How To Make Measured Wet / Bag Cure Bacon

Description

How To Make Measured Wet / Bag Cure Bacon<br /><br />This is a continuation of our how to make bacon series - this time we're making and tasting Measured Wet / Bag Cure Bacon. Pretty much the same as our dry cure bacon recipe, except you put the pork belly in a ziplock bag for the curing process.<br /><br />Ingredients By Weight:<br />Pork Belly 100%<br />Salt: 2.5%<br />Sugar: 1%<br />Pink Cure #1: .25% (150ppm)<br /><br /><br />Method:<br />Weigh your piece of pork belly.<br />Weigh the rest of the cure components: <br />Salt is 2.5% of the weight of the pork belly.<br />Sugar is 1% of the weight of the pork belly.<br />Pink Cure #1 is 0.25% of the weight of the pork belly.<br />Mix together the salt, sugar, and pink cure #1.<br />The above constitutes the ‘cure’.<br />If you wish to ‘flavour’ the bacon you can layer on as much as you want of almost whatever you want.<br /><br />Flavour #1:<br />We added 2% ground black pepper to one belly.<br /><br />Flavour #2:<br />Ground black pepper: 2%<br />Bay leaves: 4-5 / Kg<br />Juniper berries: 0.5%<br />Thyme: 0.5%<br /><br />Leave the skin on the pork belly, and rub the cure all over.<br />Don’t forget the sides and ends.<br /><br />Place in a Ziplock or sealable freezer bag, and pour in any cure that didn’t stick to the belly. <br />Place in a refrigerator for 5-7 days, turning daily.<br /><br />After 5-7 days rinse off any ‘cure left on the surface, place on a clean rack and put back in the fridge for 12-24 hours.<br /><br />We cold smoked the bacon for 2-3 hours, but you could also hot smoke it if that makes you more comfortable.<br />Cold smoking needs to be done a temperatures below 30ºC (86ºF) - but ideally below 18ºC (65ºF).<br />We smoke for 2-3 hours depending on the thickness of the belly.<br />After smoking remove and discard the skin.<br /><br />After cold smoking this bacon needs to be refrigerated, and it needs to be cooked before eating.<br />For longer term storage slice, wrap, and freeze.<br />