Homemade Bacon

.simplecomfortfood ^ | Dax Phillips

[virgil283]

"Yep, I said it. Homemade bacon....and have made some of the best bacon I think I have ever had. ...Not only the satisfaction and almost giddiness that you get when you finally taste the bacon, but the texture is something to be reckoned with.....The old school way, and now maybe the only way, to craft and preserve meat....So begin by locating a good pork belly......

[virgil283]

Lets get started on this simple recipe of making homemade bacon.....

Homemade bacon

Ingredients: •4 lbs of pork belly, skin on •1/4 cup of basic dry cure •1 tbsp cracked black pepper (optional) •1 tbsp garlic powder (optional) •large ziplock bag or sealed plastic container large enough to hold the pork

Dry Cure: •1 lb of Kosher salt •8 oz granulated sugar •2 oz of pink salt, approximately 10 tsp Take your pork belly and begin sprinkling the 1/4 cup of dry cure all over the belly. Top, bottom, and all sides. Make sure everything is coated, rubbing it into the pork.

Place this into a sealed plastic bag or container, placing in a refrigerator, and wait.

I say wait, but because you are looking at about 7-9 days before the next process.

About every other day, flip the bag or meat making sure to redistribute the cure liquid, a process called overhauling.

In seven days, check the pork for firmness. If it feels firm at the thickest point in the belly, it should be cured. If not, let it go another day before checking again.

Once you have reached the firmness, mine went for about 8 days, remove it from the refrigerator, and container, and rinse it under cold water. Pat dry with paper towels, and place it back into a clean, sealed container for one more day. At this point the pork builds up a tackiness that I preferred so that I could season the outside the following day.

Now is the day we have been looking for. The day to rub and smoke and slow cook the bacon. This step takes approximately two hours to cook, another hour or so to cool down, then you can begin slicing, and cooking the way you prefer to cook your bacon.

Mix the black pepper and garlic powder. Sprinkle over all sides of the cured bacon. Your next choice is to place it directly in the oven, or into your smoker if you have one. I have one, so I decided to light some coals, bring it to approximately 200 degrees, and place the pork inside, covered, skin side up, for roughly one hour. About 30 minutes in, I laid in my soaked cherry woodchips onto the coals, and let it smoke for about the additional 30 minutes.

At this time, I preheated my oven to 200 degrees inside the house, and finished the cooking process there, uncovered, on a wired rack.

Once the additional hour is done, check the temperature of the meat. You are looking at 150 degrees. Once you reach that temperature, remove it from the oven, and let it cool to room temperature.

Now is the fun part. Slicing it. If you have a really sharp knife, begin slicing into your desired thickness

[Telepathic Intruder]

Been there, done that. My grandma ran a chicken/pig farm. Fresh bacon and eggs every morning. Ham or chicken for dinner. Homemade bacon sounds like you can print it with a 3D printer.

[Alex Murphy]

Lets get started on this simple recipe of making homemade bacon.....

Step 1: Get a pig.

[driftdiver]

I tried it, messed it up. Its a lot easier to buy it. Also cheaper.

[onyx]

Very interesting. Thanks so much.
SAVING!

[gorush]

pork ping

[Marie Antoinette]

We purchased our first ever whole hog in May, and our butcher made sure to carefully pack the fresh belly for me. I mixed up the cure and applied it the next day, and cured it for over a week. My fave is hickory, so I hickory smoked it, then froze it. We bought a meat slicer since hand slicing was difficult for me. It is delicious, and unlike any prepackaged bacon. I cured mine with fresh crushed garlic. It was brilliant.

[Squantos]

Bookmarked !

Thanks !

[IncPen]

ping

[fatnotlazy]

Years ago, some friends and I took a road trip to Tionesta, PA. Tionesta is a small rural town surrounded by farms. Along the way, we stopped at a general store. The store carried homemade bacon made by Amish farmers. Came in several varieties — honey cured, maple cured, hickory cured, etc. All had a unique taste. Puts bacon from the supermarket to shame.

[Carriage Hill]

Drool...

[101stAirborneVet]

Lets get started on this simple recipe of making homemade bacon.....

Why am I able to smell this through my laptop?

Mmmmmmm.

[Billthedrill]

Ooh. Meat candy. BTT

[mountn man]

OKAY...Now that you got the bacon, Here's your next assignment.

BACON BOMB

[mountn man]

Somebody sent me this 2 days ago, so I'll share it with you.

[mountn man]

Candied Bacon Recipe

Ingredients

12 slices bacon, about 1/4-inch thick
Finely ground black pepper
1/3 cup light brown sugar

Equipment:

2 baking sheets, preferably the same size

Directions

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

Put bacon slices in a bowl, season them with pepper and toss with the brown sugar. Cover a baking sheet with parchment or foil and arrange the bacon in a single layer on top. Sprinkle any sugar left in the bowl over the bacon. Top with another layer of parchment or foil and top it, squarely, with another baking sheet. The baking sheet will flatten the bacon as it cooks.

Place the tray in the center of the oven and bake for 20 minutes. Check the bacon by lifting the top tray and parchment. If it is not golden brown and fairly crispy, resist the temptation to turn up the oven temperature, and cook it for 10 to 15 minutes longer. Check it again. Keep in mind that when you remove the tray and transfer the bacon to a serving platter or individual plates, the bacon will "crisp" up a little more. Be patient!

[xrmusn]

“Yummy, Yummy, Yummy, I got love (of bacon) in my Tummy”!

[ConservativeInPA]

I have been thinking about making some bacon. I understand the pre-smoking steps. My question is, how important is it to keep the temp down when smoking and in the oven? My smoker can run very low temps. I can hold temps very well.

The bacon that you get in the store seems to be cured, smoked slightly, but definitely raw. How far do you actually cook the pig?

[virgil283]

"150 degrees. Once you reach that temperature, remove it from the oven [or smoker], and let it cool to room temperature. ..the cure is to an internal 150F.....then you slice and fry as normal cooking for bacon..... Enjoy

[Patriot Babe]

I know this will sound silly from a person who is not familiar with smoking nor canning, but what is basic dry cure and where do you get it?