Bacon

[Smokin Monkey]

Smokin Monkeys Smoked Bacon

 

Two whole Pork Loins

 

 

Cut each Loin in to three and weighed each piece and wrote weight on each Vac Pac.

 

 

Used a Cure calculator like, like this one, http://www.localfoodheroes.co.uk/?e=541

 

 

Weighed out the Salt

 

 

Weighed out the Sugar

 

 

Weighed out the Cure #1 (3grams of cure plus 23gram ramekin)

 

 

Cure mixed together

 

 

Loin in the Vac Pac and then the mixed cure added. I like to write all calculated cure weights on the pac.

Once sealed the Loin is placed in the fridge for 10 days, turn Loin every day.

 

 

Pork Loin after 10 days curing. Remove from Vac Pac and rinse with cold water.

 

 

Bacon once it has been washed.

 

 

Fry tested a slice or two to check for saltiness.

 

 

Bacon hung in the fridge for 24 hours.

 

 

Smoked over Oak pellets for 12 hours.

 

 

Sliced and portioned.

 

Back to The Smokin Monkey Cook Book

 

 

 

 

[MadCow]

Here's mine ... once you make your own you'll never want to buy the supermarket stuff again!

[Steve Harford]

I did one smoke on mine about a week ago. Well half a smoke as it went out. I have 6 half loins hanging in the fridge which have been there since, as I feel the weather is too warm to smoke. So I will be slicing and packing most of it today then start another few for smoking when it's a bit cooler. Still tastes great though. 

[Wade]

5 hours ago, Steve Harford said:

... So I will be slicing and packing most of it today then start another few for smoking when it's a bit cooler. Still tastes great though. 

Unless you are going to eat it all within a week (or freeze it) then it will keep longer in the fridge stored as a slab

[Steve j]

Although I've done bacon before I've never been 100% happy with the fat when I fry it. Could it be I'm not hanging it long enough after curing and smoking?  Or is it something else. What do you guys reccomend time wise for hanging

[Wade]

Hi Steve. Firstly a couple of questions?

• Are you dry curing or immersion curing?
• What is it about the fat that you are unhappy about?

Some pointers about curing and hanging times... When I dry cure the bacon to sell I remove the skin before curing and let it cure for a full 14 days. It is then rinsed, patted dry and then hung for 24 hours to dry in the refrigerator. It is then smoked for up to 48 hours before then being returned to the fridge to dry for a further 24 hours. It is then vac packed until it is required for slicing.

[Steve j]

11 hours ago, Wade said:

Hi Steve. Firstly a couple of questions?

• Are you dry curing or immersion curing?
• What is it about the fat that you are unhappy about?

Some pointers about curing and hanging times... When I dry cure the bacon to sell I remove the skin before curing and let it cure for a full 14 days. It is then rinsed, patted dry and then hung for 24 hours to dry in the refrigerator. It is then smoked for up to 48 hours before then being returned to the fridge to dry for a further 24 hours. It is then vac packed until it is required for slicing.

hi wade I'm dry curing, exactly the same process as you for hanging but i cant seem to get a melt in the mouth type fat for some reason its a bit tough if you know what i mean

[Wade]

The fat closest to the skin can remain a little tough as it contains collagen and also fibrous bands that anchor the skin to the underlying muscle. The fat layers between the muscles (e.g. in streaky bacon) do not usually have the same problem. The dry cure bacon fat will often be a little firmer than the immersion cured bacon as the immersion cure process will increase the water content in the fatty tissues and also to begin to slightly break down the collagen and make it a little softer. The difference in texture will be more noticeable the thicker you cut the slices. Lower cooking temperatures (e.g. oven baking rather than frying) can also result in the fat remaining more solid.

A couple of suggestions

If you ask your butcher to remove the skin from the pork then they will usually remove only the very outer dermis layer, leaving a lot of the tougher subcutaneous tissue behind. You should ask them to remove more of the fat (or do it yourself) before curing, leaving a thinner fat layer surrounding the meat.

Slice the bacon a little thinner. I usually slice mine using a #3 setting on my slicer.

 

[Steve j]

Might try belly next time rather than loin, I just slice with a knife usually ends up about 3-4mm just wondered wether a longer hang would make a difference

[Justin]

I use belly to make my bacon, i find it tastier. and more tender.  But I am learning all the time.  I make it too salty so i need to work on that as I usually rinse it and pat down before drying which is kind of counter intuitive

[Wade]

Did you make your own cure or did you buy one of the ready-to-use cures e.g. Supracure? When you say that you rinse and pat down before drying, do you mean after the meat has cured and before smoking?

Most bought cure mixes when used as directed end up with a salt content of ~5% - which is too high for most peoples pallets. Many also exceed (sometimes by as much as double) the EU and USA maximum permitted in-going amounts of Nitrite.

