Using Morton's, they already add the salt so on occasion, the product is too salty and has to be soaked to obtain a product that is OK to your personal preference.... 

Using cure #1, it has a small amount of salt and more salt needs to be added to the recipe.... 

For that reason, I use cure #1... and to the cure, I add 8 grams kosher salt / pound meat.... 

Rub the meat all over with the mix, (sugar and other seasonings can be added at this time).... after the cure time, rinse well and dry in front of a fan until a good pellicle forms, and smoke..... 

Either method will produce good quality bacon....  Check out the threads in the bacon section.... they will make you drool they look so good...  Dave

 

[bossk4hire]

What is the biggest difference between the dry and wet cure? I have never done a wet cure or brine in any of my smoking so it is a new concept for me.

Thanks Jeff

 

[alblancher]

Jeff

Brine or wet cure is basically a set and forget operation.  You make your brine using salt, cure 1 and whatever spices you want to use.   Place the green bacon in the liquid, squish it around a couple of times and in 10 days pull out the bacon, rinse it, taste test, soak the salt out, soak again maybe taste test again,  dry it and smoke it

Dry cure you weigh the meat, weigh the cures and salt apply portions of the cure several times over the cure process,  brush it off, rinse it, dry it and smoke it

There can be alot of discussion about this but I find that dry cured bacon is more like a dry cured ham you buy in the specialty shops,  it is denser, drier and to me more flavorful.  When I do dry cured bacon I do a heavy sugar rub toward the end to sweeten the bacon and to further dry it out.

Wet cures are very simple and reliable. If you are new to curing and unsure about the amount of attention you can give the curing bacon the wet cure is the way to go.   Wet cure you are adding weight in the form of water and cure mix.  Dry cure you are reducing the weight of the final product.  As a matter of fact, using a standard brine/cure mix you should add 10% of the original weight of the belly to make sure sufficient cure has entered the belly.  When dry curing I find I reduce the weight of the final product by 5 to 10 percent.