I have never made salt pork

[crankybuzzard]

I've made a LOT of cured meats and sausages in my lifetime, but I've never made salt pork.

The bride and I use salt pork quite often since we love our beans and peas, but a 12oz pack is now 6 bucks at the local stores! So I figured I'd read the label and go from there. Just what I thought, salt, sugar, sodium nitrite...

Just put almost 3# of belly strips (1" x 1.5") into an EQ cure using cure #1, salt, and a bit of sugar to see how it goes. I'll report back in a week or so with pictures and a big pot of pintos.

The 3# of belly was only 11 dollars, quite a difference price wise.

Anyone out there made this before that has a proven process?

Oh, for what it's worth, I have almost all of the Marianski books and none of them have a recipe/process for salt pork.

 

[cptnding]

Following.......
We use salt pork as well. Would be nice not to pay that price.

 

[checkdude]

Would it be something like lardo ? Am definitely interested. Please post your results.

 

[BGKYSmoker]

Salt Pork -Step by Step

1. Acquire Pork Belly, Chop or Keep Whole. ...
2. Cover Pork Completely with Sea Salt & Brown Sugar (ratio 5:1) ...
3. Leave in Mixture for 2-3 days. ...
4. For larger Pork Bellies Drain and Repeat Steps 2 & 3. ...
5. Rinse Pork & Dry. ...

 

[crankybuzzard]

Salt Pork -Step by Step

1. Acquire Pork Belly, Chop or Keep Whole. ...
2. Cover Pork Completely with Sea Salt & Brown Sugar (ratio 5:1) ...
3. Leave in Mixture for 2-3 days. ...
4. For larger Pork Bellies Drain and Repeat Steps 2 & 3. ...
5. Rinse Pork & Dry. ...

So simple that even on Old Buzzard can do it.

Results next weekend.

 

[cptnding]

Salt Pork -Step by Step

1. Acquire Pork Belly, Chop or Keep Whole. ...
2. Cover Pork Completely with Sea Salt & Brown Sugar (ratio 5:1) ...
3. Leave in Mixture for 2-3 days. ...
4. For larger Pork Bellies Drain and Repeat Steps 2 & 3. ...
5. Rinse Pork & Dry. ...

No cure needed?

 

[BGKYSmoker]

No cure needed?

Not the old way

 

[SmokinEdge]

No cure needed?

Nope, but without nitrates the finished cooked product will be grey meat and not red/pink like standard cured stuff.

 

[crankybuzzard]

No cure needed?

I added cure to mine, for the color and flavor

 

[Brokenhandle]

Hanging out for the ending!

Ryan

 

[Steve H]

Waiting for the results too. I don't use salt pork often. But the price has gotten out of hand like most everything else.

 

[thirdeye]

My Grandparents called meatier slices of salt pork "streak o lean", and it has salt + cure, just not smoked. Here is a post from a couple of years ago.

Streak O' Lean ~aka~ Side Meat ~aka~ Salt Pork

It goes by several names, and if you come from the South you may have had it (if you're old enough).... or if your kinfolk still cook with the old ways. With me it's definitely a Grandpa thing. Streak O' Lean is cured but un-smoked pork belly, in other words, think fresh side pork that has...

www.smokingmeatforums.com

 

[indaswamp]

Rick has you covered. 6-8% salt dry cure for old school salt pork.....

 

[indaswamp]

Would it be something like lardo ? Am definitely interested. Please post your results.

Lardo only uses 3% salt. And the aging process softens the lardo.

 

[DougE]

Ever considered using bacon trim for beans?

Clifty Farms sells packs of country ham flavoring pieces which also make a wonderful pot of beans.

 

[Gonna Smoke]

My Grandparents called meatier slices of salt pork "streak o lean", and it has salt + cure, just not smoked. Here is a post from a couple of years ago.

Streak O' Lean ~aka~ Side Meat ~aka~ Salt Pork

It goes by several names, and if you come from the South you may have had it (if you're old enough).... or if your kinfolk still cook with the old ways. With me it's definitely a Grandpa thing. Streak O' Lean is cured but un-smoked pork belly, in other words, think fresh side pork that has...

www.smokingmeatforums.com

My grandparents also called it streaky fat...

 

[Fueling Around]

Rick has you covered. 6-8% salt dry cure for old school salt pork.....

Thanks, I don't have my notes to remember the cover.
That's how I made a batch for a Scout camporee that was a Civil War re-enactment.
Salt cover (no sugar) and in the bag and fridge for around a week. I chickened out leaving the package in the basement without refrigeration.
I wasn't able to be a leader that weekend as I had to work. Do you think the Scouts or other leaders bothered to ask anyone how to cook with salt pork? NOO
8# belly got chucked

 

[crankybuzzard]

It's done. I felt confident with an 11 day cure since the belly was in 1"x1" strips and it worked out great. Flipped and massaged the bag each day during the cure.

Sliced a little up for a fry test and wasn't disappointed. The bride and her cats approved.

Not going to use much of this in beans, we both agree that we want to use it as bacon! I'll get a full belly next week and cure half of it using the same EQ recipe I did for this batch, scaled up of course. That one will probably cure for at least 21 days.

Thanks for following along

 

[nlife]

Salt Pork -Step by Step

1. Acquire Pork Belly, Chop or Keep Whole. ...
2. Cover Pork Completely with Sea Salt & Brown Sugar (ratio 5:1) ...
3. Leave in Mixture for 2-3 days. ...
4. For larger Pork Bellies Drain and Repeat Steps 2 & 3. ...
5. Rinse Pork & Dry. ...

I had to read the recipe a few times and focus a lot. Upon careful review and consulting the recipe multiple times to ensure I got the process JUST right, I made up a small batch.

Fingers, eyes and toes crossed that I didn't mess it up!

Thanks for this BGKYSmoker !