curing fresh pork

[lmathews]

I am looking for a recipe for curing ham and bacon before smoking.My neighbor does it for himself but is selfish about sharing his cure recipe.Do any of you out there have any recipies you would share?My recipe's call for saltpeter and I can not find it anywhere.So any help would be appreciated.
Thank you all Lee

[Fred Henderson]

Go talk to some Amish.

[Lwood]

Check out www.sausagemaker.com they have all kinds of stuff for making sausage. But they also have lods of stuff for curing and smoking meat.

[KenWP]

I am looking for a recipe for curing ham and bacon before smoking.My neighbor does it for himself but is selfish about sharing his cure recipe.Do any of you out there have any recipies you would share?My recipe's call for saltpeter and I can not find it anywhere.So any help would be appreciated.
Thank you all Lee

Lee find yourself a bag of Mortons cure at the store and it should have the directions for cureing hams with it. It contains the nitrates that old recipes call salt peter which is the cure that gives ham and sausage like salami its red or pink color. I use a commercial brand which comes in a little bag and you use tiney half spoonfulls to a recipe. You have to be very careful with it as it can give you a pretty bad headache if you use to much. If you need I can email you recipes for curing ham and just about anything else that contains meat includeing weiners.

[red maples]

I will get my recipe I use sausage maker and LEM to get casings for sausage cure etc. as for ham I buy the premixed cures they are easier. and they take many hours of smoking.

I use mostly pink salt (which is 93.75% salt and 6.25% nitrite) also called insta cure #1, TCM, DQ curing salt, but its all the same thing.

I don't recommend salt peter its not consistent product and can be dangerous for a novice!!

The book I use is called "charcuterie" by micheal ruhlman and brian polcyn
I have a bradley smoker love it mostly just set it and forget it!!!

maple cured smoked bacon

5# porkbelly trimmed skin on

2oz / 1/4 cup ....kosher salt(use mortons kosher)
12 grams / 2 teaspoons pink salt
1/4 cup /50 grams maple sugar or dark brown sugar packed
1/4 cup / 60 milliliters maple syrup

1.combine all ingredients and mix well

2. rub on the entire surface of the belly

3. refrigerate and flip every other day for 6 days.(the bacon will release water so somthing with sides thats non reactive glass, plastic stainless or a large ziploc bag if you can find one.

4. remove from the cure and rinse very well. pat it dry and place it on a rack and let it dry in the frig. for 12-24 hours uncovered (this will slightly dry the outside to form a sorta dry skin calleda pelicle which the smoke will adhere to)

5. hot smoke the pork belly at 180 degreesF for about 3 hours or until the internal temp is 150F.

remove the skin and slice and fry it up yummy.

IT takes a little practice but the recipe is very good. it will ruin you from store bought bacon. I can't even eat that stuff any more it really is bad!!!!

This book is great, I made venison kielbasa(just need to cut the salt back a little ) and it takes like store bought its awesome.

have fun!!!

[KenWP]

Mortons dosn't actually have salt peter either .There are actually two kinds of nitrates they use for ham neither is actually salt peter.Salt peter was actually the crap they put in the coffee in the army to slow down guys a bit. Some guys say it took 50 years before it actually worked.

[red maples]

yeah ken I did here that!!! I thought they used it on submarines to calm the sex drive too!!! :lol:

[gator330]

red maples, your recipe has me inserch of pink salt and fresh porkbelly!!!! How much smoke do you put to it? The hole three hrs or just part of the time? I use a masterbuilt electric smoker add wood chips through the side. I like some smoke but have over smoked things in the past. Can't wait to try this recipe!!! Going to be a long six days before that belly hits the pan!!!!!

[red maples]

I smoke the entire time. I like to take the skin off before I cure it. and I like it very smokey the flavor is if it just came out of the smoker. there are other ways to smoke it slower but it takes about 9 hours and is too much smoke.

but this is the best method I have found...I have to say smoking is alot of time and hit and miss. I take notes and imporove on them all the time!!!(although I should invest in a note book I have scraps of paper all over the kitchen!!)I did a brisket last year for the superbowl and it was awesome!!!

[gator330]

Thanks for the info.!!! I have every thing but the belly not shure if the local store will even carry it. Had to drive 35 miles just to get the pink salt and kosher salt. They didn't have any fresh belly there. If not I might just have to go get a hole hog for down the road. Mine are only 40 pounds right now or one would already be hanging!!!! Thanks again for the info. And thank you Imathews for post the question. My wife will love you when the hole frig is full of curing bacon!!!!!!

[KenWP]

We used to smoke it untill it was stiff and sliced easy. Different strokes for different folks. I can't eat sausage from a store and very few butchers either but this one german family had good stuff and of course my owns better. She who must be obeyed could not figure why I bothered making sausage untill she ate it and understood the difference.

[gator330]

The belly is in the frig!!! I'll let you know how good it is in six days.

