Author Topic: What to do with salty bacon...  (Read 2034 times)

LarryD

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What to do with salty bacon...
« on: March 20, 2019, 06:04:14 PM »
FYI... if you try your hand at curing a pork belly and making bacon as I did and you happen to end up with it being very salty, here are a couple things I've learned that you could possibly appreciate.

1)  Next time, soak your just cured pork belly for an hour in clean water, change the water, and soak it for another hour.  Then proceed as you did the first time.  This should dramatically cut the salt.

2)  Your salty bacon may be too much to truly enjoy straight, but it is incredible on a BLT.  I like it so much on BLTs that I may well intentionally make my next batch half salty and half non-salty just for this reason.

Enjoy!  Hope someone gets use and/or inspiration from this...
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Pork Belly

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Re: What to do with salty bacon...
« Reply #1 on: March 20, 2019, 07:32:40 PM »
If you try making bacon an it is too salty when finished, ya did it wrong. My first batch was too salty, in the future I prevented it by using less salt.

Your well intended  advise to "Next time soak..." is not the solution is use less salt. If folks are using a dry cure mix like I do use less cure.

BLT is a good suggestion is a good idea, I find making a pot of beans is a good solution.
Brian - Michigan-NRA Life Member
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LarryD

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Re: What to do with salty bacon...
« Reply #2 on: March 20, 2019, 10:17:05 PM »
If you try making bacon an it is too salty when finished, ya did it wrong. My first batch was too salty, in the future I prevented it by using less salt.
Your well intended  advise to "Next time soak..." is not the solution is use less salt. If folks are using a dry cure mix like I do use less cure.

I'll have to give the less cure a try...  I was using your recipe and thought I had it about right, but oh boy was it salty.  :)    How much rinsing do you do after curing?  I rinsed it enough to remove all surface 'evidence'.
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Pork Belly

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Re: What to do with salty bacon...
« Reply #3 on: March 23, 2019, 08:37:35 PM »
Quote
I'll have to give the less cure a try...  I was using your recipe and thought I had it about right

I believe my original bacon post has pictures added to it in the comments. I did that to show what good cure coverage looks like when using the unmeasured salt box method. I use about 1/3 of a cup of dry cure mix on each side of one whole belly. I use what falls off to coat the edges. Give it a good rub down and shake of the loose excess. It is tricky the first few times, your brain will be telling you "That cant be enough I will add some more." everyone I teach has that reaction, I did also until I worked it out.
Brian - Michigan-NRA Life Member
"A fear of weapons is a sign of retarded sexual and emotional maturity."
- Sigmund Freud