I've just finished my first batch of bacon and have some teething issues which I need to iron out before I can call it a success.
I used a cure called supracure. It recommends 5% (or 6% when used in a 90% salt to 10% sugar ratio). I used 75g for my 1.5kg pork belly which I rubbed into everywhere. I then tipped in any remaining cure that hadn't stuck to the pork belly, and vacuum sealed the bag.
I've just finished smoking it and I have two problems:
1) The bacon is very salty. After rubbing the cure into the bacon I vacuum sealed it (with a food saver style vacuum). A small amount of liquid appeared in the bag after a day or two, but not much. I left it in the bag for 7 days (turning it over most days) and then released the vacuum. The amount of liquid in the bag didn't really increase.
2) I cold smoked it for about 8 hours using oak (not ideal, but not too unusual). The smoke taste is very overpowering. I know this is a silly mistake to make (always start out smoking something less that it needs to be), but I've read articles where people smoke it for multiple days. I used a pro-q cold smoker which puts out a good amount of smoke.
So, how would you go about solving both these problems? I think I used the right amount of cure, but should it be reduced when vacuum sealed? Is 7 days too long? I like the sealing as it prevents contamination of other food in my fridge ... but is this just wrong? The bacon had a uniformly salty taste, so it seems like the cure penetrated well.
As for the smoking, I guess I should just smoke for a couple of hours? How do people smoke for days and no get a horrible taste? Do I just need to let the bacon rest pos smoking for a few days to let the taste mellow?
Any help is appreciated. I'm still very proud of my first attempt at bacon, but it's not something I'd like to serve to guests quite yet