Make'n Bacon

[JEBar]

it doesn't require much equipment to make bacon .... it does require a source from which to purchase pork belly, a few spices we don't normally buy and a recipe .... none of our local grocery stores stock it and their price per pound for bacon is $6 to $9 .... we finally found it at a local butcher shop for $5 a pound .... my recipe source is " The Smoking Bacon & Hog Cookbook: The Whole Pig & Nothing But the Pig BBQ Recipes" purchased from Amazon .... this morning we mixed up the first batch of spices and have put our first slab in a Ziplock, that will age for 7 days .... we are to turn the bag over once a day .... now the waiting begins

[Sir Henry]

When’s breakfast!

[Headhog]

I've been making my own bacon for a few years now. I found a recipe I liked on the internet and have stuck with it. I'm sure it use different seasoning/spices, since everyone has their own twist. A 7-8 day cure then wash off and dry for 1-2 days in fridge, followed by slow smoking to 160 F internal. I've found that slow smoking at 180 F on my pit boss makes tender bacon, that crisps up nice. It's a long slow smoke of about 10 hours, but worth it.

Paul

[JEBar]

When’s breakfast!

late next week

[Stray Cat]

Bacon like that should squeal when it goes into the frying pan!

[JEBar]

​well, today was the day .. .. the first slabs both recipes of our bacon were sliced, cooked and sampled .... we were very pleased with both and they will be on the menu at our family's Christmas gathering .... biggest lesson learned today is our slicer doesn't have a sufficient amount of space to slice the slabs length wise ..... to make it work we have to cut the slabs in half​

[rickhem]

My mouth is watering reading this.

[JEBar]

I must admit that this process has gone much smoother than anticipated .... the credit goes to the recipe book mentioned in the first post in this thread .... today we plan to start the process to make our first run of Canadian Bacon

[markiver54]

Yum! looks great! After all, who doesn't like bacon?

[Dahliathemeh]

Mmmmm meat candy

[PBSnooker]

I made it a few years back. After it was smoked,days later I sliced it and fried it in a pan. It smelled and tasted like smoked pork,not bacon.

[JEBar]

started our second run of regular and maple bacon yesterday .... as can be seen by contrasting receipt shown in post one of the thread with the one below, it can be seen that we've found a cheaper source for pork belly .... the first was purchased from a local butcher shop .... this time from a local abattoir .... for anyone who isn't aware, its no longer considered wise to use the term slaughterhouse .... rather, the preferred term is abattoir which is the French term for slaughterhouse ..Roll Eyes (Sarcastic) :rolleyes:.. the fact that the charge a $1.50 a pound less isn't anywhere near as important to me as the the fact that the quality of their pork belly is markedly higher .... this batch is curing in the frig and should be ready this coming weekend

[DsGrouse]

From last year, I plan on picking up two cases of PB's this year to make more, and a couple cases of tenderloins.








Venison pastrami



(bottom round pastrami)

[JEBar]

nice, very nice indeed .... at what point in the process do you freeze it for later use ..

[JEBar]

our all day rain moved out about 3PM so we were able to put some in our smoker and some different recipe in the frig to prep for smoking tomorrow .... the first looks good, we will slice some and fry it in the morning got breakfast ....

[JEBar]

we've now made two batches of Canadian Bacon following the recipe below.... first picture shows after 7 days in the cure .... second and third pictures are after smoking .... third picture is sliced ..... we've thoroughly enjoyed the taste and texture

[markiver54]

Looks great! You're making me very hungry.

[JEBar]

we are pleased with the Canadian Bacon shown above .... that said, we've decided to tweak the recipe used to make the next batch ..... its texture is dead on but Maureen wants a bit stronger maple favor .... so we will add maple sugar and more maple syrup to the next cure mixture

[JEBar]

we are looking forward to Saturday when we plan to process over 10 lbs of pork belly in what will produce our largest batch of regular bacon to date .... shortly after breakfast we hope to take the first out of its cure and get in the smoker ..... to smoke all of it will take us until sometime after lunch ..... when we are done we hope to have 2+ lbs sliced in the frig and the remaining 8+ lbs packed proportionally and in the freezer

[JEBar]

we've already taken the next step in curing our largest run of bacon .... after 7 days curing, we took the slabs out of the frig and rinsed them .... to ensure they weren't too salty we took a small slice from each and fried them .... per that taste test we confirmed that they fine and are ready to move on .... they have now been placed fat side down in a metal pan where they are to remain in the frig overnight ..... this step is supposed to make the more readily absorb flavor from being smoked .... tomorrow they will be smoked ..... three will then be packed and put into the freezer .... the remaining one will be sliced and packed for storage in the frig