Tired of paying ridiculous prices for store bought bacon?
Can't easily find pork bellies to make your own?
Here's an inexpensive and incredibly easy way to make 'bacon' from affordable pork butts.
I cut out the well marbled top end of the pork butt and reserve the fat cap.
My cure recipe is inspired by Morton's Tenderquick (but with nitrite only) so that the cure is super easy to use......for dry curing....use one tablespoon per pound of meat....for curing ground meats such as sausage....use 1/2 tablespoon per pound of meat...it provides the cure and the salt for the recipe.....no additional salt is needed.
The Cure.
17.5 oz canning/pickling salt
5.5 oz sugar
2 oz cure #1
The cure #1 is available from http://www.butcher-packer.com/
For Poor Man's Bacon I use 1 level tablespoon of the cure and one teaspoon of molasses per pound of meat.
Measure the thickest part of the meat....rub on the cure and molasses and place in a ziplock bag. Cure for 60 hours per inch, turning the bag a few times a day.
When curing is complete, I wrap the fat cap around the piece of butt and tie with butcher's twine.
Place bacon in the smoker and heat smoker to 150 degrees for 45 minutes without smoke. Increase temperature to 200 degrees and start smoke. Smoke until internal temperature of meat reaches 140 degrees. Turn off heat and leave bacon in smoker for 1 hour to cool down.
Slice thin!!!!
It's excellent, and cheap!
~Diggin'
Can't easily find pork bellies to make your own?
Here's an inexpensive and incredibly easy way to make 'bacon' from affordable pork butts.
I cut out the well marbled top end of the pork butt and reserve the fat cap.
My cure recipe is inspired by Morton's Tenderquick (but with nitrite only) so that the cure is super easy to use......for dry curing....use one tablespoon per pound of meat....for curing ground meats such as sausage....use 1/2 tablespoon per pound of meat...it provides the cure and the salt for the recipe.....no additional salt is needed.
The Cure.
17.5 oz canning/pickling salt
5.5 oz sugar
2 oz cure #1
The cure #1 is available from http://www.butcher-packer.com/
For Poor Man's Bacon I use 1 level tablespoon of the cure and one teaspoon of molasses per pound of meat.
Measure the thickest part of the meat....rub on the cure and molasses and place in a ziplock bag. Cure for 60 hours per inch, turning the bag a few times a day.
When curing is complete, I wrap the fat cap around the piece of butt and tie with butcher's twine.
Place bacon in the smoker and heat smoker to 150 degrees for 45 minutes without smoke. Increase temperature to 200 degrees and start smoke. Smoke until internal temperature of meat reaches 140 degrees. Turn off heat and leave bacon in smoker for 1 hour to cool down.
Slice thin!!!!
It's excellent, and cheap!
~Diggin'
