Bellies for Bacon - leave whole or cut in half?

JerBear · Post by **JerBear** » Fri Jun 22, 2012 23:14

I just got a couple bellies from my local meat supplier and they're about 10-11# each. I have space and tubs that can accomodate both bellies at the same time whole but would they cure better or faster cut in half so that I end up with four somewhat square pieces?

I'm actually thinking about doing 1/3 of one of the bellies as pancetta.

ssorllih · Post by **ssorllih** » Fri Jun 22, 2012 23:27

1/3 of 2 = 2/3 of 1 why not cut belly #2 the same size as the remainder of #1

Chuckwagon · Post by **Chuckwagon** » Sat Jun 23, 2012 00:26

Hey Jer,
Why not cut them to accomodate your smoker?

Post by **redzed** » Sat Jun 23, 2012 00:28

Please post recipes and pics of the bacon and Pancetta. I've been thinking about doing both and would like to try something new with the bacon.

Chris

JerBear · Post by **JerBear** » Sat Jun 23, 2012 00:39

There's no need to cut them to fit my smoker, I've got about 4' of internal height available. That said it looks like everyone's responses lead me to, "It doesn't really matter." I'm leaning towards cutting them in half just to make the overhaul and rinsing process a little more manageable. Thankfully I already ordered three more bacon hangers from Butcher Packer.

JerBear · Post by **JerBear** » Sun Jul 08, 2012 21:32

Here's a final picture of the bacon. This a duroc pork (sorry it's a little blurry)... I'm already ordering two more bellies for v2.0. I'm also going to be looking for a dedicated slicer. Hand slicing 15 lbs of bacon put a hurting on my hands.

Post by **redzed** » Sun Jul 08, 2012 22:10

Sure looks better than the anemic stuff floating in a cloudy goo that you get at the supermarket!

JerBear · Post by **JerBear** » Sun Jul 08, 2012 23:20

tastes leagues better too!

JerBear · Post by **JerBear** » Wed Jul 18, 2012 06:32

So I'm onto my second batch of bacon and something's come up that I wanted some thoughts on. The bellies are duroc and were thinner than the last ones and even just one day in cure they've stiffened up considerably. Can they get over-cured? I was already planning on cutting down the cure time from 7 to 6 days to reduce the salt content but now I'm thinking I want to cut it short at 5 days. Thoughts?