Pork First attempt at making our own bacon.

[SlayRide]

Not too shabby if I do say so myself. I basically followed Raichlen's recipe with the exception of adding maple syrup to the belly before sprinkling on the dry brine.
Will definitely be doing this more, with some tweaks of course.

Below is a link to the recipe.
https://barbecuebible.com/recipe/made-scratch-bacon/

 

[Mastertech59]

Looks great thanks for the pictures and recipe.

 

[Buckeye smoker]

Nice !!

 

[Fhughes]

I would love to do this, I currently just buy and smoke the store bought stuff. My wife would never eat bacon until I started smoking it

 

[BethV]

Definitely going to try this! Thanks for sharing.

 

[Gotbbq]

Great looking pics. It' s on my list to do. ?? ??

 

[ccmjr77]

BACON!!!!

 

[Gotbbq]

Going today to get pork belly. I saw some previous posts where the final product was too salty. I've done that with pastrami. Drinking all night! How was your bacon, salt wise? ??

 

[sweetride95]

Going today to get pork belly. I saw some previous posts where the final product was too salty. I've done that with pastrami. Drinking all night! How was your bacon, salt wise? ??

I was having salt issues with my first couple attempts at bacon. A big step in the right direction was getting the belly rinsed well enough when you take it out of the brine. Made a huge difference. I've since moved to a base recipe that's entirely based on weight. Helps keep the salt/sugar/cure ratio to meat accurate.

 

[PSU-85]

I basically followed Raichlen's recipe with the exception of adding maple syrup to the belly before sprinkling on the dry brine.

I used the Amazing Ribs wet brine recipe which is very similar for my first bacon attempt. Love the bacon but my belly had a lot more fat than your. I think I'll give this recipe a try after I find another belly.

 

[Gotbbq]

I was having salt issues with my first couple attempts at bacon. A big step in the right direction was getting the belly rinsed well enough when you take it out of the brine. Made a huge difference. I've since moved to a base recipe that's entirely based on weight. Helps keep the salt/sugar/cure ratio to meat accurate.

Thanks. I’ll locate one on line. ??

 

[krislacy]

Looks great. I have noticed with the bacon I make it frys up much faster or easier to burn. Have you noticed that?

 

[SlayRide]

Going today to get pork belly. I saw some previous posts where the final product was too salty. I've done that with pastrami. Drinking all night! How was your bacon, salt wise? ??

on point. You can always soak it for a bit after rinsing the brine if you are worried about it being too salty.

 

[SlayRide]

Looks great. I have noticed with the bacon I make it frys up much faster or easier to burn. Have you noticed that?

Honestly, we cook our bacon in the oven. For us, it all depended on how thick I sliced it.

 

[SlayRide]

A couple tweaks I plan for next batch. Up the sugar a bit, and try fruitwood pellets. Thinking Cherry. I had the hopper full of Hickory so I ran it. It was good to me and my bride, but may be a bit much smoke for some. As we all know the tweaking and making it our own it part of the enjoyment. Oh yeah, the bull ran flawless. I ran it at 200. took about 4 hrs for this 5lb belly to get to 150 internal temp.

 

[Gotbbq]

Thanks for the help. My pork bellies were kind of thick at one end and pretty thin at the other I made them into 2 pieces. Now I have 2 thick and 2 thinner pieces. Bagged the 2 thick together, 2 thin together. Made the brine and bagged them yesterday. Now its a turning and waiting game. ??

 

[sweetride95]

Thanks. I’ll locate one on line. ??

I'll look tonight at my notes. Off the top of my head it's something like...
2.6% kosher salt (this is for you taste. I was told 2-3% is a common. I like it closer to 3%, but the wife doesn't)
.25% pink #1 cure
1.5% sugar
I consider these three pieces the foundation of the cure. I do these by weight to ensure fundamentally I am making the same bacon.

I split a 10lb belly into two chunks. They fit into 2 gallon ziplocks that way.
I weigh each chunk in grams, then multiply that by the percentages to get my three fundamental ingredients.

Then I have fun with the adjuncts. Not looking for any "by weight" measurements, but accurate enough to reproduce if I ever hit the holy grail recipe. Usually in tablespoons.

On each chunk I'll add a tablespoon of garlic & onion powder, 1-2 tablespoons of rosemary, and a few "glugs" of natural maple syrup.

I've been thinking about juniper berries on one sometime.

 

[Gotbbq]

Hey, much appreciated. I saw somewhere to mix the sugar, pink cure and salt in big batches so its ready to use whenever. Any advantage? The pork bellies i used were really thick at one end, thin at the ores. I split them. Maybe the thicker ones cure longer? ??

 

[Infantryman]

Honestly, we cook our bacon in the oven. For us, it all depended on how thick I sliced it.

Awesome pics and thanks for the recipe link!

We cook our Bacon in the oven too, works really well doing it like that.

 

[krislacy]

Awesome pics and thanks for the recipe link!

We cook our Bacon in the oven too, works really well doing it like that.

Try it on the bull. That's my favorite way if I have the time.