Savory Bacon

  One of the easiest ways to start learning how to cure meat is by making bacon. The key ingredient that makes bacon bacon is sodium nitrate. Sodium nitrate goes by many names, including DQ1, Prague Powder #1, and sometimes just Pink Salt (not to be confused with Hawaiian salt, which is just pink). Sodium nitrate also gives bacon its distinct pink color and flavor, otherwise, it would just taste like pork. Bacon can be made with as little as a pork belly and some curing salt, or as complex and flavorful as a savory recipe.



 

  Whole 12lb pork belly before being cut into sections for different recipes. Unfortunately this came with the skin already removed.

5lb section of belly that I am going to be using for the savory bacon.








  Here is the cure I used for the belly, which it will sit in for 7 days in the fridge in a 2 gallon Ziploc bag. I try to flip the bag daily just to redistribute the cure and seasonings to both sides of the belly. The only benefit to not having skin is better absorption of the cure on the side that would normally have the skin.
 

 Once this process is complete, the belly needs to be rinsed off in cold water to remove all of the cure. Next pat the belly dry and from here there are multiple options.

  If the belly is being smoked, which I am going to do, place it in the fridge on a rack overnight to form a pellicle, which is a skin that forms on the surface of a protein that allows smoke to better adhere to that protein.


The other option is just to put it straight into the oven on a rack, this does not require a pellicle. Either way, the bacon needs to be smoked/cooked at 200* until the internal temperature in the thickest part reaches 150*F, which takes up to two hours.  Cold smoking is another option, which is when the meat is smoked at <100*F. Cold smoking takes anywhere from 6-10 hours, depending on the amount of smoke flavor that is wanted. I decided to try it this attempt for 6 hours, using a mix of hickory and applewood.



 Now that the bacon is cooked, it is time to let it firm up before slicing it.  Usually at this point I would remove the skin, but that was already done by the butcher. I found the easiest way to do this is to cut about an inch of the skin off and that is usually enough to let you just pull the rest off in a single piece, as long as it is hot. So after that is done, put it in the fridge for a couple hours, or overnight if you can wait that long. Now that the bacon is cold and firm, it is easier to slice.  

  I am lucky enough to already own a meat slicer, which makes this job so much easier, otherwise, I would have to be patient with a knife to make lots of uniform slices. The bacon can now be vacuum packed for long term storage in the freezer. I would suggest making packets sized without about as much bacon that would be used in 1-2 weeks time, so it stays fresh while in the fridge.

  That is about all there is to making bacon. The process is not hard at all, just requires good product, a few special ingredients, and time.

Curing Chamber

  One of the first things needed to start curing most types of meat is some form of a curing chamber. There are a few exceptions to this, such as having an area where humidity and temperature stay somewhat stable at around 55-60*F and 70% RH. Temperature is important because if is too hot, there is a greater chance of mold and the meat could cure too fast. There is not necessarily that big of a problem with it being too cold (to an extent) since it will only slow down the cure, which can increase the flavor. Humidity is similar, if it is too humid, there could be mold growth or the meat could get wet while curing, but if it is dry and the meat is in a casing, it could dry out and crack.  

  I decided to buy a wine cooler off of Craiglist since it requires minimal space and is already designed to run in the 50-65* temperature range, which is perfect for red and white wines. Another option is to buy a full sized fridge and modify it to run in the correct temperature range, but this takes up a lot more space and requires $200+ worth of parts. There is a guide to this which can be found here.

  Since I went the wine cooler route, the only thing I had to worry about was stabilizing the humidity in the chamber. One of the easiest ways to do this was to put in a tray of wet salt. The salt should be mixed with water until it will not absorb any more and there is no excess water on the surface, which could lead to mold. A wet salt solution should hold a RH of 75%, releasing moisture or absorbing excess out of the air, depending on the RH in the chamber. 

  The next item which is required is a hygrometer. The easiest way is to buy one that will display both the temperature and humidity, so that they can both be verified. I purchased one for under $10 off of Amazon.com Hygrometer.

  The only other thing I use, which is not totally necessary, is a 12v computer fan which I spliced onto a 12v cell phone charger (make sure the amperage is similar or the fan could overheat). This will help move the air around, since there can be a temperature variance between the top and bottom of the chamber.

 Once this is all complete and the curing chamber is stabilized to around 55-60*F and 70% RH, the only thing left to do is decide which type of meat to cure first.