[gator330]

Red,

Still turning the bacon every day. I just pulled out a batch of snake sticks that I smoked this morning(Venison). There so good warm out of the smoker. I have it all planed out before work on Wednesday I'll rinse dry and hang the bacon in the fridge. Up first thing thursday smoke cool and package it. Look at it ten times a day till Saturday morning when it's on the table. Farm fresh eggs, home cured bacon, home fries, country toast fresh from the oven and french toast with the finist maple syrup with Coffee. I don't think it could get any better. Maybe if it snowed and I hitch the team for a nice sliegh ride could it be better.

[red maples]

there's nothing like it. Last week I made a big bunch of jerky had a few pieces and my wife and kids ate it up I got maybe 5-6 pieces. for the next batch 1/2 is going to get hidden in the sugar house no body goes in there but me!!!! except duriing sugaring season but It will have to be beef unless I can get another deer with the bow.

Shotgun season over for this year went out a little later sunday morning but someone had been on my property man I really don't mind that much if they stay on the outskirts but the foot tracks in the snow were about 100yrd behind the house but you could see the house beacuse of the snow covered trees hanging. I follow ed the tracks but wanted to hunt deer not other tresspassing hunters. had a tree stand stolen last year too. I think I am going to have to post it!!! I really don't want to but I don't think I have a choice anymore.

[gator330]

Brad

Just what I thought it would be, a real nice country bacon!!!! The sides and thin end was a little to salty but still good the thicker part of the belly was perfect. Just couldn't wait till Saturday to test it. I already have two more in the cure for x-mass gifts. I used the brown sugar and syrup. I can't wait to do it with maple sugar and syrup. Thanks again for the info. Brian

[red maples]

told you it was good...you can just cut the curing part by a 1/2 or 1 day and that should take care of the saltiness. that's what I did because the original recipe called for 7 days and was really salty wow. although it also called for the skin on too but I like the skin off gives it a little stronger smoke flavor. I have 2-5# pieces in the freezer that I am going to pull out tomorrow and get it curing so I can have some for this weekend!!!! On my x-mas list for santa is a small meat slicer(like the deli ones) so I can cut the bacon nice and even. and a 5#sausage stuffer too want to try hot dogs, bratwurst, and more kielbasa.:D

[gator330]

I think we have the same list for santa. Mine is the LEM catalog page one to the end!!! I use a jerky cannon for small snake stix but I would love the press type stuffer. Working five pounds through a gun can be done. Any more then that would start to suck!! I just started a bunch in the smoker, be done in 2 hours. I have a large stone smoke house here that great grandpa built. Some day I'll smoke some hole hams in it. They would hang them in there all winter once done. I took some of that bacon to work and passed it around to a few People that are into real bacon. I was king!!!! There placing orders for it every time I see them. I told them they couldn't afford it and will have to suffer with out or put up some real cash!!! Same bunch that ate 5 punds of meat stix in 15 minutes. I don't bring them in any more. If there just going to stuff them down and not injoy them. Cheese is on the list to smoke next. I get that figured out and I'm golden for all the good things in life.

[gator330]

Hey Red At it again with your recipe. I have 20 lbs in cure. took two 10 lbs bellys and cut them into four each. Mixed the cure and put it all in a food grade pal with lid. I pull it out every so often and give it a turn or two just about all covered in the cure and water it pulled from the meat. I mixed a little extra cure, there thick cuts of bacon. (About 5 lbs extra on the cure) Not shure if this will effect it much??? What do you Think???? Should I maybe knock a day off the cure time???? MY thought is it will only take on so much in six days.

[KenWP]

The longer you leave it in the cure the more moisture it draws from the meat also. Just as long as it dosn't get to salty.

[red maples]

I just made 10 lbs my self smoked it last week the best I've made yet but I used up the last of my maple sugar. be careful, with more cure adds more salt and more curing salt you may want to take it out 1 day short but I don't know your not mixing the cure into the meat like sausage so it might be fine!! Its good that there is liquid you want that it helps in the curing process.

So for x-mas I got a vacuum food saver nice for packaging, a LEM 5 # sausage SS verticle sausage stuffer and an 11# scale. I haven't tried the sausage stuffer yet but I can't wait I want to pickup some soy lectithan first before I make any sausage it helps hold in the moisture when you cook it. I think I can get some at the health food store in town. rather than order it throgh LEM.

[KenWP]

The vertical stuffer works great. I used to stuff sausage useing the tube on the meat grinder and was always frustrated and then got the stuffer and was away. Same with a meat grinder. We started out grinding by hand and then I got a gear box off of a Massy Harris clipper and hooked it direct and ground up whole cows after that.

[gator330]

The sides of bacon I got from a new place skin off but they had a good size fat cap on them. I think all the liguid came from that. There is quit a bit in the pal. I think your right about pulling it a day sooner. I had to break out the last jug of syrup for it nice and dark. Was thinking when I hang to dry it to get the skin on it. I would brush on a little syrup then to get a little exta maple flavor to it. I'v done that with fish after it has been cured just before smoking. Woorked well with it? may just try some and see if it's any better or not.