Undercured bacon?

[JHeald]

Hi eGulleters,

I have a quick question, and I'm sorry if this was already answered in another topic (although I looked for a little while and didn't see this). I tried my hand at homemade bacon this last week, using an ~6 pound pork belly and Mr. Ruhlman's basic cure recipe. I don't have a smoker, so I cooked the cured belly in a 200 F oven for about three hours (I was waiting for an internal temp of 150, and it never quite got there...). When I rinse and dried the out-of-the-brine belly, it seemed a little soft to me, but I cooked it anyways (I was excited). I don't think I used enough of the curing mixture (a 5-pound recipe for a 6-pound belly, and some of the cure was left on the cutting board), so I get the feeling that my bacon is under cured. It also doesn't have that nice pink hue in the middle of the belly. The bacon is still pretty good, although not what I was expecting: more porky than bacony.

So here is my question:

Can I re-cure the belly, or do I have to live with what I've got?

Thanks for your help, and sorry again if I'm repeating already-answered questions.

[avaserfi]

Hi eGulleters,

I have a quick question, and I'm sorry if this was already answered in another topic (although I looked for a little while and didn't see this). I tried my hand at homemade bacon this last week, using an ~6 pound pork belly and Mr. Ruhlman's basic cure recipe. I don't have a smoker, so I cooked the cured belly in a 200 F oven for about three hours (I was waiting for an internal temp of 150, and it never quite got there...). When I rinse and dried the out-of-the-brine belly, it seemed a little soft to me, but I cooked it anyways (I was excited). I don't think I used enough of the curing mixture (a 5-pound recipe for a 6-pound belly, and some of the cure was left on the cutting board), so I get the feeling that my bacon is under cured. It also doesn't have that nice pink hue in the middle of the belly. The bacon is still pretty good, although not what I was expecting: more porky than bacony.

So here is my question:

Can I re-cure the belly, or do I have to live with what I've got?

Thanks for your help, and sorry again if I'm repeating already-answered questions.

I wouldn't re-cure the bacon, but you can use this experience to do a better job next time. Typically curing time is a function of the thickness of the piece you are curing. So you rub the belly all over with dry cure then give it about one day per quarter inch of thickness. This is about how long the cure will take to penetrate the meat, be sure to overhaul every couple of days. Also, cut a small piece off and test fry to check for salt level and to see if it is fully cured before smoking or cooking.

Generally, you want to weight the amount of cure you need for a given weight of meat and evenly coat the meat. If any doesn't stick put it in the vessel you are curing in. This way you use the right amount of cure which is important, not only for safety reasons, but also for flavor.

An example of the calculation: three inch piece would take six days, but I like to give it an extra couple days just to ensure that osmosis is complete.

3 inches is divided by two because the cure is on both sides. Then the 1.5 inches is divided by .25 because you are calculating how many quarter inches are left. Total number of days 6 equals six.

My last batch of bacon using this technique:

Edited April 13, 2011 by avaserfi (log)

[JHeald]

Andrew,

Thanks for the awesome response!

I forgot to mention that the bacon was not as salty as I would have liked. Does this confirm my suspicions about not using enough cure? I also noticed something about the fat when I cooked it in the oven for eating (at 350 F): a tiny little bit got a little over cooked (it was greyish-brown and crumbly), and it tasted reminiscent of .... marshmallows? Any experience with this? I did include maple syrup in my cure, so maybe it was the sugar that diffused into the fat? It was surprising, but not in a bad way.

Thanks again.

[avaserfi]

Andrew,

Thanks for the awesome response!

I forgot to mention that the bacon was not as salty as I would have liked. Does this confirm my suspicions about not using enough cure? I also noticed something about the fat when I cooked it in the oven for eating (at 350 F): a tiny little bit got a little over cooked (it was greyish-brown and crumbly), and it tasted reminiscent of .... marshmallows? Any experience with this? I did include maple syrup in my cure, so maybe it was the sugar that diffused into the fat? It was surprising, but not in a bad way.

Thanks again.

I don't use Ruhlman's cure anymore, but if I recall the recipe correctly he specifies the amounts of cure to use in both weight and volumetric measurements (1/4C or 5 grams). This isn't the best way to go about curing a piece of meat. Typically you want to be very precise about the amount of cure you use relative to the weight of the meat, I shoot for within a gram. For this reason I measure out my pink salt based on the weight of the meat, spread it on, then add the rest of the cure ingredients. I think he has you mix all the cure ingredients together and then rub them on, which will work, but the amount of pink salt you end up using isn't as exacting because of relative size and mass of the dry cure particles. Some people will say this is dangerous, but I think in practice it isn't too much of an issue as long as you are pretty close, of course the results might not be as good. Because he gives a range on the amount of cure to use relative to meat weight you might have been a little shy on the cure, especially given the fact that you used slightly more than he calls for (3-5lbs for about 50grams of cure).

As far as the marshmallow flavor, I have no idea. It sounds like some residual sweetness from the cure. Maybe you used a little too much maple syrup? Did you rinse off the belly before cooking? One time I had too much brown sugar in my cure and when frying the bacon it had a tendency to burn before becoming crispy because of residual sugars absorbed by the meat.

