Author Topic: Merry Christmas! ... First Attempt at Bacon!!!  (Read 15859 times)

LarryD

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Re: Merry Christmas! ... First Attempt at Bacon!!!
« Reply #45 on: September 06, 2017, 02:16:22 PM »
Is the sugar also optional?  If not then is there a way to substitute it out?

The maple syrup in the cure is optional. It can be omitted if you prefer.

CURE OPTIONS:

Prague Powder #1 Cure (per pound of belly)
1 Tablespoon Kosher salt (Morton’s)
1/2 teaspoon Prague Powder #1 (Pink Curing Salt)
1 Tablespoon brown sugar
1 Tablespoon maple syrup

Morton Tender Quick Cure (per pound of belly)
1 Tablespoon Morton Tender Quick
1 Tablespoon brown sugar
1 Tablespoon maple syrup
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SconnieQ

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Re: Merry Christmas! ... First Attempt at Bacon!!!
« Reply #46 on: September 06, 2017, 02:45:40 PM »
Is the sugar also optional?  If not then is there a way to substitute it out?

The maple syrup in the cure is optional. It can be omitted if you prefer.

CURE OPTIONS:

Prague Powder #1 Cure (per pound of belly)
1 Tablespoon Kosher salt (Morton’s)
1/2 teaspoon Prague Powder #1 (Pink Curing Salt)
1 Tablespoon brown sugar
1 Tablespoon maple syrup

Morton Tender Quick Cure (per pound of belly)
1 Tablespoon Morton Tender Quick
1 Tablespoon brown sugar
1 Tablespoon maple syrup

Yes, it is optional. It is there mostly for flavor balance (balances the salt), and I find it necessary for that reason. It also promotes browning. You can leave it out if you choose. You will find that most bacon cures out there do have a sugar element. If it is refined sugar you object to, you could also use coconut sugar (lower glycemic index than refined sugar), honey, agave nectar, or maple syrup in place of brown sugar. If you are diabetic, you could try Splenda or Stevia, but to tell you the truth, I would use sugar substitutes with caution. With a long cure like that, these substitutes could do something crazy, like making it overly-sweet, or even have some undesired chemical reaction. If you wanted to try, I would use 1/2 of the equivalent. Maybe someone here has tried sugar substitutes or you can search the internet? Remember that the sugar is just in the cure, and the cure gets rinsed/soaked off, so not that much gets absorbed, and the actual sugar content is relatively low in the end product.

NOTE: Morton TenderQuick has a small amount of sugar already in it, so if you are trying to go 100% sugar-free, then you will want to use the Prague Powder #1 recipe.
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