Success - first time bacon curer!

[eurorrocket]

I ordered the traditional cure from sausagemaking.org and used two small bits of belly weighing under 1Kg each, bought from Sainsbury's. Not ideal, but I thought I should get n with this having been thinking about it for ages.
I more or less used this tutorial:
http://www.btinternet.com/~happydudevir ... bacon.html
As I said I used the traditional cure at 3% of the weight of the pork belly and I was amazed at how little of the cure was required. I then massaged it in and but the bellies in ziplok bags. I turned them every day without opening the bags even once, although I gave each piece a massage through the bag.
After 5 days I rinsed and dried the bellies and left them to dry out in the fridge. It all looked good and bacony so I gave it just a day of drying out and had to slice a bit off to fry it and taste it. It was really good! I am sooo pleased! Too many exclamation marks!!
Anyway, I have a couple of questions for the more expereinced bacon curers out there:
1) Each piece of belly seemed to give off a lot of liquid very early in the curing process, but by the time 5 days was up there really wasn't much left. this surprised me. Is this normal?
2) Maybe related to question 1, I saw that the weight of each belly was slightly higher than when I started. The 828g piece gained 14g and the 922g piece gained 16g. Is this normal?
3) I treated the bellies slightly differently inasmuch as I took the rind off one of them and left the rind on the other. Both appear fully cured and tasty, but I think the one where I left the rind on tasted a little bit porkier rather than bacony, if that makes sense. Should I have left the cure for longer on the one with the rind on? In future I think I will derind them anyway.
4) I used the standard traditional cure. Nothing else. Could I just add pepper, sugar, bay leaves, juniper etc. or will I then need to recalculate the amount of traditional cure because it will be "diluted" by other ingredients?
I hope people here can help or I might be forced to experiment on my own and who knows who I might damage?
Thanks in advance

[Oddley]

Hi eurorrocket, welcome to the forum.

1) Each piece of belly seemed to give off a lot of liquid very early in the curing process, but by the time 5 days was up there really wasn't much left. this surprised me. Is this normal?

This is perfectly normal, don't worry about it.

2) Maybe related to question 1, I saw that the weight of each belly was slightly higher than when I started. The 828g piece gained 14g and the 922g piece gained 16g. Is this normal?

Again perfectly normal, it will be the original weight of the meat or there about's, Plus some of the cure weight.

3) I treated the bellies slightly differently inasmuch as I took the rind off one of them and left the rind on the other. Both appear fully cured and tasty, but I think the one where I left the rind on tasted a little bit porkier rather than bacony, if that makes sense. Should I have left the cure for longer on the one with the rind on? In future I think I will derind them anyway.

The reasons for the instructions to state, to rub 10% of the cure into the rind side and the rest into the meat side, is that the rind and fat have a very low water content. Follow the instructions, until you know more. May I suggest that you leave the cured bacon in the fridge for 1 week to dry, as this will allow the cure to equalize a bit, throughout the meat, and with the drying, you will get an improvement in the taste.

4) I used the standard traditional cure. Nothing else. Could I just add pepper, sugar, bay leaves, juniper etc. or will I then need to recalculate the amount of traditional cure because it will be "diluted" by other ingredients? I hope people here can help or I might be forced to experiment on my own and who knows who I might damage?
Thanks in advance

Follow the instructions for the cure exactly, saying that you add what you like to it, as long as it doesn't add to the nitrite/nitrate load

[eurorrocket]

Thanks for the quick reply, Oddley.
Leaving it in the fridge uncovered for a week will certainly annoy my wife, so maybe I'll try that next time.
One other question. At the moment the bellies are resting/drying in the fridge resting on a metal baking/cooling rack we usually use for baking cakes etc. Is that OK or will there be a reaction?

[Oddley]

If you do leave it, your wife will appreciate the results, I'm sure.

At the moment the bellies are resting/drying in the fridge resting on a metal baking/cooling rack we usually use for baking cakes etc. Is that OK or will there be a reaction?

Nitrite, is a powerful antioxidant and will react to metal. I would suggest you put it on a plastic rack or skin down on a plate in the bottom of the fridge, and turn it every day till it dries.

[eurorrocket]

I appreciate the advice. I've now vac-packed the bacon since I will n ow be away for a week or so. I plan to let the next batch dry out for longer.
I'm still so surprised this whole thing went so well. Could well be a life changing event.

[saucisson]

Welcome to the world of curing

[wheels]

Yes, Welcome.

Phil

[NCPaul]

Welcome to the forum eurorrocket.

[eurorrocket]

Thanks for all the welcomes and the tips. I'll be back with updates and probably lots more questions as I progress.
Cheers!