Bacon Again - 2016.05.21

After a morning of yard work it was time to get the 10 lb pork belly I picked up at Costco a couple of days ago started in the curing process.  This represents 60 lbs of bacon cured this calendar year.
 The recipe this time, very similar to other times but less white granulated sugar since I ran out.

Recipe:

• 1 cup dark brown sugar
• 1/2 cut white granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup kosher salt
• 1-1/2 tsp pink curing salt
• 1/2 cup coarse Malabar pepper

Prep:

I combined all of the ingredients above in a medium size stainless steel mixing bowl.  I used a wide spaced whisk to evenly and thorough incorporate the ingredients together.  The pork belly's from Costco are nicely vacuum sealed in heavy plastic.  I placed the entire package on a large cooking sheet pan.  I sliced open the packaged and slid the pork out of the package and onto the sheet pan.  I examined the meat and removed any layers of connective tissue from the meat.  I look for any large sections of fat that can be easily trimmed without changing the character of the bacon.  I didn't find any this go around.  I separated the pork belly into 3 roughly equal pieces and put each into a separate 1 gallon storage bags.  Into each bag I put 1/3rd cup of the curing mixture on top of the pork.  I spread the rub around the surface of the meat.  I repeated this step on the other side of the meat and then distributed the cure that remained evenly among the 3 bags.  The rub gets in the groove of the zipper of the bag so I run my fingers along the zipper to remove as much of the granular cure as I can.  Then I sealed each bag and placed it into another equal size storage bag and sealed them all.  All 3 of the bags of pork where placed in our garage refrigerator.  Each day, for 6 or 7 days, the bags will be turned over in the refrigerator.  After a couple of days, there will be lots of fluid released from the pork in the curing bags.  This is part of the curing process and why the bag needs to be rotated daily to distribute the cure ingredients.

My hope is that this batch will feature a little more of the pepper flavor in the finished product.

The Smoking:

This morning (2016.05.28) I fired up the Green Mountain Grill - Daniel Boone - and updated the firmware to the latest available.  The procedure was pretty easy and went without any issue.  I always forget to connect my Android phone via wifi directly to the grill.  This is required to get it initialized correctly for the update.  After that I went through a warm-up cycle to help establish a consistent cool 150 degree temperature for the bacon to smoke in. 

I put the 3 slabs of bacon on the grill and it stayed consistently low in temperature - 150 - for the first couple of hours.  I opened the pellet hopper and added some fruit wood pellets and shortly after that the temperature went up to 202.  Something about changing the air flow increased the temperature.  It's now starting to settle back down.

Results:

2016.05.28 - 11:40PM
The three slabs of pork belly came off the grill after 7-8 hours.  They reached an internal temperature of 150 degrees Fahrenheit.  They look very good.  Top coating is nicely caramelized.    The fat side, down in the smoker, is nicely solidified.  Each slab is in a separator gallon storage bag in the refrigerator. We will have a few slices with breakfast in the morning.

Bacon Update - Green Mountain Grill

2016.01.18 - Bacon Update - Green Mountain Grill

The first bacon recipe I described in this blog has been prepared a couple of times in the old Kenmore smoker and the new Green Mountain Grill. The resulting bacon was delicious but also very very salty.  

Most recently I cured the pork belly using the same basic ingredients as described in the first bacon blog entry.  After curing I rinsed the meat under cold running water using the vegetable sprayer on my sink.  After that I took the two halves of pork belly straight to a Green Mountain grill Daniel Boone model set to 150 degrees.  I set the two pieces in the smoke.  To monitor the temperature I used a standard digital oven thermometer, running the sensor through the access hole in the GM grill and into the center of the largest piece of pork.  I set the alarm temperature on the thermometer to 150 degrees, closed the lid, and let the magic happen.  After 6-½ hours I heard this loud beeping sound (11:45PM) from my backyard.  It was the meat calling to report it had reached 150 degrees.  I started the cool down process for the grill and took the two slabs into the house on large cookie sheet.  After admiring the appearance of the newly formed back I wrapped
each piece in foil and then plastic and stuck them in the refrigerator.  I figured they’d last a couple of weeks but I was wrong.  After 8 or 9 days I was told I need to do this again.

First Homemade Bacon

First Homemade Bacon

I had read about making bacon and was interested in trying it myself.  Every article I read or person I talked to who had made their own bacon just fueled my interest.  I finally crossed the threshold after a conversation with Vlad Liubich, a colleague of mine at Mentor Graphics, who shared his experience with acquiring the ingredients, recipe, and procedure.

Bacon From Vlad Liubich

For 5 pounds of pork belly (can be bought at Sheridan’s Fruit company or any other butcher shop you like,  I saw some recently at Meating Place, http://meatingplacepdx.com/home/ if you are in our area). Should be ok for 1st try.

