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Hi

Just about to cure my first bacon and wondered about the mix of ingredients.

As suggested on here I bought a standard mix from SAUSAGEMAKING.ORG but I prefer a slightly sweeter cure. I know its down to personal taste but how much extra sugar would be advisable and could it spoil the cure.

I will make small batches with varying amounts but what amount would make a difference?

Also if I want to use say coriander, nutmeg or similar how much should I add to enhance the flavour and make a difference? How much is too much if you see what I mean?

Sorry there are so many questions just want to make teh most of this baconer.

Any other suggestions woud be appreciated.
Thanks

Ingredients:
2 oz. Kosher salt (about 1/4 cup)
2 tsp. Cure #1 (aka pink salt, InstaCure #1, Prague Powder #1)
1/4 C. Maple sugar or packed brown sugar
1/4 C. Maple syrup


5 lb. fresh pork belly
(Makes enough for a 5 lb. belly)

Directions:

1 Combine all dry ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Add syrup and stir until well combined.
If the mixture is too thick, you can add more syrup to thin it.

2 Rub cure mixture on belly making sure to cover the entire surface. Place skin side down in a 2 gallon sealable bag, and expel all air, and fold the empty end of the bag under so that the belly is in close contact with the bag. During the curing time the belly will release liquid, and it is important that this liquid stay in contact with the meat.

3 Refrigerate at 34 – 40°F (the closer to 40°F the better) for 5 – 7 days, until belly is firm to the touch with no soft spots. During the curing time, turn the bag over once a day or once every other day to redistribute the cure; this is called overhauling.

4 When belly is fully cured, rinse it thoroughly, and pat it dry. Place it on an inverted rack set over a baking sheet, and air dry uncovered in the refrigerator overnight (12 – 24 hours).

5 Once bacon has been “air dried” place into a 120 - 140° preheated smoker with vent half open. The amount of smoke is up to you. I generally will only apply 2 hours, using maple.

6 After you have applied your smoke, increase the heat to 160°F, and smoke/cook the bacon until an internal temperature of 150°F is reached.
Or increase the temperature to 150°F, and smoke/cook until an IT of 140°F is reached.

7 After the desired internal temperature has been reached, remove from smoker and allow to cool slightly. When cool enough to handle, but still warm pull the skin off if its not already off(you may need a sharp knife to help) making sure you leave as much fat on the bacon as possible.

8 Over night in the fridge and slice the next day

Hi

SmokenDevo's recipe's for cure #1 (...and a fine recipe it is ), but I'm guessing that this isn't what you have.

If you're talking of the bacon cure I'd guess the addition of sugar up to around 10g per kg of meat would be a good starting point.

I'd go steady on the herbs and spices 'til you get it sorted - I rarely weigh them for standard bacon but just a sprinkle can be enough, so go steady. Thyme and black pepper's nice.

Phil

As far as how much, brown sugar is very forgiving. The meat will only absorb so much before the sugar just sits on the surface. If you're rinsing your cure meat off (new one on me, I never have) then it won't make a lot of difference.

Spices is trickier, as it's completely a matter of personal taste. I'll grate half a nutmeg on one bowl of rice and my family thinks I'm insane for it. A rule of thumb is test your just-ground spices on a neutral medium if you aren't familiar with the flavors, then adjust accordingly. If you put a heavy smoke on your bacon, it'll often cover or muddy the spices unless you lay a heavy load on the meat during the curing.

Hi everyone and thanks for the replies.

Yes Phil that was the cure I bought. I will go down the 10g per Kilo of brown sugar route. That sounds good and maybe a bit more if it does no harm.

I used coriander on a pancetta mix on a course at Maynards and that turned out really good so again I'll try that and tweek it.

The middles come back on Friday and theres plenty of meat. Ill let you know how it goes.

Richard