Making Bacon
Basic dry-cure is a mix of salt, sugar and curing salt. Curing Salt: [ Ссылка ]
Morton's Tender quick is ready to use as is. It has salt, sugar and sodium nitrate.
Basic dry-cure recipe: BULK this is enough for 50 lbs of meat (extra can be stored)
-1 lb (approx 1 3/4 C) salt (no iodine)
-1/2 lb (approx 1 C) granulated sugar
-10 teaspoons pink curing salt
Enough for approx 10lbs of meat:
-3 oz (approx 5 Tbl) salt (no iodine)
-1.5 oz (approx 9 tsp) granulated sugar
-2 teaspoons pink curing salt
-other dry ingredients (spices) can be added as well for taste: pepper, garlic, brown sugar, etc.
Pink Salt refers to curing salt, which is non iodide table salt with 6.25% sodium nitrite added, and dyed pink for safety. This is an ingredient you should not leave out. The smoking process leaves meat in a temperature danger zone for hours. The curing salt (sodium nitrite) prevents botulism from growing in the meat. It also gives meat an appetizing red color.
Step 1
Apply dry cure to the exterior of the meat. Any that falls off do not put into the zip lock bag with the meat. You only want the cure mixture that actually sticks to the meat. Any left over that has touched or fell off the meat discard. You can save any unused cure in a mason jar for future use. Now you can add any wet ingredients into the bag like: maple syrup, molasses, etc. Seal up bag and place in refrigerator. Flip every day or so to distribute the cure.
Step 2
After 7-10 days it should be ready. Rinse off and let soak in cold cold water for an hour or two. This removes the salt so your bacon isn't to salty (VERY IMPORTANT). Pat dry and place uncovered into refrigerator. It needs to sit for 12-24hrs. A pellicle(shinny, dry but tacky surface) will occur.
Step 3
Remove from fridge and smoke around 200 F until an internal temp of 150F is reached. It is now the same condition you would buy in from the supermarket. Chill for a couple hours to make it easier to slice. Slice and fry up a piece or 6. Enjoy!
Total working time: under an hour
Total waiting time: almost a week and a half
