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I Made Bacon!

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fordguy_85:
So, while watching some cooking channels on YouTube a while back, I came across a video of a guy making bacon. Being a fan of all things bacon, and seeing how relatively simple it appeared, I knew I had to try it for myself.

I did a bunch of reading on the subject, and watched a ton more videos, and decided on a dry brined and hot-smoked version. I ordered a pound of sodium nitrite, or pink curing salt, to help avoid botulism. After that came in I called up a local butcher shop, and had them set me aside half a pork belly. It was $3.19/lb, skin already removed, and I ended up with right at 8-1/2 pounds after trimming it.

After trimming any folds away, and some of the excess fat, I mixed up a 50/50 mix of kosher salt and dark brown sugar to which I added the appropriate amount of curing salt and mixed well with a whisk. I packed this mixture onto the quarters (I’d intended on trying different smoking woods, etc.) and put them into gallon ziplock bags in my fridge for 8 days, flipping them over once a day. Then I washed the cure off the meat, patted it dry, and put them on my smoker/grill over maple wood @ 160-180* for 4-1/2 hours (you go until you reach an internal temp of 155-165*), allow to cool off in the fridge, then slice up or bag up for storage. It apparently keeps for 1-1/2 - 2 weeks in the fridge, and months in the freezer this way.

Pandora:
Well, good for you!  Hope it's delicious.

fordguy_85:
So, there are good things about making your own bacon, and some bad things also... On the positive side, It. Is. Amazing. Period.  ::danceban::

The downside is that pretty much every brand of bacon sold around me in supermarkets, etc., are basically meat cardboard now  :'( ...

Another upside is that you can slice it as thick, or as thinly as you wish. It doesn’t fry up quite like store bought bacon, but more like country ham/ham... but the amount of flavor is out of this world. And I’m sure my first attempt could use some improvements on. Which I intend to try in the coming week or so.

AlanS:

--- Quote from: fordguy_85 on August 21, 2019, 07:19:07 AM ---The downside is that pretty much every brand of bacon sold around me in supermarkets, etc., are basically meat cardboard now  :'( ...


--- End quote ---

BLASPHEMY! There is no bad bacon! ::unknowncomic::

Glad it worked out for ya, Uncle Fester! ::thumbsup::

fordguy_85:
I was sorta hopin’ you’d have forgotten to call me that by now  ::facepalm::

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