Recipe:

• ¼ cup kosher salt
• 2 tsp pink salt (aka curing salt, sodium nitrite, can be bought at Sheridan’s and some other places, just ask for it.  Again, not necessary but will kill the bacteria during curing process and keep bacon rather pinkish the way it looks at store.) See the Sodium Nitrite section below.
• ¼ cup of brown sugar
• ¼ cup of maple syrup (can be omitted if you don’t like it)

In addition, you can add rough ground black pepper if you like it or any other spices you like with your bacon

Preparation:

Combine all of the spices in a bowl. Rub it on the pork belly. Put the belly in the 2 gallon zip lock bag and squeeze the air out. Place in the fridge for 5-7 days ( I also put it in the pyrex tray just in case cure and juices are running out of the zip lock) . Turn every day. It is not an exact science, slack in all of that is enormous. Once done  (I decided that 5 days are enough and it was) get the belly out of the bag. You will feel that it quite firmed up. Wash it thoroughly in the cold water. You can also soak it in there for 15-30min. otherwise  outside layer will be quite salty – meat likes to absorb a lot of it.

Once done, pat dry it with a paper towels, put it on the rack and back in the fridge it goes for one more day to develop a so called pellicle - the outer coating of the meat.  Keep it there overnight.

Next day smoke it for about 3-4 hours at 225F (again not a precise  science, if temps go above that for a short time – fine). I used hickory and apple mix 50/50. I like it but you can use any hard woods you can find around – oak, alder, pecan, whatever you like). At the end of the process check the internal temps, should be 140-150F in the middle of the thickest part. Remove, let it cool down. You can try it right away but it should be wrapped in the cello-tape and put in the fridge until cool (pyrex or plastic tray will be good as well in case some juices running out).
Smoke sets in, juices stop flowing, you will have finished product.

My schedule was SundayàFriday – curing, FridayàSaturday – drying, Saturday – smoking, Sunday – bacon and eggs J It is also easier to slice it thick or thin or anyway you like it when it is cold.

Sodium Nitrite

Since originally gathering the information in this specific article I have read quite a bit more about the use of sodium nitrite.  I have not tried making bacon without sodium nitrite.  The reason I haven't is that I prefer a low and slow smoking of the meat.  This means the internal temperature of the meat might not exceed 140 degrees Fahrenheit for more than 4 hours.  The bulk of the articles I've read indicate that the temperature of the meat needs to exceed 140-150 degrees Fahrenheit in less that fours hours has a higher risk of bacteria development.   In the entire curing process, the most sodium nitrite I use is 1 teaspoon of pink salt per 9-10 lbs of pork belly.  Pink salt contains very little, by weight or volume, sodium nitrite.

Simple & Savory Beef Jerky

Simple & Savory Beef Jerky

This is very similar to the first recipe I tested and liked for making beef jerky.  This specific recipe creates a more sweet and savory jerky that is hard to stop eating.

The Recipe:

• 1 cup soy sauce
• ½ cup brown sugar
• 2-3 tbsp coarse ground black pepper
• 2 tbsp worcestershire sauce
• 1 tsp liquid smoke 

Preparation:

Take 1 gallon zip-lock storage bag and set on counter.  Carefully add all ingredients to bag and close zipper to mix.  Slice meat ¼” thick slices and add to bag.  Agitate bag to make sure all pieces will get marinated.  Make sure to squeeze all air out of bag.  Let bag rest overnight in the refrigerator.  Smoke over your choice of water soaked wood chips for approximately 2 ½  hours at around 200-215 degrees Fahrenheit.  Store in cool air tight location.

Simple/Standard Beef Jerky

Simple/Standard Beef Jerky

The Recipe:

• 1 cup soy sauce
• 2-3 tbsp coarse ground black pepper
• 2 tbsp worcestershire sauce
• 1 tsp liquid smoke 

Preparation:

Take 1 gallon zip-lock storage bag and set on counter.  Carefully add all ingredients to bag and close zipper to mix.  Slice meat ¼” thick slices and add to bag.  Agitate bag to make sure all pieces will get marinated.  Make sure to squeeze all air out of bag.  Let bag rest overnight in the refrigerator.  Smoke over your choice of water soaked wood chips for approximately 2 ½  hours at around 200-215 degrees fahrenheit.  Store in cool air tight location.

Note:

Made this twice.  1st time burned in smoker too long. 2nd time, turned out really nice.  Slices of meat were slightly too thick at ⅜”.  Slices at ¼” would be better.

The first time I made this was in Fall of 2012.  The smoker I used was integrated into the Kenmore brand barbecue I discussed in the initial post on this blog.  The smoker was heated by a propane flame over which sits a pan of soaking wet wood chips.  The first 1 to 1-1/2 hours the temperature stayed pretty low.  After that it started rising to well above 220 which is too hot to make jerky.