Bacono Numero Dos

OK, so first a review of the Alton Brown bacon recipe, which is an odd molasses, apple cider, and brine concoction.

This got me something tasty and sweet, but not really bacony. It tastes like a mild ham, actually. And the high sugar content makes the strips scorch in odd spots while the remainder is still virtually uncooked.

I confess that I did not follow the instructions exactly. I added a teaspoon of pink nitrite salt, halved the recipe (the belly was still totally swamped in brine), and instead of cold-smoking for a whole day, we hot smoked for a couple hours to 150 degrees.

I fried some up this morning in strips, and some in little cubes, or lardons. It did taste better after being wrapped in the fridge for a few days.

The lardons were nicer because it was easier to deep-fry them in a puddle of grease and have them cook more evenly. So, I will use up the rest of that recipe over time as lardons tossed onto salads and things like that. One pleasant thing about that recipe is that it was not very salty bacon, even though you use a ton of salt in that brine. But we won’t be using this recipe again.

Frankly, it’s expensive to make. Whole cups of salt and sugar, a whole jar of molasses, a whole half gallon of cider…you put a cheap piece of pork in it for three days and then throw it all down the sink. Not worth it.

Next Recipe:

I rinsed off my rosemary-maple cured pork belly and have it under a fan right now to form the pellicle. I sliced off a little raggy edge and fried it up.

This one tastes really good. Very bacony, and the rosemary flavor is strong (but that’s probably because it’s an edge piece). Can’t really taste any maple flavor. Probably didn’t use enough.

Some people stop now with just the cure, but we’re going to smoke it. I have a good feeling about this one. Because it’s good even without smoke.

Rosemary Bacon

3 – 5 lb. slab of pork belly

5 Tbsp. kosher salt

1 and 1/2 tsp. nitrite salt (cure #1)

3 Tbsp. sugar

2 Tbsp. maple syrup

1 tsp. fresh ground black pepper

1 Tbsp. ground fresh rosemary needles (I just peeled these off live rosemary branches and put them in the spice grinder with the peppercorns)

Set the pork slab in a 2 or 3 gallon ziploc bag. Mix remaining ingredients, and rub thoroughly and vigorously all over the pork belly, both sides. Don’t worry if it doesn’t stick so well on the skin side.

Push as much air as possible out of the bag (or use a vacuum sealer) and set in refrigerator for one week. Liquid will be drawn from the meat. This is now your brine. Turn the bag over every other day so each side can sit in the liquid periodically.

After one week, remove from brine and rinse thoroughly. If you like less-salty bacon, soak the slab in a pan of cold water for a couple minutes. Set on a rack, pat dry, and let sit under a fan for an hour or two (or in the fridge for a few hours) to form a dry sticky pellicle on the surface of the meat. Smoke at around 200 degrees to an internal temperature of 150F.

We’re using Perfect Mix pellets for the smoke. Just set the raw belly into the grill now. Will let you know how it turned out.