Bacon recipe

[camdira]

I am really keen to give this bacon a shot, but would love some advice before I start.

The recipe call's for a 1/2 teaspoon of Instacure No 1, which has about 6.5% nitrate in the mix.

I will be ordering the Kwikurit standard mix. Do you think 1/2 teaspoon will be enough?

Makes 3 pounds of bacon

•3 pounds pork belly, skin on or off
•1/2 cup Shaoxing wine or dry sherry
•1/2 cup kosher salt
•4 tablespoons brown sugar
•2 tablespoons Sichuan peppercorns, ground
•1 tablespoon cinnamon
•1 teaspoon ground cloves
•5 star anise pods, crushed
•1 teaspoon garlic powder
•1/2 teaspoon Instacure No. 1

Moisten the pork belly with the Shaoxing wine. Mix the rest of the ingredients together and rub into the meat, making sure all surfaces are coated.

Put the pork into a large sealable plastic bag, or vacuum seal bag, or just a plastic or glass container just about large enough to contain it. Sprinkle over any remaining cure, seal the container up and put in the fridge.

Every day for 5 days, turn the bacon over. After 5 days, check to see if the bacon is firm. If it is not firm throughout, give it up to another 2 days in the fridge.

Take the bacon out, rinse off the cure and pat it dry. Set the bacon out on a rack to dry, preferably in a cool, airy place. Let it sit for 1-3 hours.

Fire up the smoker. What wood you use is up to you. The Chinese use cypress, according to Dunlop. I used oak and liked it a lot. I smoked my bacon at 140 degree for 3 hours, but you can go hotter, cooler or longer if you want.

Let the bacon cool to room temperature and then store in the fridge for up to 2 weeks, or in the freezer for up to 9 months.

Cheers

Cam

[peteru]

If it was me, I'd completely skip the nitrates since I am allergic to them. Just keep everything clean and use fresh meat as soon as you get it home. I've done a number of things, including bacon, without nitrates and besides the colour being more drab than the usual reddish-pink you get with curing agents, everything has turned out very well.

[Livewire]

Cam

It is always about keeping the ratios correct of the physical amount of nitrite (not nitrate as this is for fermented salamis eetc) been used

If Kwikurit is also a 6.5% nitrite mixture (i have not used it) then the 1/2 teaspoon is correct, otherwise you need to calcualte the equivalent amount to give you the same weight of nitrite

Hope this makes sense

Glenn

[Smokey]

Kwikurit is 11% Nitrite
Ive seen recipes that called for 1/2 tsp of prague No1 (6.5%) to three Table spoons of salt.
So you should be ok with just less then half a teaspoon of kwikurit to half a cup of salt
That is what I use for one 2.5 kg belly
When you are doing this, Use proper measuring spoons and flat, Not heaped
That sounds like a cracking recipe, I must try that myself.
Can someone phonetically pronounce "Shaoxing" for me? Showsing? And do I get it from a grog shop or an Asian market?

[urbangriller]

Shao as in Meow
T
Sing

Good Booze Emporiums sell it!

Dan Murphys have recipies on their website: http://danmurphys.com.au/guides/recipes ... en-content

Dry Sherry is a good substitute...even better if you mix a good slug on Sake into it!

Chris

[camdira]

Defintely get the shaoxing.

Phoentically shao - SHO -wer (as in taking a shower) and xing - sing

Easy to get at Asian groceries, just look in the cooking wine section, and pretty cheap. No substitute in my book.

So are there any nitrates available in Australia that are around 6.5 percent?

His recipe is from about 1.4kgs, so I would probably need to double the other ingredients based on your conversion Mick.

If you like that recipe, check out the website:

http://honest-food.net/

He has some great charcuterie recipes amongst other game recipes

[camdira]

Actually just found what I am looking for :

http://redbacktrading.com.au/index1.html

[food&fish]

I used Misty Gully stuff with great success

[camdira]

I just had a look at the Misty Gully website, and the food safety stuff kind of scared me. They say do not use a 6.5% mix for curing bacon, and to het an internal temperature of 60 degrees. Kind of confused now.

[Smokey]

The red back mix is for 6.5% ? Didn't you say you have kwikurit on order?
You will need to use less yes, But the red back mix is only three tablespoons of salt.
Your recipe calls for half a cup of salt.
If you follow the red back mix, Use a "Good" 1/4 teaspoon of kwikurit with three tablespoons salt.
That will only be enough for a 1.5kg piece,, say a belly about a foot long or cut in half.
You just need to start one, Use less then what I say to use and work up until your method cures through without stinky meat or gray spots.
There is nothing like being thrown into the deep end

[olde]

I'd be leery about using that much ground Schezuan pepper, I've never used that much of it on anything and think it will numb the palate pretty quickly.

[camdira]

Thanks Mick. Haven't ordered it yet, and may go the Redback 6.5%

Interesting that the recipe calls for 1/2 a cup of salt with 1 teaspoon of 6.5%, albeit American cup measurements are a little smaller than Australian.

Do you thing 1/2 a cup would be too salty?

I am really keen to get this right. Can't bear to ruin good pork belly

Definitely don't want to go down the stinky grey meat route.

[titch]

If the recipe says 1/2 cup Salt it would pay to use it.
Salt is the main curing agent .
Once you make your own bacon you will be hooke,no turning back then.
Cheers.
Titch

[camdira]

If the recipe says 1/2 cup Salt it would pay to use it.
Salt is the main curing agent .
Once you make your own bacon you will be hooke,no turning back then.
Cheers.
Titch

Yeah somehow I get the feeling my fridge will be brimming with bacon

Just gotta work out a way of hiding it when the Muslim inlaws come around

[Smokey]

Camdira, Last bacon I made? I packed in about two Kilos of salt with the ratio of Half teaspoon Kwikquit to one cup of salt.
In fact I was making spec, But you will of course soak your bacon for half an hour in feash cold water and then test fry a bit.
Too salty? Back into a new cold bath and into the frige for another hour. Test again and keep going until you like.
Ive got to a stage that I just know its going to be too salty and soak for 4-6 hours with three changes of water.
The only way to control saltyness from the start is to use a wet or bath curing brine.
But, as above, You can always fix up a dry rub cured bacon