Hello GrassCity! I thought that it would be cool to share one of my passions with you...cooking! Yoda and I, cook from scratch nearly every day. We cook with a lot of the herbs & spices and vegetables that we grow, as well as other things that we preserve. Any recipe that I share with you I consider a base recipe. My mood, and what sounds good on any given day determines what else goes into the pot. You get the gist. First up - homemade bacon. (Recipe adapted from the book, Made from Scratch, by America"s test kitchen.) Please note: it is very important to make sure that your hands are squeaky clean, and all work surfaces have been disinfected before starting this process (and after), including the kitchen sink. IMPORTANT note about pink curing salt# 1 - the ratio of curing salt : weight of meat MUST be precise. What you"ll need: A scale to weigh the slab of pork belly after cleaning & cutting it into slabs, unless you have the butcher do it for you. 1 cup maple sugar (or 1/2 c maple sugar + enough real maple syrup to coat all sides) 1/2 cup Diamond Crystal Kosher salt (or you can use 1/3 cup Morton's kosher salt) 1 T cracked peppercorns 2 t fresh thyme, (or 1 tsp dried thyme) 3/4 t pink curing salt #1 1 bay leaf, crumbled 1 (4lb) pork belly, skin removed (we left the skin for smoking) 1 (2 gallon) zip lock bag to cure the bacon in. A smoker Hickory wood chunks, soaked in water for 1 hour (or apple, cherry, or maple) Cheesecloth, wire rack & baking pan big enough to hold the slab(s). *Combine the dry ingredients in a small bowl, and set it aside. *Rinse the pork belly & pat it dry with paper towel. Move it to a cutting surface, remove the excess fat and the section of nipples along the bottom edge of the slab (we garbaged the nipple section). If you are squeamish, you can have the butcher trim the slab for you. *Go ahead and cut it into slabs. You'll need to weigh each of them, individually, if you're cutting the slabs yourself and put your rub together according to the weight of each slab. *Place pork belly in a two gallon zip lock bag. If you"re using maple syrup, rub the slab with it, then rub the entire slab with the dry mixture. Make sure that it"s coated well, it needs to be completely covered with the rub. Check to make sure that the sealing area of the ziplock bag is clean, remove some of the air & seal the bag. All set to cure in the fridge. *Refrigerate for 7 to 10 days, flipping the slab every day. A thinner slab will be closer to the 7 day mark, thicker closer to 10. You"ll know it"s ready for the next step when the slab is firm, but still pliable. One of the slabs ready to be rinsed and dried before smoking. *Once the slab is cured, thoroughly rinse it with cold water, and pat it dry with paper towels. Wrap it in cheesecloth, and put it on a wire rack in the fridge for 24 to 48 hours before smoking. Ready for the smoker. *Prepare your smoker. Once the smoker is ready, place pork belly skin side down on center of grate. Smoke at 200f, until internal temp of pork belly reaches 150f. (about 1-1/2 to 2 hours for a 4lb slab) *Remove bacon from smoker and let it cool completely before slicing. If you smoke it with the skin on, remove the skin before slicing. Or not, it"s up to you.(bacon can stored in a ziplock bag with air removed for up to 1 month in the refrigerator, or you can freeze it)*You can slice it by hand as you use it, or you can slice it all at once like we did. *Bacon slices lined up and ready to be wrapped in freezer paper, then vacuum sealed. Most of the ‘scraps" from trimming were put to use making stock, we"ll be using the smoked skin to make pork rinds. The scraps from slicing the smoked bacon will be used to make dishes like baked beans, or anywhere else that bacon will make a tasty addition. Cost wise - it is much cheaper for us to make good quality bacon, than it is to purchase it from the store. In our area, it"s $15.50 / lb. ($0.97 / oz.) for good bacon, $12.79 if you"re lucky and find it on sale. It cost us $4.79 / lb. ($0.30 / oz/) to make it ourselves, anything extra that comes from the process is a bonus (stock, pork rinds, salt pork made from usable trimmings, etc...). The last time that I looked at bacon at the market / grocery store, the largest package of bacon that they had was 10oz. To make it easier to figure cost / savings, I calculated everything per pound, instead of doing a $ comparison per 10oz. Even better than the cost? Everything about it. Yoda said that homemade bacon is the best bacon that he has ever had, and he won"t be eating store bought bacon again. I"ll let him fill you in on the rest of his homemade bacon experience. So, who"s ready for a BLT?
The flavor is so good, generally when you buy smoked bacon you dont get much smoke flavor, this you do just enough doesnt over power at all. Ill say Ive ate more BLT sandwiches in the last few months then i have the last few years. I like to deep fry it makes it fast and easy. Ive never had bad bacon but this raises the bar bt far.. If you are a bacon lover this is the way to eat it for sure, Not just the cost saving but the flavor as well, and it isnt as fatty as what you buy either. Ty doin for all your hard work , she doesn't even eat meat, its all mine.. bwhhhaaa.
