Rosemary bacon recipe from the previous post: OUTSTANDING.
A little on the salty side. Next time I will give it a two-minute soak in cold water after rinsing off the cure, to leach out some of the salt. I will edit the recipe in the previous post to reflect that change.
However; there is a clean hint of rosemary flavor throughout the bacon, reminiscent of a good herb-crusted pork roast, and it is very bacony bacon (not ham-like, as the Alton Brown recipe). It tastes very fresh and porky. Scott remarked on the distinct flavor of freshness. It is unmistakeable. No comparison to mass produced chem-bacon, at all. We’re all done with that fakey stuff. Wow.
Also, does anybody know what I should do with these smoked porkbelly skins that I stripped off the bacons after smoking?
I’ll just freeze them for stew enrichment, until I get some good ideas, I guess.
NEXT RECIPE, ON SMOKER NOW:
Savory Bacon, from Ruhlman’s Charcuterie
one 5-lb slab pork belly
4 garlic cloves, minced (I substituted 1/2 a small onion because Scott is allergic to garlic)
2 tsp. pink nitrite salt (cure #1)
3 Tbsp. kosher salt
2 Tbsp. dark brown sugar
2 Tbsp. coarsely ground black pepper
4 crumbled bay leaves
4 or 5 sprigs thyme
Place belly in 3-gallon ziploc bag. Mix all remaining ingredients together, then rub thoroughly all over both sides of belly to coat. Push as much air out of the bag as you can, seal tightly, and place bag in fridge for seven days. The salts will draw liquid out of the meat. This is your curing brine. Turn the bag over every other day so a different side can sit in the brine for a while.
Remove belly from cure, rinse cure off well, and pat dry (you may wish to soak it in cold water for a minute first, to draw out some excess salt). Belly can be refrigerated, covered, for three days if you wish.
Roast (or smoke) at 200 degrees on a rack until 150 degrees internal temp. While fat is hot, slice off rind; save for stocks and stews.
Cool, wrap, and refrigerate.
I’ll review this cure recipe in the next post, with photos.
The Connecticut Brisket Research Center 