I've done a lot of corned beef and pastrami over the years, but never cured my own bacon. So, I figured it was time, since I now have a new Bull.
I was at Costco a couple days ago and picked up 5 lbs of pork belly. It had the skin removed and was cut into 6 pieces when I bought it. While shorter pieces are not ideal for cutting, they do make it quicker to cure.
I decided on a wet brine to cure the bacon. My brine consisted of: Water, pink salt, Kosher salt, brown sugar, maple syrup, red pepper flakes, smoked paprika, cumin.
Rather than trying to stretch the brine for all 5 lbs, I decided to mix up two batches of brine and use two 1 gallon ziploks to hold 3 pieces in each bag. Once I put the pork belly in the bags and poured in the brine, I squeezed out all the air and refrigerated. It should take at least 5 days, but I prefer to go long on curing. I'll let it go at least 7 days, probably longer. Then I'll smoke it. I have a while to decide what type of wood I'm going to use.
I was at Costco a couple days ago and picked up 5 lbs of pork belly. It had the skin removed and was cut into 6 pieces when I bought it. While shorter pieces are not ideal for cutting, they do make it quicker to cure.
I decided on a wet brine to cure the bacon. My brine consisted of: Water, pink salt, Kosher salt, brown sugar, maple syrup, red pepper flakes, smoked paprika, cumin.
Rather than trying to stretch the brine for all 5 lbs, I decided to mix up two batches of brine and use two 1 gallon ziploks to hold 3 pieces in each bag. Once I put the pork belly in the bags and poured in the brine, I squeezed out all the air and refrigerated. It should take at least 5 days, but I prefer to go long on curing. I'll let it go at least 7 days, probably longer. Then I'll smoke it. I have a while to decide what type of wood I'm going to use.