New to bacon making

[boombostic]

Hi, I'm new to bacon making and recently made an attempt at some jalapeño cured bacon. The flavor was great but it was a little tough and won't fry up crispy. Any recommendations/advise????

 

[pc farmer]

What was your cure recipe?

How was it smoked?

 

[wade]

Please provide as much detail as you can

 

[boombostic]

Cured it in fridge with salt, cure 1, jalapeño with a bit of the juice and brown sugar for 7 days then rinsed and smoke at 170 degrees with Apple wood until IT reached about 145

 

[Bearcarver]

My suggestion would be since it's Belly Bacon, don't take the IT up to 145°.

Either cold smoke it or warm smoke it like I do, using smoker temps between 100° and 130°.

Then stop smoking when you get a nice golden brown color.

Something like this:

Bacon (Extra Smoky)

Bear

 

[boombostic]

ThAnks bearcarver I'll try that

 

[nashville]

New here today, got my 1st bacon on the smoker now, cured for a week.  

I bought a 8.5lb pork belly from costco, $2.29 a lb.

Cured for a week now on the Traeger Jr Elite I bought from a buddy for $150 bucks, he used it 10x and had to move to Texas.

I used some LEM rub, & pink Himalayan salt, half Kosher/Half brown sugar mix.   Added pure maple syrup and Crown Royal Apple liquor then vacuum sealed in the fridge for 7days.  Flipped each day.

Opened 2 nights ago rinsed it off with a hose, dried in the fridge for another 30hrs.

I'm using a mix blend of 90% Apple pellets by Camp Chef and 10% Mesquite pellets by Smokin Brothers.

My experience has taught me that kicking a little Mesquite to the mix intensifies the other smoking flavors which is fine by me.

I hope it turns out delicious. will know shortly...

 

[Bearcarver]

 
New here today, got my 1st bacon on the smoker now, cured for a week.  

I bought a 8.5lb pork belly from costco, $2.29 a lb.

Cured for a week now on the Traeger Jr Elite I bought from a buddy for $150 bucks, he used it 10x and had to move to Texas.

I used some LEM rub, & pink Himalayan salt, half Kosher/Half brown sugar mix.   Added pure maple syrup and Crown Royal Apple liquor then vacuum sealed in the fridge for 7days.  Flipped each day.

Opened 2 nights ago rinsed it off with a hose, dried in the fridge for another 30hrs.

I'm using a mix blend of 90% Apple pellets by Camp Chef and 10% Mesquite pellets by Smokin Brothers.

My experience has taught me that kicking a little Mesquite to the mix intensifies the other smoking flavors which is fine by me.

I hope it turns out delicious. will know shortly...

What Cure did you use?

If you didn't use "Cure", I would get it to 140° IT in no longer than 4 hours.

Bear

 

[daveomak]

Pink Salt and Pink Himalayan salt are NOT the same thing..... click on pics to enlarge ...

Cure #1.jpg

• daveomak
• Jul 18, 2015

.. ..

Cure2.jpg

• daveomak
• Jul 18, 2015

 

[nashville]

got the typo,

Used LEM Cure & Pink Himalayan...to cut back on the Cure as much as possible, I'm not a fan of Nitrate in my food, but for bacon there has to be.

I got the IT to 130.

Just now sliced up after a 3hr freeze.

Took a few slices and immediately fried them when I took them off the smoker.  I made me and my daughter a blt, she devoured it with no complaints, so I guess I did a good job.   LOL

 

[Bearcarver]

 
got the typo,

Used LEM Cure & Pink Himalayan...to cut back on the Cure as much as possible, I'm not a fan of Nitrate in my food, but for bacon there has to be.

I got the IT to 130.

Just now sliced up after a 3hr freeze.

Took a few slices and immediately fried them when I took them off the smoker.  I made me and my daughter a blt, she devoured it with no complaints, so I guess I did a good job.   LOL

That's Great !!!

Glad it worked out for you!!

Yup---You can cut back on a lot of things, but Cure is not one of them.

BTW: Welcome to SMF !!! 

Bear

 

[nashville]

Dave,

Thank you for the Butcher & Packer Supply Co.tip!

Found on Amazon, I will be buying!

 

[daveomak]

Bearcarver is right on !!!! You can NOT cut back on cure... It could make you susceptible to getting botulism.... the deadliest pathogen known to man...

 

[nashville]

Anyone else vacuum seal cure?  

Saw some folks on youtube using that method. 

Botulism from pork is very uncommon isn't it?

  I could see how if you cold smoked your pork for 10hrs with no cure would be a big no no.

I am very cautious of my meat handling, storage and temperatures, it almost seems like you would have to be very neglectful to cause a problem. 

 

[Bearcarver]

 
Anyone else vacuum seal cure?  

Saw some folks on youtube using that method. 

Botulism from pork is very uncommon isn't it?

  I could see how if you cold smoked your pork for 10hrs with no cure would be a big no no.

I am very cautious of my meat handling, storage and temperatures, it almost seems like you would have to be very neglectful to cause a problem. 

Depends on your type of vacuum sealer.

A lot of guys do it that way, but I use Ziplock bags, because mine would suck up too much juice.

It doesn't have to be tight anyway, so Ziplocks work Great.

Bear

 

[nashville]

I can't always find big enough bags for a good price, I always keep my marinade ziplocks in a dish, because I've had them leak before, but in a dish is no big deal.   I'm thinking about looking for some food grade bags that bakeries use, still food safe plastic.  Just twist tie them, put them in a dish.... and they have got  to be cheaper in bulk I would think.

I just haven't found the right search term for those yet.

I was using oven bags too, but those average out to about 3 for a dollar.

 

[daveomak]

All you need is to get it once....

http://www.meatsandsausages.com/sausage-making/meat-safety/botulism

 

[nashville]

Here is a more recent study of the bot.

"Outbreaks of food-borne botulism occur most every year and usually are linked to home-canned food, particularly low-acid foods such as green beans, asparagus, beets and corn, according to the CDC. The agency points out that other seemingly unlikely sources are found regularly as a result of improper food handling by manufacturers or by restaurants or home cooks.

Approximately 145 people contract botulism in the United States each year, and 15 percent of the cases are food-borne, according to the CDC. Two other types — infant botulism and wound botulism — represent most of the cases."

Source: Columbus Dispatch (July 15th 2015) there was a church gathering outbreak recently.

Since I am new, I won't leave the link.

Two folks on youtube not using cure.   (don't worry, I will always use cure)





My smoking temperature was 165º to 185º for 3.2hrs until the IT was actually 135º