Home made bacon vs Commercial bacon and cooking
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processhead funny you should mention this. With me being new to this processing thing, my wife is not a fan of my latest endeavors (yet). However, she says to me a couple of days ago, “how come you don’t make bacon?”
I don’t think I can pass up an opening like that. It seams relatively easy, and doesn’t look like I need a bazillion dollars worth of equipment to get it done.
You guys keep talking, I’ll keep reading.Just recently started curing bacon myself. The way I do it is pretty simple but I’m sure it’s definitely not the best recipe out there.
pork belly cut in half or thirds
Dry rub with:
Cure #1 0.25%
Salt. 2.25%
Sugar. 1.50%
Pepper. 1.00%.There is actually a calculator app that makes it pretty simple
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/ismokehog/id965533201
Seal in vac bag
Place in tub turn daily for 10 days
Remove from bag ( rinse if desired )
Leave open in fridge to form pellicle for 24-48 hrs
Smoke ( I use an MES )
1:1 JD bourbon barrel and apple wood chips
200 for about 3 hrs til internal 150
Let cool to room temp then wrap and let sit overnight or at least 4 hrs.Like I said, this is how I do it but I’m sure there are better ways out there. Open to suggestions, critiques, etc.
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I wet brine mine for 10 days to 2 weeks in a solution of, 3/4 cup kosher salt, 1 cup dark brown sugar and a well rounded tablespoon of #1 cure per gallon of pure water. Seal lid and keep it in the refer so the temps are 34 to 39 degrees.
Remove and light rinse and let them lay open in the fridge for a day or two.
Hang in smoker and light a maze tray and cold smoke for 6 to 8 hours each and rest in the refer over night only to repete 2 to 3 times.
Last time smoke at 160 to 180 till the IT is 135/140. Remove and refrigerate for 24 hours then slice and vac into portion sizes.We fry ours lower temps and slower. Very little pop and cracking to none at all, almost no need for a splatter screen.
Wellish flavor!!
Each batch is getting better than the last. The last one was awesome!
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I have been wanting to make some beef bacon but finding a butcher shop in my area is proving to be hard
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I have been wanting to make some beef bacon but finding a butcher shop in my area is proving to be hard
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processhead To elaborate on my first answer. I don’t think its so much the sugar in the brine as the dryness of a dry brine bacon vs a wet brine. My thoughts is the extra moisture picked up in a wet brine helps dissolve the sugars and keep them from caramelizing. I think having that extra moisture also helps with cooking.
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I cure my bellies with a dry cure, wrap, refrigerate, and then short soak in cold water when they are done.
Very happy with the flavor but the aesthetics of the cooked bacon is a minor irritant. I suspected the commercial curing process was tweaked to address this?
processhead said in Home made bacon vs Commercial bacon and cooking:
I cure my bellies with a dry cure, wrap, refrigerate, and then short soak in cold water when they are done.
Very happy with the flavor but the aesthetics of the cooked bacon is a minor irritant. I suspected the commercial curing process was tweaked to address this?
Processhead, we had them same issue as you with my homemade bacon. I tried different widths when slicing the bacon. Cooked in different types of frying pans and different levels of heat. Finally we tried cooking it in an oven. and we are are very happy with the results. Cover a a baking sheet with aluminum foil. The bacon is placed on the foil and then the baking sheet is placed into a cold oven, then set the temp of the oven to 400 degrees. Once the oven reaches the set temp of 400 check the bacon. If it’s not done to your liking put it back into the oven and check in 2 min. Repeat the 2 min. check as necessary until it’s cooked to your liking.
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processhead said in Home made bacon vs Commercial bacon and cooking:
I cure my bellies with a dry cure, wrap, refrigerate, and then short soak in cold water when they are done.
Very happy with the flavor but the aesthetics of the cooked bacon is a minor irritant. I suspected the commercial curing process was tweaked to address this?
Processhead, we had them same issue as you with my homemade bacon. I tried different widths when slicing the bacon. Cooked in different types of frying pans and different levels of heat. Finally we tried cooking it in an oven. and we are are very happy with the results. Cover a a baking sheet with aluminum foil. The bacon is placed on the foil and then the baking sheet is placed into a cold oven, then set the temp of the oven to 400 degrees. Once the oven reaches the set temp of 400 check the bacon. If it’s not done to your liking put it back into the oven and check in 2 min. Repeat the 2 min. check as necessary until it’s cooked to your liking.
John Belvedere bacon cooked in an oven is actually a really good way to do it!
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John Belvedere ND Mike I like bacon in the oven too, and it- comes out nice just like you describe. I would like to solve the issue with frying in a skillet though. Maybe it does have to do with dry rub curing process.
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John Belvedere bacon cooked in an oven is actually a really good way to do it!
ND Mike and the rendered fat is a lot cleaner and easier to pour off into the jar.
I like to cook the bacon that way especially if we have a crowd at the house. When it is just the boss and me six slices in the pan and done. -
John Belvedere ND Mike I like bacon in the oven too, and it- comes out nice just like you describe. I would like to solve the issue with frying in a skillet though. Maybe it does have to do with dry rub curing process.
processhead said in Home made bacon vs Commercial bacon and cooking:
John Belvedere ND Mike I like bacon in the oven too, and it- comes out nice just like you describe. I would like to solve the issue with frying in a skillet though. Maybe it does have to do with dry rub curing process.
I definitely agree the problem is most like.y the dry cure. The dry cure I use has maple sugar along with maple syrup. The high sugar content near the edges is to blame.
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processhead said in Home made bacon vs Commercial bacon and cooking:
John Belvedere ND Mike I like bacon in the oven too, and it- comes out nice just like you describe. I would like to solve the issue with frying in a skillet though. Maybe it does have to do with dry rub curing process.
