Good morning, SF. As usual, I'm here with questions.

Last fall I got in on a "pig purchase" -- one of the friends at work has sons who raise pigs, and I got in on the post-slaughter goodness. Among the pile-o-pork in my freezer, there are a number of small packs (a pound or less) of sliced bacon. First thought: "Woo-hoo!" As it turns out, this bacon is uncured.

First question: "now, what?"
I've put some of it straight into the smoker (hickory chips, 225 degrees, 2-1/2 hours) and it turned out okay, but not wonderful. Lesson learned: gotta cure it first.

Next question: "how does one cure already-sliced bacon?"

I've got a couple of days off this week, so I figure it's time to do some learning, smoking, and eating (too) well. What's a good method/recipe for curing these packs-o-pig? Thanks, all.

As it sounds like you know, to make bacon, belly is first cured (whole), then cold/warm smoked (whole), then cooled and sliced after. It's gonna be a big mess to try to cure then smoke already sliced belly.

But if you insist on trying, I would not use Tender Quick or other bag mixes in your case. I would only do an equilibrium cure, to make it impossible to oversalt or undersalt, which will be critical since you're dealing with already sliced meat.

An equilibrium cure is weighing the meat, and then applying roughly 2.5% kosher salt, 1.25% brown sugar, and 0.25% cure #1 by meat weight. Then you'll tightly bag or vac-seal it up, and put it in the frig for 5-10 days, turning it over each day. After that, you'll need to cold smoke it (around 120 degrees), and then ramp it up to 150 at the end, but just briefly. Anything over these temps, and you'll melt the fat off during the smoking process - no bueno!

If you decide to go this route, but don't want to buy a whole bag of cure #1 and/or don't already have precise digital scales for the cure, etc - get me an ACCURATE meat weight, and I'll weigh/package the appropriate amount of salt/sugar/cure, and mail it to you. Email is in my profile.

Outnumbered is spot on. EQ cure is the way to go.

I got one of those do-it-yourself kits for Christmas one year, not a hard process but, meat turned out too salty and ended up using the bacon for soups and stews.

How to make and cure your own smoky bacon Jess hasn't steered me wrong yet with any of her recipes so, I'll be trying this next.

https://www.askthemeatcutter.c...ium-nitrite-4-oz-bag

This is what I use but in bigger quantities.
Like stated, weights are critical for curing. I do pork and beef.
EQ may be better for the hobbyist.

quote:

Originally posted by joatmonv:
https://www.askthemeatcutter.c...ium-nitrite-4-oz-bag

This is what I use but in bigger quantities.
Like stated, weights are critical for curing. I do pork and beef.
EQ may be better for the hobbyist.

I'm curious what you mean by EQ being better for hobbyist? The site you posted seems to be talking about EQ cure.

Apart from that I'd suggest to the OP not to use Corsair's link. That is a basic recipe that doesn't take exact weight into account, it doesn't mention thickness (On EQ cure you usually go 1 day per 1/4 inch thickness of belly, plus 2 days for safety). In addition, Jess is using whole belly, not sliced and she isn't using weight. These can all make a big difference, especially with already sliced belly.

quote:

Originally posted by frayedends:
Apart from that I'd suggest to the OP not to use Corsair's link. That is a basic recipe that doesn't take exact weight into account, it doesn't mention thickness (On EQ cure you usually go 1 day per 1/4 inch thickness of belly, plus 2 days for safety). In addition, Jess is using whole belly, not sliced and she isn't using weight. These can all make a big difference, especially with already sliced belly.

That also seems like a lot of Prague powder. While I've only done bacon once, I do cure a lot of sausages and the ratio is only 1 tsp per 5 lbs of meat. Her recipe uses 1 tsp for 3 lbs of meat.

Perhaps its a different ratio for ground meat vs. whole belly though.

quote:

Originally posted by Gustofer:

quote:

Originally posted by frayedends:
Apart from that I'd suggest to the OP not to use Corsair's link. That is a basic recipe that doesn't take exact weight into account, it doesn't mention thickness (On EQ cure you usually go 1 day per 1/4 inch thickness of belly, plus 2 days for safety). In addition, Jess is using whole belly, not sliced and she isn't using weight. These can all make a big difference, especially with already sliced belly.

That also seems like a lot of Prague powder. While I've only done bacon once, I do cure a lot of sausages and the ratio is only 1 tsp per 5 lbs of meat. Her recipe uses 1 tsp for 3 lbs of meat.

Perhaps its a different ratio for ground meat vs. whole belly though.

I don't think it matters. I've made sausage and the ratio is usually 5 grams or about a teaspoon per 5 lbs. Curing time is much less for ground meat since it's mixed in. Curing time will be less for the OP also, but it's really hard to figure based on how the cure is spread over sliced bacon. That's why EQ is the way to go. As long as the calculation is right he can just cure longer and no risk of overcoming.

Personally, I do not cure my pork belly.

I'll buy a 15 lb slab of belly, do a cross-hatch score through the fat side, a few pinches of kosher salt (sounds sacrilege) and, 12-18 hours on 185 degree smoke.

When done, let cool and slice (what hasn't been "taste tested") into 3" strips. Package and freeze what needs to be frozen.

Hot smoked bacon makes the best BLTs.

Curing isn't just for flavor, it's for preventing spoilage and botulism while smoking at the low temps we smoke at. I always use Tenderquick on belly bacon but there are also brine cures that I understand are easier. With Tenderquick or prague powder weights are important but with brine cures you mix the brine without regard to the meat weight. I never tried curing sliced fresh bacon but a brine cure might do the trick. I'd have no clue as to how long it would need to be in the brine though. When you smoke it keep the smoke heavy and the temp low, cold or warm smoke is what you want. Too hot and the fat renders out.

Thank you, all, for the information and links. I've got some more learning to do.
On my list for today is to pick up a scale, so as to get precise weights on these packages and make a plan.

Meanwhile, I'm eagerly awaiting the arrival of the remote thermometer I ordered. There's a brisket and some ribs in the freezer, and I'm looking forward to smoking and feasting on those too.

If I were doing the bacon as you have described, I would prepare a brine. I would use Prague #1, and the rest is up to your tastebuds. Since the meat is already sliced, the brining process won’t take long. 24-48 hours should be more than sufficient. (Pieces of brisket takes about a week to cure into Pastrami).

After curing, I would rinse, pat dry, season, and place on the smoker at the lowest temperature you can set it at.

Here is a link to the Pastrami I made a while back. The curing part is actually pretty easy.

https://sigforum.com/eve/forums...935/m/4900073674/p/1

edit- I missed that it was already sliced, so disregard. If you get some that isn't sliced however, this is the best use for it that I can think of.

I'm here to change your life.
Make pork belly burnt ends. Here is Myron Mixon's recipe, and it's a pretty good start:




Link to original video: https://youtu.be/nL82hlORY-k

Sounds like everyone else has eq curing covered. I just took 20lbs out of the cure to form pellicile before 2 12 hour cold smoke sessions over 2 days.