Some of mine, I season with granulated garlic and coarse black pepper, but I give them a quick rinse after they come out of the cure, pat dry with paper towels, and place on a rack in the fridge, uncovered, for a day or so to let it dry out before smoking. If you really want to, you can always apply rubs or spices to the meat prior to smoking.
White pepper is now my secret ingredient. Nothing wrong with the black pepper and still use it, but the white fine ground plays well all by itself.
I guess for me, the main reason I endorsed Hi Mountain cures, and Tender Quick Cures for so long online.... was all about food safety. Twenty or thirty years ago it was rare for home meat processors to be as well informed and as cautious with nitrates and nitrites as many are today. Morton Salt designed Tender Quick with home use in mind. Not only was everything you need in the bag, but measuring was simple. And if you happened to be a little generous, you were not in the danger zone. Heck, they even sold their curing/recipe guide for $1 or so. I've taken a lot of cured loins to Sunday pot lucks, they resemble Canadian bacon more than ham. Very mild. Great for sandwiches.I went straight to using cure#1, salt, and sugar, with some guidance fromSmokinEdge , and the results are some really good bacon, confirmed by independent testers (tasters), and with the formula I use, it always comes out about the same.
They look delicious. One certainly doesn't want to be cavalier when it comes to safety with using nitrates, but as long as you have proper guidance, as can be easily had here on SMF, curing is a fairly straightforward process. I can tell you that I was once intimidated enough by the whole process as not to attempt it, but once it was all spelled out for me, along with reading Marianski, I know what I'm doing is both safe and effective.