[JHeald]

...Typically you want to be very precise about the amount of cure you use relative to the weight of the meat, I shoot for within a gram. For this reason I measure out my pink salt based on the weight of the meat, spread it on, then add the rest of the cure ingredients...

How much curing salt do you recommend using per pound of belly? If I adjust Rulhman's recipe, I would use ~2.4 teaspoons for a 6 pound belly. Does this sound about right?

...As far as the marshmallow flavor, I have no idea. It sounds like some residual sweetness from the cure. Maybe you used a little too much maple syrup? Did you rinse off the belly before cooking? One time I had too much brown sugar in my cure and when frying the bacon it had a tendency to burn before becoming crispy because of residual sugars absorbed by the meat.

I used the quantity of syrup that the recipe called for, and I'm pretty sure I rinsed the belly off completely; there really wasn't much to rinse off when the time came. Perhaps I tasted the maple syrup because the sugar content concentrated as the fat began to render...not really sure, but I was just curious. Although "marshmallow flavored bacon" would be rather interesting.

Thanks again.

[qrn]

I use 3.5% salt in my bacon cures, 4% seems to much(thats 3.5%of the weight of the meat),,,and let cure a long time ,till all is absorbedcompletly..then smoke/cook.

Bud

[OliverB]

I never scaled out my curing mix, I go with Ruhlman's instructions of basically making sure I cover the whole thing and rub it in. The 1/4 cup of mix always is plenty. Since it's bacon, and will be in the fridge (where the pork belly could reside just fine for 5-7 days w/o any cure) you're really not in much danger here IMO. I do test if it gets hard, if not it stays an other day, as R mentions. Then I usually rinse it and put it on a plate in the fridge for at least a couple hours, if not an other day, then in the smoker at about 200-250 degree until internal temp is reached - no matter how long that takes.

Then out it comes, and some nice thick slices are eaten right away with a piece of bread, the rest cools and then gets used as bacon would

Personally I think the absolute exact amounts of cure are really important with things you want to hand and dry for long times, but for bacon I almost see it more as a long brine for seasoning.

I do cut it it into 4 pieces of so once done and vacseal and freeze them.

Your marshmallow fat, you might just have caramelized things, I think 350 is a bit high for cooking the bacon, I'd go with 250 next time and wait until it's at temperature. You more or less roasted it. Still tasty though, I'd guess!

(I'm gonna get a piece of bacon made of porkbelly from Berkshire pig finished with nuts, supposedly has a very different flavor, I'm looking forward to tasting it!)

[avaserfi]

If you are using nitrites known as Cure #1, DQ Curing Salt, Prague Powder # 1 or Pink Salt (do not sure use Cure #2 they are different) the general rule is that you should use a max of 4oz per 100lbs of meat. So you can scale from there. I typically use about 4g per 2.5kg of belly or jowl for bacon. The amount of other salt you need to use varies based on personal taste most people seem to like somewhere between 3-4% in my experience - depending on the quantity of sugar used.

The real issue with not using exactly enough cure is if you are going to cold smoke the bacon since it isn't actually cooked. In Ruhlman's recipe he has you bring the bacon up to 150 degrees F (above the temperature fat starts to render which is ideally avoided) this eliminates the potential for food born illness. I believe this is why the exact amount of cure (nitrites) is not as important when heating like this.

Edited April 13, 2011 by avaserfi (log)

[nickrey]

I use the Ruhlman recipe and have had one bad batch early on when the centre was not cured. Tend to work on feel after having done it a number of times now. The feel is like a well done steak. If it has too much give, leave it until it is more solid. This will also address the relative lack of saltiness so long as your mix was in accordance with the recipe. I also tend not to measure, using up to a quarter of a cup to cover.

[JHeald]

I use the Ruhlman recipe and have had one bad batch early on when the centre was not cured. Tend to work on feel after having done it a number of times now. The feel is like a well done steak. If it has too much give, leave it until it is more solid. This will also address the relative lack of saltiness so long as your mix was in accordance with the recipe. I also tend not to measure, using up to a quarter of a cup to cover.

Thanks for the advice: the "well done steak" is a good rule of thumb to keep in mind for next time.

[Kouign Aman]

Yes, marshmallow taste due to the syrup.

Even commercially prepared maple syrup bacon gets that flavor if over done, and theres a VERY fine line between crispy and burnt, because of the sugar carbonizing.

Unsweetened bacon seems more forgiving.

[docdix]

hi,

my 2 cents: I have used Ruhlman's recipe with excellent results. I mix all the ingredients together and dredge the slab on all sides then slightly shaking off any clumpy excess. if any I had even reduced the amount of recommended pink salt by half and still do get an excellent pink finish. It takes me about 6 days to a week to cure a 2.5 inch/1.5kg slab. it rests in a container that has about a 1cm space all around the meat so the level of fluid is always high. It is then overhauled ever other day. I agree, the feel is like a well done steak. Sometimes I add muscovado (dark brown raw) sugar to make it slightly sweeter s we have no maple syrup here. I am sure your next batches will be more successful! Go for it.