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Smoked Bacon |
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AK1
Master Chef Joined: 10 April 2012 Location: Ontario, Canada Status: Offline Points: 1081 |
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Posted: 01 May 2012 at 12:48 |
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One of my favourite snacks is cured & smoked bacon!
It's cured for one week, then smoked for at least 1 week. After that it hangs in my cold cellar for a few weeks to firm up. Ready to eat.
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TasunkaWitko
Admin Group Joined: 25 January 2010 Location: Chinook, MT Status: Offline Points: 9356 |
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looks wonderful, darko ~ nothing beats bacon, and everything is better with bacon!
what sort of recipe did you use? i tried making buckboard bacon once; a simple sugar cure with maple flavour added. turned out well, but yours looks delicious!
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HistoricFoodie
Admin Group Joined: 21 February 2012 Location: Kentucky Status: Offline Points: 4940 |
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That's some good lookin' bacon, my friend.
If you need my address.........
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ChrisFlanders
Chef's Apprentice Joined: 01 March 2012 Location: Flanders Status: Offline Points: 343 |
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Very professional looking result, Darko!
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AK1
Master Chef Joined: 10 April 2012 Location: Ontario, Canada Status: Offline Points: 1081 |
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It's pretty simple really.
I take a pork belly with skin, rub it evenly with the proper amount of curing salt for it's weight. Then rub it with a half cup or so of regular salt, about a quarter cup of sugar, and a few tbsp's of crushed peppercorns. Stick it in a bin in my garage and flip it daily for 7-10 days. The salt draws out quite a bit of moisture so the belly almost ends up brining. After the curing time is done I rinse it off and hang it in the garage for a day or so to develop a pellicle. From there it goes to my brother in law's smoke house where it smokes for 1 week or more 24/7. After the smoke, it comes home to hang in my cold cellar for a few weeks to harden a bit more. All this is done in Jan/Feb when the temps are cold, both my garage and the smokehouse are below 40 degrees F That pic was what was left of ones I did early last year. I have 2 15lb bellies from this year in the cold cellar, and a couple of small 3 lb bellies that I cured with jerk sauce that are still at the BIL's place.
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africanmeat
Chef Joined: 20 January 2012 Location: south africa Status: Offline Points: 910 |
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Great one will do a great farmers breakfast
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Ahron
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AK1
Master Chef Joined: 10 April 2012 Location: Ontario, Canada Status: Offline Points: 1081 |
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It does, as long as it's eaten raw. Because of the long cure & smoke, it doesn't do well cooked.
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pitrow
Master Chef Joined: 22 November 2010 Location: Newberg, Oregon Status: Offline Points: 1078 |
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Really? I can't imagine chewing on that much raw fat. |
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AK1
Master Chef Joined: 10 April 2012 Location: Ontario, Canada Status: Offline Points: 1081 |
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Most people can't... until they try it
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HistoricFoodie
Admin Group Joined: 21 February 2012 Location: Kentucky Status: Offline Points: 4940 |
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In fact, many central European bacons are eaten "raw." Has to do with the curing and aging.
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africanmeat
Chef Joined: 20 January 2012 Location: south africa Status: Offline Points: 910 |
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Yup you are right .
in Romania it is called slanina,or costita afumata. and in the winter we use to eat it smoked. in Italy you can get shaved lard on bread with a drink in the afternoon on the piazza .
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Ahron
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AK1
Master Chef Joined: 10 April 2012 Location: Ontario, Canada Status: Offline Points: 1081 |
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Woo Hoo! My brother in law dropped off my jerk cured bacon.
Bummer big time!!! No jerk flavour at all. Still, it's mighty tasty just like speck should, but I was hoping for some jerk flavour in it.
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AK1
Master Chef Joined: 10 April 2012 Location: Ontario, Canada Status: Offline Points: 1081 |
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Speaking of slanina, my brother in law dropped off a hunk of shoulder that he smoked. It's no wonder we Croatians call it Slanina. This damn thing is salty!!! Will try and post some pics when photo bucket stops giving me headaches.
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AK1
Master Chef Joined: 10 April 2012 Location: Ontario, Canada Status: Offline Points: 1081 |
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I knew this was hiding somewhere in my past.
Ron asked me to put together a post about making Eastern European style bacon. This pretty much gives the details. Get belly, cure belly, cold smoke belly, dry belly, eat belly. Repeat last step.
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TasunkaWitko
Admin Group Joined: 25 January 2010 Location: Chinook, MT Status: Offline Points: 9356 |
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Hey, Darko - thanks for bringing this up!
I like it because it is old-world, old-school and it is simple - three traits that often equal great flavour. I lke the idea of the slanina, which is also the Slovak word for the same concept:
I'd like to give this a try; I imagine that fall would be the best time ~ a couple of questions: The amount of cure is a constant by weight, of course; but do you have any method for determining the amount of the other ingredients? Is the bacon brought up to any specific temperature during or after smoking? Would oak be a typical example of smoking wood used over in that region? Perhaps apple or cherry? I'll probably have more questions before too long. I intend to try with a couple of chunks of shoulder, most likely from the picnic shoulder. Pork belly is something that just isn't seen much in these parts. |
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AK1
Master Chef Joined: 10 April 2012 Location: Ontario, Canada Status: Offline Points: 1081 |
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Then again, my family never used curing salt either. Just a crap load of regular salt(not table) and let it sit for a few weeks, and then give it a quick rinse & into the smoke house for a week or two. Then hang to dry somemore in the cold cellar for a month or so before we started to eat it. Then again, I grew up going to a pig farmer with my parents, picking out a pig, killing it, and using every bit of it to make something. Heck, we even kept the blood to make blood sausage. I remember the general things we did, but the specifics elude me.
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TasunkaWitko
Admin Group Joined: 25 January 2010 Location: Chinook, MT Status: Offline Points: 9356 |
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Thanks for the information, Darko - I'll see if I can put it to good use!
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AK1
Master Chef Joined: 10 April 2012 Location: Ontario, Canada Status: Offline Points: 1081 |
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I'm going to talk to my Mom today. I'll see if I can get some specifics as to amounts.
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TasunkaWitko
Admin Group Joined: 25 January 2010 Location: Chinook, MT Status: Offline Points: 9356 |
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Sounds great, Darko - looking forward to hearing what she has to say!
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AK1
Master Chef Joined: 10 April 2012 Location: Ontario, Canada Status: Offline Points: 1081 |
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I talked to mom the other day, and basically it was about a pound of salt per belly as per her recollection.
I'm not quite happy with this, simply because there is no cure used, so I don't really like putting this idea forward. I'll say that I have been eating this stuff for many many years & haven't had an issue. In 6-7 months or so, there will be a new batch being made, so I'll see if I can get a better idea of how she does it. Needless to say, I'll still make mine with cure.
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