Bacon curing

[scottri]

Sonic said:

Good advise, great to know as i'll be attempting this soon.

I was going to say the furry meat pictured doesn't look like it's cured properly. Perhaps leave it in longer next time?

From what Tanguero said, the issue seems to be caused by my draining off the liquid which was actually the cure it needed to sit in, and then opening the lid to turn the meat, was not only pointless, but repeatedly opened the meat to more and more airborne nasties.

The mould appeared after about 13 days... we were just about to hang the meat. Now we know what we did wrong we'll be having another go next weekend.

Edited by scottri on Monday 8th April 10:35

[Sonic]

Thanks, and for the review on the slicer

I think i'll use a big resealable bag so i don't need to open it.

Would vacuum packing it be a good idea to ensure the meat remains in the cure?

Edited by Sonic on Monday 8th April 10:49

[Tanguero]

Vac-packing should force the cure into the meat and should reduce the curing time. I believe that is often how it is done commercially, but I have never tried it.

[scottri]

I was also thinking of a resealable bag - less likely to leak all over. Vac Pack also sounds like a good idea but that means i need a new gadget :-)

Edited by scottri on Monday 8th April 11:46

[Sonic]

I'm spotting a theme with this manufacturer -

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Andrew-James-Quality-Vacuu... or
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Andrew-James-Professional-...

[poprock]

It’s interesting to hear about the differences in process between wet, semi-wet and dry cures here. Thanks for all chipping in guys.

[Sonic]

I'm pretty gutted looked back at this thread actually, i smoked a massive pork shoulder/rib cage yesterday, and kept the skin to replicate your crackling, but left it in my brothers fridge

[poprock]

I’m pretty sure a friendly butcher will happily sell some skin on its own … not every customer takes it with their meat, after all. I’m definitely going to try asking at some point.

[Tanguero]

My latest batch using the semi-wet cure method.

Take one pork loin



Bone it out and freeze the ribs for barbecuing when the weather improves!



Mix the cure as per the spreadsheet



Dissolve part of the dry cure mix in the given quantity of boiled water



Sterilise the box to put it in.



Stitch inject the wet part of the cure at 5cm spacing all over the meat making sure the cure gets right through



Rub the dry part of the cure into both sides of the meat

|http://thumbsnap.com/XXvfgorK[/url]

Seal up and refrigerate for 14 days turning the whole box over every day.





This batch is due out for drying and smoking at the weekend. Pics of the end result to follow next week.[url]

[Tanguero]

And a fortnight later....

Take it out of the box and rinse the liquid off the surface and it should look (and smell!!!) something like bacon. No mould, no fur, no 'off' smells at all.




You can slice it at this stage for green bacon or...

Hang it in a warm dry place overnight to form a shiny slightly sticky salt 'pelicle'. Then fill the fire box of your smoker with chipped whisky cask staves (Bruichladdich - Port Charlotte 2001)



Fire up and cold smoke for 8 hours at 25 degrees





Then wrap well in clingfilm then foil and refrigerate for 2 - 4 days for the smoke to penetrate and mellow out, then unwrap and slice.





Ready for eating.

Any surplus gets wrapped in clingfilm and foil and goes in the freezer. The water content is low enough that it freezes perfectly without losing texture when it thaws.

It is a reasonably involved and lengthy process but attention to detail and patience pays rewards in the form of the best bacon that I have ever tasted anywhere, ever!

[dazco]

You are a God amongst men.

[escargot]

That looks delicious

[Bill]

Tanguero said:

Mouldy stuff

Thanks for the comprehensive reply.

[Tanguero]

I do a 2.5 kilo (bone in weight) of loin roughly every month to keep family and friends supplied. It really is well worth taking the trouble to do it precisely and once you have a system not a very time consuming job. I haven't had a failure using this method for years.

The end result is reliably much better than any commercial bacon.

[RealSquirrels]

hmm, slicing apart it looks pretty easy. can't get proper bacon here in germany so this looks like it could be worth a go

[Tanguero]

You can slice it fairly well with a good sharp carving knife to be honest and domestic slicers aren't all that expensive.

I got lucky, years ago when my village butcher retired he sold me his big slicer for £50.

[Pferdestarke]

My first. And certainly not my last. It's delicious.

[Tanguero]

Looks superb!

[Pferdestarke]

Thanks. It's a little too salty so perhaps I'll do it for a day less next time.

[escargot]

Pferdestarke said:

Thanks. It's a little too salty so perhaps I'll do it for a day less next time.

you could soak the whole cured joint in water for 24 hours mate, that'll draw some salt out. It'll need to be hung again though.