Another Treacle Bacon Recipe

[Sojourn]

Hi all,

After reading Shauns post on black bacon here http://forum.sausagemaking.org/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=110 it reminded me of a recipe I did on a Curing course in West Wales, the recipe was basically Lucas Easicure Trad. and Treacle. I did a quick google and found a recipe in an old edition of a Dalziel news letter.

I had all the stuff in the cupboard so just put a 1.5kg piece of belly away in the cure to see what it's like...gotta love fennel with pork

Here's the method direct from the newsletter...in my recipe though I substituted the nutmeg for ground mace as I think it would be more savory. (I know its the outer casing of the nutmeg so pretty much the same thing)

Black Treacle Dry Cure

Curing Salt Mix %

Easicure Traditional Dry Cure - 50%
Fine Salt - 25.5%
Demerera Sugar - 20%
Ground Nutmeg - 1.5%
Ground Black Pepper - 1.5%
Ground Fennel - 1.5%

Blend all ingredients and apply to pork at 6% of the meat weight, rubbing well into all surfaces

Place the meat in a vacuum pouch to cure for 2 days per 1/2" plus 2 days

Add black treacle immediately after the cure, again at 6% of the original meat weight

Vacuum seal the bag and leave for further curing (it doesn't state how long at this point but I think 3 days should do the job)

I'll let you know how it turns out, if anyone has already tried this recipe let me know...

Cheers,

Dave

[ped]

How did it turn out Dave?

[peckerdunne]

This is the first success I had with curing. Turned out really well.
I cured 1kg of pork loin last week. I don't have a vacuum sealer so put it into a plastic bag inside a lunch box in the fridge.
First taste tonight.
The fennel and mace had a nice subtle flavour but I could get any treacle flavour. Still, mighty pleased with the results

[wheels]

Hi Peckerdunne

Great to hear that you had success with this recipe.

Welcome to the forum.

Phil

[The Idiot]

I have a relatively easy way to make a treacle cure after many messy attempts. I bone put a whole belly then slide it into a vac bag. Then I make a dry cure with salt, brown sugar and cure #1. I tip this in one the meat side only, and rub it in a bit. Then I weight the tin of treacle, and pour it into the bag onto the meat. I aim for between 30-40g per kg of meat.

Once that's in I vaccuum the bag until it's nearly done, then stop the machine and just do a normal seal. If you're doing it in a normal zip lock bag, just get as much air out as possible.

I then lay the pack, meat side down, on a flat dish in the fridge for 24 hours. By then, a brine will have formed which has broken down the treacle, and it's just a case of turning and rubbing the bag for the next five days.

it works a treat, every time!