Bacon Adventure

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Bacon Adventure

Postby deb » Mon Oct 18, 2004 10:50 am

As some may recall I had my first go at curing bacon using Hugh F-W's recipe. I took notice of Franco's warning about Hugh's cured meats being a touch on the salty side so cured it for 4 days rather than the recommended 5, well we've just tried a piece and it's too salty. I'm going to soak the belly for about a day in several changes of cold water and am hoping this will remove much of the excess salt.
Here's hoping it does the trick.
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Postby aris » Mon Oct 18, 2004 1:48 pm

How much salt did you use? Franco's mix calls for 40g per kilo - and that is mostly sugar.

On another note - my best bacon yet was made using black treacle and a 5-day cure for a fairly thick belly. Much better than the maple syrup I tried the week before.
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Postby deb » Mon Oct 18, 2004 5:10 pm

To be honest aris the recipe didn't give any indication of weight of cure to weight of meat, so I followed the instructions of rubbing in some cure each day, not sure how much I used in total - obviously too much!!.
I would have thought that with a dry cure the time the meat is in contact with the cure would be the important factor. In a brine I could understand the strength of salt being more significant, seems I was wrong.
Still, the soaking should remove some of the saltiness so hopefully all is not lost. Got to say I used a piece of belly for this initial attempt (and probably the next few) as it's a cheap bit of meat so if it's a failure it hasn't cost a fortune.

Perhaps you could offer up a few pointers about bacon curing as you seem to be an old hand.
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Postby Fatman » Mon Oct 18, 2004 7:14 pm

Deb

Start again, this time use 50grms of cure per kilo of meat regardless of cure mix ratio etc, then rub in as normal , seal in a plastic bag and turn daily. Do not and I repeat do not add any further cure. Do not empty any residue either!

Belly pork will be ready in 5 days, BINGO.



Regards

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Postby Oddley » Mon Oct 18, 2004 7:23 pm

Hi deb while you are waiting for aris to reply perhaps this will help:

Method of Curing

Curing materials may be in either dry or liquid form. They
will be applied either to the surface of meat or into it by some
injection method. The oldest method of cure application is dry
cure in which the curing ingredients are rubbed on the surface
of the meat. The dry, sugar cure method can be used under
wider temperature variations and will have less spoilage
problems under unfavorable curing conditions. A simple and
time-tested dry-curing formula is as follows:

� 8 Ibs. salt
� 3 Ibs. sugar
� 2 oz. sodium nitrate
� 1/2 oz. sodium nitrite (or a total of 3 oz. nitrate available;
remember, excess nitrite is toxic)


oddleys Note: I take the 3oz nitrates to mean saltpetre

[Also, a prepackaged cure or modern cure mix can be
purchased from a spice or seasoning company.

One ounce of cure mixture per one pound of pork should
be used.
Hams will require three separate rubbings at threeto
five-day intervals. Picnics and butts will require two rubbings
at three- to five-day intervals. The belly will require one
thorough rubbing with a little sprinkling over the flesh side of
each belly. The cure mixture should be divided into two or
three portions for the number of rubbings. At the end of the
three- or five-day interval another portion of the cure mixture
should be rubbed in. When curing, meat should be held in a
non-corrosive vat or containers that will drain so the cuts do
not rest in their own brine.
The length of curing is seven days per inch of thickness.
An example, if a ham weighs 12-14 pounds and is 5 inches
thick through the thickest part, this ham should be cured 5 x
7 = 35 days. A belly two-inches thick should cure in 14 days.
Another important consideration is to be sure the cure is
rubbed into the aitch bone joint and hock end of the ham to
avoid bone sour. During curing the product should be stored
at temperatures between 32� to 40�F.
If the dry cure mix is dissolved in water, it is called a brine
or pickle. The meat can be covered with this pickle and the
system is known as immersion curing. Immersion curing is
slower and the pickle solution has to be changed every 7 days
to prevent spoilage. A sweet pickle cure with a salimeter
reading of 75� can be produced by adding 5 gallons of water
to the 8-3-3 mixture (above). A salimeter (salometer) should
be used to measure the strength (salinity) in the curing brine.
For quality curing and maintaining the same salt level in
the finished product, a salimeter is a necessary instrument


This is an extract from a univercity paper Click Here

You will need Adobe Acrobat reader installed to read it choose one of the two.

    Adobe Reader Full version 34.78 MB

    Adobe Reader Basic Version 11.8 MB


Or consider this you can use Prague Powder #1 in 6 grams per 5lb meat or 1.2 grams per pound then add this to the amount of salt and sugar you think fit and rub in as a dry cure. (leave 1 day per half inch of meat a guess).

DO NOT USE MORE OF THE PRAGUE POWDER THAN STATED AS IT IS DANGEROUS

I have been doing a bit of research since I started curing
Last edited by Oddley on Mon Oct 18, 2004 7:43 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Postby deb » Mon Oct 18, 2004 7:33 pm

Thanks guys. I think I need to have a look at all the advice and take it from there. Only time and practice will make perfect.
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Saltiness in bacon

Postby Parson Snows » Mon Nov 15, 2004 11:31 pm

Any time that a piece of bacon turns out too salty (which unless we're telling "porkie pies" has happened or will happen to us all eventually). One sure cure method is to soak the joint by placing it into a pot/saucepan with just enough cold water to cover then bring slowly to the boil.

Once it has begun to boil turn off the heat and allow to stand for ten minutes then drain off the water and add 150g of peeled potatoes per kilo of bacon into the pot. Again add just enough cold water to cover (DO NOT SALT THE WATER) and bring slowly to the boil. Turn down the heat and allow to simmer, after 15 minutes remove the bacon to another pot. Continue cooking the potatoes for a further 20 minutes. In the second pot cover the bacon with cold water and allow to simmer for for additional 25 minutes per pound. Take out the bacon and allow to stand/rest (20-30 minutes). Serve sliced, along with the potatoes (mashed or boiled)

Kind Regards

Parson Snows
Heavenly Father Bless us
And keep us all alive
There's ten around the table
And food enough for five... Amen
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