Love doing my own meat prep at home...got 5lbs of top round soaking in jerky seasoning right now...will put it in the dehydrator in the morning.... Here's pics from my last batch..... View attachment 1933706 Beginning View attachment 1933707 Finished
jmick, that jerky looks awesome! Do you make the jerky seasoning / marinade? We haven't made jerky in quite a while, we talked about it a few weeks ago. I should pick up a nice roast to make some. Maybe this time I'll do a split batch, with 2 different seasonings.
I just got the dehydrator and picked up some commercially made seasoning....BackWoods I believe... Did do a little research and found a bunch of info on making my own, I'll probably go that route after this batch.
I was going to include the recipe for salt pork with the bacon and forgot. So, here it is. Salt pork, simple recipe (yield about 12oz of salt pork) 1 lb of pork belly 5 oz kosher salt 1/4 cup + 1 T sugar Baking dish with sides a few inches high, or a ziplock bag big enough to hold the slab. Combine the salt & sugar. Pour some of the salt mix on the bottom of the baking dish, and place the pork belly on top of it. Rub the entire surface of the pork belly with the salt & sugar mix. Pour the remaining salt & sugar mixture over the top of the slab, cover it and refrigerate for 2 days. After the 2 days is up, rinse the slab thoroughly under cold running water. Pat it dry with paper towel, store it in a ziplock bag in the fridge (it'll keep for a couple weeks), or you can freeze it if you won't be using it in the near future. Remove the skin before you use the salt pork in baked beans, or whatever recipe you are making. Note: You'll notice liquid being pulled from the pork belly, that's what is supposed to happen, so leave it be. The same goes for curing bacon, the salt is working it's magic.
Today I'll be making a simple tomato soup. Sometime over the next few days, I'll share the recipe with you and post a few pics. You won't be disappointed CPA! When can you be here? If you need a lift, we can have Han Solo swing by and pick you up in the Millennium Falcon.
This is exactly my kind of thread! I've become a bit of a slow-cooker whore because of how easy it is, but when I can I love to cook with my girlfriend; it was one of the first things we did together and I'm sure you two know just how fun it is to do together. Very rewarding! I love pasta and sauces (especially any with cheeses!) - got any good ones for that? Don't need a whole post, just looking for ideas I'm not much of a burger guy, but you put the right stuff on it with bacon and I'm in heaven. What do you think the smoky flavor would mix well with on a burger?
oh man , now you did it.. she makes some unreal pasta. actually we make fresh pasta allot. She has a pesto pasta that is unbelievable. I eat myself sick every time she makes it. lol I love burgers, every kind actually, from stuffed to straight up grilled and even smoked on my offset smoker. But I would say a mushroom and swiss stuffed burger with bacon on it, is my favorite. What Ive been wanting to do is make some special hamburger by adding different ground meats for the burger. Going to try that this summer once its grilling weather again.
Like Yoda said, pesto is delish! Some other favorites are roasted garlic pasta sauce, asiago garlic alfredo sauce, 5 cheese marinara, baked mac & cheese. That's all that I can think of right now, but if I think of anymore I'll let you know. If you want the recipe for one of them, let me know. Thanks Yoda! Which pesto is your favorite, basil or garlic scape? I love them both so much, I can't pick a favorite. lol Hi Stiggy! Pork Rinds are on the list. If you would like to see the how to on that, I'll be happy to share it when we get to it.
I remember years and years ago when The Atkins Diet(Protien diet) was 1st out My Mother would buy great big bags of pork rinds for her diet. I was like Mom don't eat these they are fried Fat LOL She lost weight I ending up loving them myself... Oh Just have a large beverage next to you when you eat them They have a tendency to choke one
Go figure, huh? She lost weight and you ended up loving pork rinds. Funny how that works out sometimes. Noted...thanks for the tip Stiggy!
I know exactly what you mean about eating yourself sick with pasta. My simple fix is 3-cheese tortellini (Buitoni brand, I haven't made pasta before actually) with alfredo sauce and prosciutto (the prosciutto really makes it!). I first had that at the restaurant Quartino's in Chicago and had to have it at home after. Mushroom and swiss is always a good choice! Only thing I don't really like on my burgers are tomatoes, pickles, and raw onions. When I don't feel like cooking and want a burger I can't help but go to Five Guys and get a bacon cheeseburger with everything on it (minus the tomato/pickle) and it's a sloppy mess of happiness Typically I like them simple - with the right cheese and bacon it really makes for a great burger. It's a shame winter is just getting started here in Michigan. I look forward to hearing about that little experiment. Those all sound so good! I'm a sucker for anything alfredo related so I'm curious as to what recipe you use for the asiago garlic one. No rush on it; I won't be cooking anything soon, but when you do have time I'd love to see. Thank you