The easiest way to make the bacon to your taste is to make your own cure. It is simple to do and it puts you in control of how salty and sweet you want it to be. Here is the skeleton mix for the cure

2.5% salt - this suits most peoples tastes
For each 1 Kg of pork

• 22 g salt
• 11 g sugar
• 2 g Cure #1

2.0% salt - for people who are very salt sensitive
For each 1 Kg of pork

• 18 g salt
• 9 g sugar
• 2 g Cure #1

For the salt you can use any type of salt (Sodium Chloride) - cooking salt, sea salt, kosher salt etc. Just do not use Table Salt as it has iodine added.

The sugar is used at a rate of 50% by weight of the salt. The sugar is not there to sweeten the bacon but to reduce the taste of the salt. You can use any sugar. White granulated or caster will not add any flavour however dark sugars will.

Cure #1 is 6.25% Sodium Nitrite and 93.75% salt. When used at the rates above you will end up with an in-going Nitrite level of 125 mg/kg (Ppm). This is well within the permitted maximum permitted of 150 mg/kg. You should NOT use Cure #2 as this also contains Potassium Nitrate, which is not permitted in bacon.

Weigh out the ingredients into a spice grinder or coffee grinder and then blitz together.

To add flavours you can also include your chosen spices into the mix (e.g. black pepper, szechuan pepper, bay leaf).

Increasing the amounts of sugar will result in a sweeter bacon if desired.

It is best if you have digital kitchen scales that weight to an accuracy of 0.1g, though this is not essential.

[Justin]

Bought adodgy one yes, so lesson learnt there! Defo following your advice next time wade. Yes rinsed before smoking.  Thank you Wade

[Wade]

You should still rinse after it has been cured as all of the required salt and cure has already penetrated the meat. The stuff still on the surface is not required. Just a quick rinse under the cold tap is all that is needed.

[Justin]

On 7/27/2017 at 8:29 PM, Smokin Monkey said:

Bacon hung in the fridge for 24 hours.

My fridge has glass shelves not to mention full of food so to hang it I was thinking hang it in the wsm, It is not cold but does it matter, it will dry out quick.  Or lay it on a dish in the fridge whit some kitchen paper.

[Justin]

Just rinsed it in water bath and patted dry, taste peppery slightly medium salt.  Tasty, Very peppery.  I am rather susceptible to salt taste as rarely add salt to any cooking. So to me it tastes a bit too salty?  I guess back is supposed to be salty pork?

 

I would smoke it tomorrow but the sun so hot, temperature too high already.  In wrapped in kitchen paper and in fridge on plate.  Will check and change paper again tonight

[Justin]

Also I got very little cure liquid when I opened vac pac.  Last time I cured pork in a Tupperware container there was masses of liquid

[Justin]

Just gave it another two water baths, then patted dry and put back in fridge

[Wade]

36 minutes ago, Justin said:

Just rinsed it in water bath and patted dry, taste peppery slightly medium salt.  Tasty, Very peppery.  I am rather susceptible to salt taste as rarely add salt to any cooking. So to me it tastes a bit too salty?  I guess back is supposed to be salty pork?

I would smoke it tomorrow but the sun so hot, temperature too high already.  In wrapped in kitchen paper and in fridge on plate.  Will check and change paper again tonight

Did you take the test slice off the end of the bacon? If so this is likely too be very salty and peppery. Once you have taken a slice or two from the bacon you will then get the actual flavour.

[Justin]

Good tip

[Wade]

37 minutes ago, Justin said:

Also I got very little cure liquid when I opened vac pac.  Last time I cured pork in a Tupperware container there was masses of liquid

This is usual when it is vac packed.

[Justin]

Mine is belly pork so flappy and streaky, meaty though.  It will be fun

 cutting it. Very sharp knife action. Will change kitchen paper wrap before i go to bed.  I can not hang it to dry in my fridge

[Smokin Monkey]

You do not have to hang it.

[Wade]

3 hours ago, Justin said:

Mine is belly pork so flappy and streaky, meaty though.  It will be fun

 cutting it. Very sharp knife action. Will change kitchen paper wrap before i go to bed.  I can not hang it to dry in my fridge

Before you slice it place it in the freezer for about 30 minutes. It will harden and make it easier to slice - either by hand or on a slicer

[Justin]

sliced and packaged, had some for lunch, not smoked but delicious, three rinse in water bath in sink has taken the saltiness way down just enough there for that bacon taste, much better, still taste the pepper but not as strong as before. Meaty taste no water of course, way better than anything form the shop or butcher, Thanks to Wade and Steve for all the tips.

Now got  whole load of bacon in the freezer.

 

[Justin]