Macon Bacon, Rd 2....

Following the thread that Dardeau setup for me....more bacon...but with spices this time....

Star anise, cumin, coriander, kashmiri chile powder, black peppercorns


Toasted and ground


added to the salt, brown sugar, and pink salt...


Then topped with white sugar...a little less than last time, trying to go a little more savory...


Mix until uniform in color...


A brand new 10# slab of bacon from the best bacon produce in my knowledge: Petit Jean Meat Company. This piece is both better and cheaper than the slab I got from Central Market in DFW.



There is just something about pork and sepia...


or even pork and red...


Cut into approx 3.5# slabs for vacuum packing...


Add a thick layer to each side of each slab....


Ready to cure for 10 days or so in the fridge...

 

Looking Good!

 

10 days.... but I want some now.... thats got to be the hardest part

 

j'ai faim !

 

Bacon makes everything better...

 

OK, next phase completed.

After air-drying for a couple of days...


It goes into the smoker. I was really quite surprised at the effect that air-drying had on the rate of smoke absorbption. The browing you see in this photo happened in under 5 minutes.


And the finished product. will serve with breakfast on saturday.



I'm quite pleased with my result--though I haven't tasted it yet. This has definitely stoked my fire to move on to my next charcuterie project: tasso.

 

Danny what a great report! Did you wash the bacon before air drying it? It does look like it in the photos.

I am looking forward to your taste test.

 

Yes, all slabs were thoroughly rinsed to remove all traces of the cure on the surface. One of the surprises of that was how much of the spice mix had migrated into the fat...I wasn't expecting the effect to be this strong.



Also, there are 3 different recipes at work here, so going to do a double-blind tasting to see what distinctions can be tasted and which seems preferable.

 

Looking forward to hearing it! Perhaps next batch try one with molasses instead of the white sugar.. much more complex I found.

 

what is the ratio between the two? I can do weight or volume. Also, which kind of molasses is preferred.

 

I did it by volume but don't know if that's 'correct', but it sure worked ok.
The darker the better.

 

1:1 by volume? wouldn't that make a very very sticky and wet cure? Mine is roughly 1/2 sugar...

 

I had BLT's tonight. That's all I got.

 

Volume to sugar 1-1 only.. I don't think its wetter than when the salt and sugar starts to pull the moisture out of the meat.

Here it is washed and resting pre smoke..

 

yeah, intuitively that seems correct to me...I was talking about the cure itself though, and the difficulty of transferring to the container with the bellies.