Brining Time for Bacon?

sawhorseray · Post by **sawhorseray** » Sun Aug 11, 2013 18:29

I'm going to undertake some belly bacon this week or next and am having quite a bit of confusion over the brining time involved. Rytec states a day per pound, up to 12 days brining in the fridge. I looked at the past posts of Norcal Kid (brined 4.5 days) and Devo (brined 7 days). It seems the maple-salt-cure rubs are all fairly similar, why such a vast difference in brining time? The makers of my smoker, PS Seasonings, advise injecting 10% and 3-4 days in the fridge. What to do, what to do? RAY

ssorllih · Post by **ssorllih** » Sun Aug 11, 2013 19:02

Ray, I think that I can add to your confusion. I weigh the piece I am going to use and use salt, cure, sugar and sometimes black pepper at the rate of 2%, .25% and 2%. The sugar is usually plain white with about 15% molasses added to make it become brown sugar. I rub this all over the piece and put it into a loose zipper bag and turn it everyday and redistribute the juices. after about two weeks I hang it to dry in the fridge for two or four days more or less and then I smoke it from morning to night.

sawhorseray · Post by **sawhorseray** » Sun Aug 11, 2013 21:02

Thanks Ross, that adds up to even more time! I've got those percentages at the ready and will most likely shake things up a bit with some pure maple syrup or honey, maybe both! That sure seems to add up to a long time brining in the fridge for a piece of fresh meat. Then there's the salt absorption factor to take into account, I definitely don't want that aspect overdone. Hmmm, there's still lots of time for thought. Maybe Obi Wan will give me some guidance. RAY

ssorllih · Post by **ssorllih** » Sun Aug 11, 2013 21:07

Ray the method that I use starts out with all of the salt that I want in the meat. 2%. I may well be on the long end of the brining but I have one fridge that I keep at about 32°F and a fresh chicken will keep for a month or more in that.

crustyo44 · Post by **crustyo44** » Sun Aug 11, 2013 21:11

Hi Ray,
I have tried many recipes supplied by our members and they all are great. Most of them cure bacon around 7 days or more.
The most important thing is to have the right amount of cure in the brine.
We are leaning more towards less salt but that is a personal thing.
I like Big Guys, Redzed, 'Ssorllih and several others brining recipes and methods but you have to try them all to really determine what you like best.
Knowing you, you will buy 6 or more belly pieces and try every curing recipe, method listed on the forum.
At the moment my wife likes Big Guys cured bacon recipe best and who am I to dispute it, I am only her husband. No doubt this will change in due course knowing her.
Good Luck,
Jan.

sawhorseray · Post by **sawhorseray** » Mon Aug 12, 2013 00:29

Thanks guys, I'll take heed on the advise. I only have the bottom shelf of our kitchen fridge to use unless I resort to huge coolers in the garage and changing the ice blocks every day. That method works great for me every time of year but summer, which is what we're in the middle of right now. I've re-established relations with the folks who own the best meat distributorship on the planet. I re-lined the walk-ins and freezers 30 years back at their place of business, framed their custom home with a friend of mine about 24 years ago. They seemed to remember me well and are giving me some nice deals.

http://www.delmontemeat.com/

Time for a little more digging thru this site! RAY

sawhorseray · Post by **sawhorseray** » Mon Aug 12, 2013 01:23

The more I read the more confused I become on the brining period. Once a 15 pound pork belly is cut into three even pieces is it still a 15 pork belly that requires 12 days brining in the fridge, or just five days. I've got CW's "Son's of Bees" bacon recipe on hand for starters, and will most certainly use Ross' percentages once I obtain and weigh the porkbelly I want. Even Rytec seems to contradict his own brining period recommendations in page 314 by stating that the honey-cured belly stays in the fridge to brine for six days, on the very next page he states 4-5 days. I'll think about this later, my pizza dough is ready to rock. RAY

ssorllih · Post by **ssorllih** » Mon Aug 12, 2013 02:14

Ray, six pounds of meat can be a loin or a slab of bacon or a picnic shoulder. 12 inches of 1x12 or 2x6 or 9 inches of 4x4 is a board foot. Thickness counts, the brine has to penetrate. If one side is covered with hide the brine will be able to penetrate from one side only. When I split a chicken and remove all of the small bones I can apply a dry rub all over, with a whole chicken I can't get to the inside so I have to brine the bird to get the salt into all of the nooks and crannies.

