5 kg of smoky, greasy, meaty goodness

[Delislem]

Hi,

I have been making bacon regularly for the last couple of years with the recipe from Michael Ruhlman's Charcuterie. It has always come out great and I thought I'd share.  The recipe in the book is based on 2.25 kg of meat so, to save myself some calculating, I made the attached spreadsheet. Enjoy.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1uORW24R-9NqQ1guWdnur49SD55Xp4bOINyCwucLNfbs/edit?usp=sharing

[reg]

Good stuff. It's hard to go back to store bought bacon after making your own

Reg

[Lv9_Engineer]

Is it easy to make friends when you're a bacon expert?

Great photos, I'm ready for lunch now.

[Sailor Con Queso]

Why do you cook this at 150 ahead of time? Why not just smoke it and cook as you need it?

[Fritz]

Hey Sailor, I read "Hot smoke until the internal temperature of the meat reaches 150F" ... Not sure if that implies cooking anything ahead of that point as "ahead of time" ...  150 is the "safe" internal temperature before storing it for frying later.

Looks like bacon to me... As any good Canadian, we got the maple and bacon thing down pat.

Try glazing the (thicker cut) bacon with marmalade or jam while cooking it .... Or put bacon in a PB&J sandwich....off the hook good.

[Fritz]

Hard to tell from the pics.... Looks like you smoked it with rind on....I know there are two schools of thought here...and yours looks great... But, I take my rind off for better distribution and (safer) penetration of the cure. Smoke will also not penetrate the skin easily in the short smoke time... Mine looks darker and firm after brining. I also only cure mine for 5 days... Usually smoking it on the 6th. Brown sugar is also a great flavouring.

[Delislem]

@Fritz The color temp of the picture does mislead. There is no rind. The book says to buy it with rind and remove after smoking but the belly my butcher gets is without rind.

@sailor the meet is indeed fully cooked. I'm not exactly sure why but it works. When I'm slicing I always eat a few bits cold and the taste is not far from a completely finished easter ham. Obviously frying in the pan gives it a whole nother caracter.

[Duntov]

I use a similar recipe but kick it up a notch with a touch of Bourbon.  Yours looks great so a cheese for you!

[Delislem]

Thanks for the cheese, John.

Tell me more about the bourbon. How much, when, how? I personally think bourbon, maple and smoke are a match made in heaven. I once made a bourbon, maple, bacon jam which was something to remember  ;D

[Fritz]

Why do I drool every time I read this thread ? ..... Thumbs up on the no rind bacon makin' thing ....

F

[reg]

For a different twist on home cured bacon after the bacon is cured and smoked I roast a large chunk in apple sauce until very tender then cool. Slice into 1" x 2" lardon/chunks and deep fry. These are ridiculous good at any outdoor gathering

[Duntov]

Tell me more about the bourbon. How much, when, how? I personally think bourbon, maple and smoke are a match made in heaven. I once made a bourbon, maple, bacon jam which was something to remember  ;D

Just put a shot or two directly into the rub.  You might want to try only one shot on your first try as the Bourbon could be over-powering from some tastes.

For a different twist on home cured bacon after the bacon is cured and smoked I roast a large chunk in apple sauce until very tender then cool. Slice into 1" x 2" lardon/chunks and deep fry. These are ridiculous good at any outdoor gathering

That sounds great!  But I can hear my arteries hardening just reading it.  lol

[Delislem]

I just had a vision of a grilled cheese sandwich with homemade blue, homemade bacon and slice of tart apple....I feel like Homer Simpson in front of a donut shop.

[Al Lewis]

Been making dry cure bacon for some time.  Always better than the wet cured stuff in the store.

[Fritz]

Looks great Al ! Slice me a few thick ones too :)
What a joke and rip-off that water injected store bought bacon is....
There is just no comparison ... Modern stovetop smokers such as http://www.cameronsproducts.com/stovetop-smoker makes this available to the simplest of home cooks now... Give it a try.