Second foray into the world of home made bacon

[kil2k]

Another 3.5Kg of bacon curing away in the fridge!

First one is [using the measurements from the bacon calculator here - thanks Phil!]:
Cure#1
Salt
Dark brown sugar
Ground black pepper
Fresh picked Thyme

And the second is:
Cure#1
Salt
A generous amount of ground black pepper
Fresh picked Thyme, Rosemary and Sage


Not too adventurous, but it is only my second attempt at bacon, and my first using home-made cures.

Went in the fridge yesterday. Why is it that time flies by so quickly these days, until we're waiting for our bacon to cure?

[yotmon]

Always worth the wait though.....

[GUS]

In case you hadn't already read it on the forum, ALDI does a well priced genuine 100% maple (not epicurean but not bad) for a good price all year round, watch out for the nasty welsh sh1t that advertises itself as mple syrup but has in the tiniest letters mostly carob in it! ..many get stung like that.

Stick to Aldi's own because you just know you'll be making some Maple bacon.

[kil2k]

The missus buys this stuff from Costco. No clue what it cost, but she seems to like it! Might try it next time, but it'll take a couple of days to get through this batch

[kil2k]

Also, could ale be added to the cure? For example, could I pour some Doombar in to the bag before sealing, or would it ruin the bacon?

[crustyo44]

kil2k, You are on the road to success, sofar it all looks great. 22 gram per kg of meat is a good Equilibrium cure.
According to Robert Goodrick you can even still go a bit less, it's all dependant on your taste buds.
Once you smoke this lot, you will realise that you have bought crap most of your life, unless you bought it from a proper butcher with pride of what he makes.
By the way, I prefer to cure in vacuum bags, the zipper bags can leak!!
Good luck my friend.
Cheers,
Jan.

[kil2k]

It's my birthday in a few days, so I've told the missus to buy me a vacuum sealer

[NCPaul]

The vacuum sealer will pay for itself in food not discarded. I've had my best luck with maple syrup injecting it into a pork loin; on streaky bacon it was hard to pick up the flavor. Start keeping a detailed notebook on the various things you try.

[kil2k]

As nice as this second batch of bacon is, I don't think it's as good as the first. The flavours are fine, but the bacon seems tougher after it's cooked. The only differences were:

I left this batch curing for two days longer than the last ones [6 days sealed with the cure, 3 days air-dried in the fridge]
The meat was from a different place
The cure was different

Any ideas?

[wheels]

I find that longer drying gives a better product. Starting with quality meat goes without saying.

[kil2k]

Actually, another difference I can think of is that the original batch was frozen and defrosted before curing. I'll have to experiment.