Help for a starter!

[Amlet]

Hello and congratulations for the awesome forum . I want to ask some questions about making bacon because after reading tons of threads i am kinda confused.

1) What should i choose best, wet or dry curing?

2) Although i have read all your curing recipes i am very confused about the whole procedure. You are writing something like :

2g cure #1
20g salt
10g sugar

What is cure#1? Standard ready mixes that i buy from butchers or special stores? Cause here in Hellas i have difficulties in finding all those ingredients for curing.

3)Which is the best curing recipe per kilo of meat?

4) If i decide to let my bacon on the air closed bag while curing is it gonna ruin the bacon?On which step should i give more time for the bacon to mature?

Thank you for your time and greetings from Hellas!

[johnfb]

I bought the curing salts from this site...which has a picture guide on how to do it.
Worked out very well for me and very easy to make. It is a dry cure recipe.

Also if you click onto Paul Kribbs site link he has a most excellent step by step guide to this process. I used it and it was idiot proof, which it would have to be for me.


http://www.btinternet.com/~happydudevir ... bacon.html

[Amlet]

Thank you for the reply! I have read the Paul Kribbs link for the amazing bacon The matter is that that i don't know if the shop ships to Hellas and i wonder which are the ingredients for the cures. Saltpetre and other stuff like Ascorbic acid? Can i make them alone if i can't buy them from the shop? Thank you for your time!


Greetings from Hellas!

[saucisson]

Hi Amlet, Cure #1 contains 6.25% sodium nitrite and 93.75% sodium chloride. I'm sure sausagemaking.org would ship to Greece, just fill in their contact form on the main site and ask them.

Dave

[Amlet]

Thank you for the reply!So basically all the cures contains nitrites and other stuff to prevent meat from developing bacteria right? After buying the cure from the shop i must follow one of the various recipes from the forum?.Also as i stated on the beginning of the thread how can i make my bacon more mature.Thank you!


Greetings from Hellas!

[johnfb]

Thank you for the reply!So basically all the cures contains nitrites and other stuff to prevent meat from developing bacteria right? After buying the cure from the shop i must follow one of the various recipes from the forum?.Also as i stated on the beginning of the thread how can i make my bacon more mature.Thank you!


Greetings from Hellas!

Amlet
I have used the cure here for bacon, as in bacon and cabbage and for bacon for rashers for frying. I have just this week used it to make pastrami and corned beef both of which turned out excellent indeed.
Just follow the recipes, everyting is well covered in the forum.
If you cannot find the link you need then ask and one of the members will aim you in the right direction.

As for maturing I know one of the members..I think it is Aris, leaves his in the fridge for months on end for it to turn into a parma ham type bacon.

When dry cured the bacon can stay in the fridge covered in wax paper to mature until you want to use it.



Have a look at these threads:

http://forum.sausagemaking.org/viewtopic.php?t=3669

http://forum.sausagemaking.org/viewtopi ... 29&start=0


John

[Amlet]

Ok johnfb thank you for the informations! You used the Cure#1 right? I will study the two threads you gave me and post my questions without hesitation! I hope aris will drop a line for the mature bacon. Thank you again!


Greetings from Hellas!

[saucisson]

As John says, once you have cured your bacon you can let it mature in the fridge for as long as you want and it turns pancetta/parma ham-like. If you intend to leave it that long wrapping it in three layers of grease proof paper helps stop it drying out too much.

Dave

[johnfb]

Ok johnfb thank you for the informations! You used the Cure#1 right? I will study the two threads you gave me and post my questions without hesitation! I hope aris will drop a line for the mature bacon. Thank you again!


Greetings from Hellas!

Amlet
I used the bacon cure...not sure if that is cure #1 or not...someone else here can verify that.
This is what I used

http://www.sausagemaking.org/acatalog/bacon_cures.html

I also tried an all purpose curing salts from another supplier...I will send you a PM and give you the link,I just don't want to advertise another supplier directly on this site.

It's all very easy anyway. If you see my inital questions on the links given you will see how unsure I was at first...but it is all very simple...and more importantly...lovely to eat... a million times better than the rubbish you buy in supermarkets.

[saucisson]

The bacon cure John used, that he linked to here, will have a very small amount of cure#1 in it. It is not pure cure#1. That would kill you dead as the proverbial dodo if used in those quantities and/or not used properly.


Please,please post back here, if you need more information.

(John too )


Dave

[johnfb]

The bacon cure John used, that he linked to here, will have a very small amount of cure#1 in it. It is not pure cure#1. That would kill you dead as the proverbial dodo if used in those quantities and/or not used properly.


Please,please post back here, if you need more information.

(John too )


Dave

For me personally, I use nothing until the guys on this site verify what it is for and what quantities to use.
Always ask!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Amlet]

The bacon cure John used, that he linked to here, will have a very small amount of cure#1 in it. It is not pure cure#1. That would kill you dead as the proverbial dodo if used in those quantities and/or not used properly.

Dave you mean http://www.sausagemaking.org/acatalog/bacon_cures.html ?

I had the idea that all the cures on all shop basically have the same portions of nitrates or other antibacterial ingredients. What to you mean by "That would kill you dead as the proverbial dodo" ?

Thank you very much for the concern!


Greetings from Hellas!

[johnfb]

The bacon cure John used, that he linked to here, will have a very small amount of cure#1 in it. It is not pure cure#1. That would kill you dead as the proverbial dodo if used in those quantities and/or not used properly.

Dave you mean http://www.sausagemaking.org/acatalog/bacon_cures.html ?

I had the idea that all the cures on all shop basically have the same portions of nitrates or other antibacterial ingredients. What to you mean by "That would kill you dead as the proverbial dodo" ?

Thank you very much for the concern!


Greetings from Hellas!

This curing salt is like an all purpose salt and safe to use at 30 grams per kilo plus the 2 days at the end

I think Dave is concerned that you were going to use cure #1 on its own as opposed to incorporating it into a blend.
See...everyone is looking out for you

[Amlet]

No i am familiar with the process. I know i must use the cure with other stuff like sugar etc etc. The matter is that for 250gramms of cure i must pay nearly 25 pounds . Damn,Greece is far far away from UK So besides the ready mix from those shops is there any hand made recipe for cure? But i am still concerned about the precise of the ingredients

[johnfb]

:lol: No i am familiar with the process. I know i must use the cure with other stuff like sugar etc etc. The matter is that for 250gramms of cure i must pay nearly 25 pounds . Damn,Greece is far far away from UK So besides the ready mix from those shops is there any hand made recipe for cure? But i am still concerned about the precise of the ingredients

I have sent you a PM with a link to another site for other options for curing


John