I definitely agree the problem is most like.y the dry cure. The dry cure I use has maple sugar along with maple syrup. The high sugar content near the edges is to blame.
John Belvedere said in Home made bacon vs Commercial bacon and cooking:
processhead said in Home made bacon vs Commercial bacon and cooking:
John Belvedere ND Mike I like bacon in the oven too, and it- comes out nice just like you describe. I would like to solve the issue with frying in a skillet though. Maybe it does have to do with dry rub curing process.
I definitely agree the problem is most like.y the dry cure. The dry cure I use has maple sugar along with maple syrup. The high sugar content near the edges is to blame.
The edges do brown up more. That would tend to support that theory.
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ND Mike and the rendered fat is a lot cleaner and easier to pour off into the jar.
I like to cook the bacon that way especially if we have a crowd at the house. When it is just the boss and me six slices in the pan and done.YooperDog yep. Gotta save that grease. Makes the best fried taters!
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In the oven, but instead of foil try parchment paper you will never do it any other way.
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I have noticed my homemade bacon has a tendency to brown up and burn more easily than commercial bacon does.
I assume it has to do with the sugars caramelizing in the hot skillet, but how do the commercial bacons avoid this?I don’t think most are using significantly less sugar than I do in mine. Could it be additives?
processhead that’s one of the reasons I completely left out sugar on some of the last batch I made
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mrobisr said in Home made bacon vs Commercial bacon and cooking:
In the oven, but instead of foil try parchment paper you will never do it any other way.
I started cooking my bacon in the oven on parchment paper in the oven years ago. I set the oven at 350 and thick cut only takes 45 mins the way I like it. I’ll never go back to a skillet unless camping.
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Finished the bacon up and baked it at 400f on parchment paper and absolutely no sugar burn. I hadn’t really payed any attention, but did this time because of this post. Rate of sugar was my normal 1.5% and it was dry cured, so give it a try you might be pleasantly surprised.
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processhead
I believe your issue is indeed the dry rub method vs injection.
The sugar molecule is huge compared to the salt ions released on contact with the bacon, and the NaNO2 . Therefore, the diffusion rate is well more than 10x faster for the salts. The sugar molecule can’t pass freely through most of the Aw interstices that the smaller salts and NaNO2 can. By the time the salt has cured your bacon throughout the center, the sugars are still concentrated in the outer 1-2 mm.So your bacon has a band of high concentrate sugar right at the edge, as if you rolled it in sugar prior to the pan, tapering from 100% at surface where pure sugar was rubbed to 0% some mm in. The commercial injected and tumbled bacon has a much more diffuse sugar, which is just 1% or so from the brine concentration at it’s highest points, and is also aggressively diffused via the mechanical tumbling.
My guess is these radically different local concentrations of sugar result in much slower sugar burning in injected/tumbled product vs dry rub or even submersed wet cure. Meat temps probably produce meat maillard reaction before enough sugar is concentraded and heated to burn, in the tumbled.
The oven resulting in no sugar burn is probably due to meat maillard browning starting at 300f, while sugar begins to burn at 350f. So the lower more gentle no-contact air heat in oven seems to have a chance to brown the bacon before it can burn the sugars, though they do begin to caramelize at same temps as meat. But the sugars don’t see the intense 700f or more type heats present at a pan surface.
I mentioned the diffusion studies done by Dr. Greg Blonder, see his salt vs msg vs sugar one at genuineideas dot com slash ArticlesIndex slash diffusion dot html, for some graphs and reagent paper tests on the diffusion rates.
Don’t really see a solution besides injecting your sugar brine cure, sticking it in a can and giving it to some kid to shake for a bit
But hope it is still helpful or interesting;) -
processhead
I believe your issue is indeed the dry rub method vs injection.
The sugar molecule is huge compared to the salt ions released on contact with the bacon, and the NaNO2 . Therefore, the diffusion rate is well more than 10x faster for the salts. The sugar molecule can’t pass freely through most of the Aw interstices that the smaller salts and NaNO2 can. By the time the salt has cured your bacon throughout the center, the sugars are still concentrated in the outer 1-2 mm.So your bacon has a band of high concentrate sugar right at the edge, as if you rolled it in sugar prior to the pan, tapering from 100% at surface where pure sugar was rubbed to 0% some mm in. The commercial injected and tumbled bacon has a much more diffuse sugar, which is just 1% or so from the brine concentration at it’s highest points, and is also aggressively diffused via the mechanical tumbling.
My guess is these radically different local concentrations of sugar result in much slower sugar burning in injected/tumbled product vs dry rub or even submersed wet cure. Meat temps probably produce meat maillard reaction before enough sugar is concentraded and heated to burn, in the tumbled.
The oven resulting in no sugar burn is probably due to meat maillard browning starting at 300f, while sugar begins to burn at 350f. So the lower more gentle no-contact air heat in oven seems to have a chance to brown the bacon before it can burn the sugars, though they do begin to caramelize at same temps as meat. But the sugars don’t see the intense 700f or more type heats present at a pan surface.
I mentioned the diffusion studies done by Dr. Greg Blonder, see his salt vs msg vs sugar one at genuineideas dot com slash ArticlesIndex slash diffusion dot html, for some graphs and reagent paper tests on the diffusion rates.
Don’t really see a solution besides injecting your sugar brine cure, sticking it in a can and giving it to some kid to shake for a bit
But hope it is still helpful or interesting;)That explanation seems plausible. Could be the reason for mechanical massaging/tumbling of whole cuts of meat to speed up the process and equalize the cure agents throughout the meat, in commercial operations.
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