sawhorseray · Post by **sawhorseray** » Mon Aug 12, 2013 06:42

I hear you about board feet, and I inject my whole chickens, have that down to s science, doesn't get any better. What confounds me is the massive discrepancy in recommended periods of brining times. I read where Norcal Kid started out brining for a 10-12 day period, a little chat with CW and others, had his stuff in the smoker in 4.5 days. That's a lot of darned difference between what was recommended and what seemed to work just fine. Devo's bacon was beautiful and was brined for seven days, I couldn't find Big Guy's method on this site or the other I know him from. At least it's all meat and I'll be able to figure things and extrapolate by trial and error. I just got done having a "outside fire night" with my wife, little white wine for her, some nice single malt for me. Seems my bread-making "bricks" are becoming a source of embarrassment for me, tho I know that's a entirely different thread. AARRHHGG!!!! RAY

crustyo44 · Post by **crustyo44** » Mon Aug 12, 2013 08:53

Hi Ray,
Below is what Big Guy messaged me. keep it all refrigerated for 7-10 days
From: Big Guy
To: crustyo44
Posted: Sun Feb 17, 2013 00:30
Subject: Re: your wet bacon cure Quote message
my brine is 1 cup coarse salt, 1 cup brown sugar and 20 cups water, then add 1 tsp of cure #1 for every 5 lbs of meat and water. 7-10 days in fridge. then smoke to your liking.
I like mine rather dark.
Cheers Mate

My wife likes this the best AT THE MOMENT!!!!!!!!!!
Cheers,
Jan.

ssorllih · Post by **ssorllih** » Tue Aug 13, 2013 18:35

With cure there are maximum allowable limits for sodium nitrite in meat but what are the minimum effective levels. I know that I have seen this answered somewhere but I fail to recall where and when.

el Ducko · Post by **el Ducko** » Wed Aug 14, 2013 02:40

I stuck Big Guy's recipe into my spreadsheet and adjusted the nitrite to 120 ppm. Can you read the following "eye chart?" (If you click on it, PhotoBucket will blow it up for you. ...hopefully.)

...only thing I've seen about minimum nitrite is a reference to anything below 50 ppm not doing much good. I would imagine that the bacon wouldn't taste cured at that low level.

Hope this helps.
Duk

ssorllih · Post by **ssorllih** » Wed Aug 14, 2013 02:43

When I started this piece I anticipated being finished in about 10 days but the fates conspired against me and it was in the cure for about 12 days and then hanging to dry for three more before I got it into the smoker. It didn't seem to hurt it at all. I always cut the slab into quarters for freezing and use.

This was my usual cure 1.8% salt .25% cure #1 and about 25 sugar with a little molasses, Rubbed in dry and turned and massaged everyday.

sawhorseray · Post by **sawhorseray** » Wed Aug 14, 2013 18:53

Yesterday I picked up a small porkbelly, 9.4lbs, for $36.

I whipped up a half batch of CW's Son's of Bees bacon brine, cut the belly in half

1/2-cup kosher (non-iodized) salt
2 tbsp Prague Powder #1
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
1 tspn. freshly cracked black

I rubbed in the mixture on each half, and tossed them in the fridge in 2-gallon Ziploc freezer bags. I gave them a little ruby-dub this morning and will do the same tomorrow before I cover them with water, maybe a quart in each bag. I'll turn the bags over a couple of times a day until Sunday evening when it's time to rinse them off and get to smoking in applewood.

I'm hesitant to enter anything onto the spreadsheet, don't want to screw anything up. It seems weighing all the ingredients is critical to this format even after they are measured. I don't know about getting maple syrup and honey on my digital gun-powder scale, I use that for measuring gold, along with dry ingredients. RAY

ped · Post by **ped** » Wed Aug 14, 2013 19:16

Just asking but, is that spreadsheet freely available on the site or is it proprietary info?