Hi - After failing in my first attempt to cure/smoke bacon I'm going to do it again this week. I'm going to split my 11lb belly in half and do one half with a recipe that Devo shared at one point here: http://www.susanminor.org/forums/showthread.php?542-Maple-Cured-Bacon But I'd also like a decent b...

Yes, the recipe in the book is an erratum. The couple of times that I made pastrami I used the brine method, so it's difficult to me to assess the 35g salt in the web recipe. With the cure it's almost 4% and that might be a bit high. But the recipe states to cure in the fridge for only five days, s...

Hi - I'm looking to do a Pastrami for the first time but am very confused by the recipes in the Home Production of Quality Meats and Sausages book and the recipe listed here on the site. I want to DRY CURE this pastrami. In the book it says for the dry cure: 20 g Salt (3-1/2 tsp) 100g Salt (8-1/2 ts...

very beginner question. I'm looking to do bacon again after failing a few months ago. Am noticing more in recipes that it says to hold back half the salt cure mixture and apply when "overhauling" the bacon but I don't know what overhauling means?

Great looking ham. Can't wait to see the entire process play out.

I've been wanting to do a Serrano ham for some time. Is it possible do do one in less than a year?

Okay great - for some reason I thought breaking the casing on a sausage was a no-no as the juices would run out or something. I will just probe like I do other meats!

hi - I'm gonna make some hot smoked polish sausages tomorrow and the Marianski book says to hot smoke for around 90min until about 155* internal temperature. I'm not sure sticking my Thermapen in the sausage is a good idea or not so just wondering if anyone has a trick for checking the temp or knowi...

Great thanks for all the pointers. I'm thinking that adding water is what did me in. What confused me is that some of these recipes say that after a couple of days in the dry cure there will be lots of liquid but that was not the case with my bellies. Some other potential issues I think relate to th...

I am not familiar with that recipe on here but I can tell you that dry cures are just that....dry cures. The water/liquid in the bag is the moisture being drawn out by the curing salts and you do not add any water to it at any time. By adding water you probably reduced the PPM of the cure so you ne...

hi - so I cured and cold smoked some bacon recently but was sorely disappointed with the result. I did the Son of Bees recipe on here and another one I found on a BBQ site. I made sure I calculated and measured the ingredients out exactly for the two 5lb bellies I had. Neither of the bellies had goo...

Okay that's helpful. I had seen 156ppm referenced a few times around the 'net regarding bacon cures (0.25% Cure #1 per weight measure) but I see that the official gov't limit is 200ppm for bacon, which would be closer to 0.32% of Cure #1 per weight measure. I have to say it is surprising how many dr...

Can I ask a question on this Sons of Bees bacon recipe? The recipe calls for 1/4 cup Prague Powder #1 for 25lb of pork belly. However, everything I've read on here says to use 1 level teaspoon or Cure #1 per 5 lbs of pork belly. 1 tsp = 5.66 grams so for 25lbs of belly would = 5.66 x 5 = 28.3 grams ...

Hi - I'm a bit confused about beef jerky. I've read the threads / book on the need to get jerky to 160 to kill bad things but my Dad has always made Jerky by curing it for a couple of days in marinade (with Tender Quick) and then cold smoking for several hours until it's pliable but not breakable. C...

Hi - I've read a wealth of information here on the site and in books/forums. Am ready to get my cold smoke "on" next week after I put my bellies into cure this evening. One thing I've read here is the importance of higher humidities when you are cold smoking. I live in Northern Illinois and temps ar...

Hi - Rob here just joined today. From Illinois. Have been smokin' BBQ for about the last year and a half but trying to get away from pure brisket, ribs, and butts towards something more creative. Got the big Marianski book recently. This all came together as I was trying to figure out what to do ove...