Homemade Sausage Making

It's makin' bacon time!
I'm using Chuckwagon's (Kutas') recipe listed above in the 'Makin Bacon' section.

Got all the ingredients lined up for this recipe...


Into the dry ingredients, I add the 'wet.'


Well-mixed into a sticky paste that'll be rubbed into the bellies...


I picked up 16.5 pound of pork belly at a 'reasonable' price. Hard to get it in my area, I've discovered. Many places want upwards of $7-8 a pound! This was $3.99/lb special ordered at our local Whole Foods.


I gave the bellies a thorough rub-down with the maple/honey cure paste, distributing it evenly across all surfaces. These will sit in my fridge for two days while the salt draws moisture out and a brine develops. Per the recipe's instructions, it's important to allow the brine to cover the meat so I may move the bellies into separate zip-locs to ensure good brine contact & submersion.


That's all for now. After 12 days of curing, it will then be on to the next step: SMOKING.

More to come!

Kevin

I'm going to do bacon one of these days. It's a project that looked interesting to me. After discovering this forum, I believe it's even possible .
Nothing ever tastes as good as that which you have made yourself.

73 de Allen, W1SBY/AE

That slab looks grand. There is a local butcher shop with a killing floor and I must make inquiry for a slab or two.

Did one batch for 6 days in plastic garbage bags for brining, ala Rytek, turning every day. Came out salty. Talked to a local butcher, he said 6 is too much time. Did it , as per his advise for 3, much better. Still not up to my standards but the guys that took it to their hunting camps said it was much better than store bought. Vacuum sealer is out of action so lot of stuff is on hold. W1, thought that bacon was out of my realm but it's much easier than it seems. Give it a try.

Nuynai said: Vacuum sealer is out of action so lot of stuff is on hold.
I don't have a vacuum sealer but I get very good resulrs with Glad® Press-n-Seal® Lay one sheet down then the product then a second sheet and press out the air. The product sticks to its self and forms a good seal.

Yeah, heard of it, looks like it'd be a winner. Thanks for the endorsement and product review.

w1sby wrote:I'm going to do bacon one of these days. It's a project that looked interesting to me. After discovering this forum, I believe it's even possible .
Nothing ever tastes as good as that which you have made yourself.

73 de Allen, W1SBY/AE

Allen, don't wait. Home-made bacon is extremely simple and utterly delicious. My wife won't eat store-bought anymore. I have 18 lbs. of bellies (skin on) curing in the fridge right now. I used the recipe from Ruhlman and Polcyn's "Charcuterie", which is much the same ingredients as in this thread. Each piece of belly is in its own Ziploc bag, to contain the mess and keep the brine on the belly.

I cure it for a week, then cook smoke it around 200F until the internal temperature reaches 150 F/66 C.

Be careful, your mouth will have an orgasm!

--
73 de Rob, VE7RRF

Here's a great substitute for a vacuum sealer. Fill your largest pot with cold/cool water, it has to be at least as deep as the bag you're going to use.

Fill your 'zip loc' with your ingredients and close about 2/3 of the way. Now slowly lower the bag into the water starting with the lower corner which is opposite the still open part of the bag. As the bag is lowered into the water the pressure from the liquid will push out the majority of air.

When the water level is just about to the open part of the bag simultaneously (and slowley) zip the rest of the bag closed and lower the bag futher into the water. The bigger the pot and greater the amount of water the better the air removal.

NorCalKid wrote:

I'm wondering if 12 days of cure (one day per pound up to 12 days) will produce an overly-salty end product?

Kevin, to tell you the absolute truth, it could be. Over the years, many folks have commented that ol' Rytek's recipe is a bit salty. I had to cut down on the salt myself but it's because I have high blood pressure. It's okay to soak the bacon 45 minutes following the procedure, IF there is evidence that the salt-cure has completely penetrated the center of the slab. I've heard of people rinsing the slab after 6 days. In my opinion, this would be fine provided there is evidence of complete penetration. You might test-fry a bit after a week just to taste it. Some bacons can become pretty salty.

Best Wishes,
Chuckwagon

Good advice there, CW. I'll sample some this upcoming weekend (5-days in) and see where it's at before deciding upon when to smoke.

Kevin

Last night I picked up some jumbo Ziplocs (13x15") which are an ideal size for the belly-slab sizes I have.
I transfered the bellies from the plastic lug to the Ziplocs-a nice brine has developed- and squeezed out the excess air.


Now I'll flip these every day or so for good cure coverage. In hindsight, had I already had the ziplocs in hand, I wouldnt have had to let the bellies sit in the lug, but gone right into the bags.

If all goes well-I'll sample a piece on Saturday for saltiness, and if it's on the mark, I'll hang dry 'em overnight & on the smoker the next day.

Kevin

This morning, I sliced & fried up a sample to check the overall flavor balance (salty vs sweet) after 4.5 days of curing.
Tasted fine- a bit of both saltiness and sweetness, neither overpowering the other. So on to the next step....

I washed & wiped down all the belly pieces quite throughly (2 larger 'squares' and two end hunks) and dried them. Some of the black pepper 'residue remained, but my main concern was to remove any excess cure/salt.
Ready to be hung...


Dug out my bacon hangers & set up our 2nd fridge to let the bellies hang dry for a day or so. This is to ensure a good dry time (fridges suck out moisture from exposed foods) and really aid in developing good pellicle formation-essential for decent smoke adhesion.

Hangin' & dryin'...


Come Sunday eve, I'll be prepping the smoker and getting these bellies ready to move there for a long, cool overnight smoke.

Kevin

those sure do look good! I must convince Nancy that I need to build the larger smokehouse.

Beautiful work & beautiful photography too! Looks like you've got another winning project on your hands ol' pal.
Layers of fat can be a real problem for complete penetration of the cure. That's the reason commercial producers use a gang of needles and "stitch pump" their slabs.
Keep up the good work Kevin. When you taste it, let us know if the very middle is entirely cured.