It is really hard to find people out there who don't love bacon. I mean, really, its bacon. Crispy, greasy, smokey, wondrous! I have been spoiled over recent years because I have easy access to bacon at the Belmont Butchery. They carry their own store made stuff as well as the always wonderful Nueske's brand. I love getting it from there especially because I can have them custom slice it for me, a nice thick slice on number 5 (the slicer setting).
This year I thought it would be fun to create bacon myself. Here is a short diary of my experience:
So I went to the butcher and had them hook me up with 2.5 lbs of pork belly (without skin). I started the process by soaking the pork belly in rum. After about 5 hours, I patted it dry and mixed it with a cure consisting of brown sugar, salt and pink salt. Then left in the fridge for 5 days to work its magic. I then rinsed and let if sit in the fridge for another 24 hours before smoking.
The smoking process went well. I used apple wood chips and I was able to control the temp as well as get a good smoke. The smoke lasted about 2 hours as we tried to get the bacon to 150 degrees. We took it out and cut off a slab and it was beautiful in color, but the it was really salty.
I sliced up the slab by hand and let it soak for a bout 4 hours in water. I noticed that salty flavor was gone, but also gone was a good bit of the smokiness.
Finally this morning, I cooked the bacon on my grill. And overall I would give myself a B-. It was flavorful, a great consistency, but there was slight sourness. I am pretty sure that it was related to the rum.
Lessons Learned:
1) No rum
2) Not so much salt
3) Try hickory with the apple wood for a stronger smoke flavor
0 comments:
Post a Comment