Denny O Sorry, I did miss where you said it was doubled. Okay so then with 2 gallons you’d ideally want 2 packages, the benefits from 1 package will still absolutely be there but it wont be as strong. The same theory applies as above, the strength of the solution in a wet brine is the key, not necessarily the lb of bacon you are doing.

So are you saying you use a full package of BTB whether making 10 lbs or 100 lbs of bacon?
That just seems counterintuitive to me, but please explain how that works.

If it were me I’d go full strength on everything. The safe thing here is to tell you to add like 75% strength Booster with your regular recipe but that’s for cowards. I am pretty confident that using your full recipe and adding booster will only make you like your bacon better. I have had your bacon, thought it was great and I didn’t find it too salty at all!

Denny O we used to tell people to not add |Bacon-Taste-Booster to anything other than injected and tumbled bacon. The original idea behind it was to be able to add the old world flavor of traditional methods curing methods like vac tumbling. Well, one day I tried it in imitation bacon and have never gone back, every batch of |Imitation-Bacon-Unit-Seasoning now gets the booster too. I also add it to snack sticks when I am doing something bacon-flavored.

I hope you enjoy!

I always rinse the bellies and sometimes give them a 20 minute soak in freshwater at least once sometimes twice.

Are you thinking that 5 to 6 oz of Bacon Taste Booster is enough for 1 gallon of water? Because I use a 2 gallon mix then 10 to 12 oz of the booster Plus my kosher salt, brown and white sugar and cure?

This curing mix was used commercially in a butcher shop many years ago doing bacon, hams and other cured meats. C .E. Fassett’s of Adams Center, NY.
Here is the history if you are interested.
Pop’s Brine
You may have to scroll back up to the top of the story.
This works because the brine/cure will penetrate at a speed of 1/4" per day per exposed area. So a piece of meat that is 2" thick will cure to the center in 4 days. We add 2 extra days to that so I could cure the meat in a total of 6 days. The allowance of the meat in the solution for 2 weeks had no adverse effects. That is why I like this forgiving cure along with there is no water injected into it. Frying bacon creates grease. Water in grease makes a lot of pops and splatters. I usually do not have to use a splatter screen.

My question is, without weighing the meat, injecting or dry brine, how can “Bacon Taste Booster” be added to my wet curing brine per gallon and achieve the outcome that you were suggesting me to use it for?

"I do a wet brine in a 5 gallon bucket for pork bellies with a 2 gallon brine mix.

*My brine mix is: “Per gallon of water”
3/4 cup Kosher salt
1 cup dark brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
1 rounded tablespoon #1 pink cure
1 gallon water
All is dissolved thoroughly before submerging the bellies into the brine.

I wet brine refrigerated for usually 2 weeks but not less that 10 days."*

Now since you are doing a home recipe I can’t say exactly if it will be too salty BUT I make nothing bacon flavored anymore without the booster.

Also, you said you use 2 gallon brine in a 5 gallon bucket but you list 1 gallon of water in your recipe. If you are using 1 gallon of water then the 5-6 oz is correct. The strength of the solution is what matters for a wet brine, not the amount of bacon you are making. If you injected that would change things a bit, but for wet brine, if you make the correct strength solution for 100 lb and just use 10 lb the 10 lb will still taste correct because it is only going to pickup what it normally would. It makes sense in my head, I need Elon’s nueral link thing so I can show people what my brain is imaging without having to rely on my communication skills, or lack thereof.

Yes vac tumbling is a wet brine process. It is designed to get the meat to pickup more of the meat more quickly by massaging the meat and loosening the fibers. I always thought it also had to do with the vacuum pulling the fibers slightly apart but I guess it has to do a lot more with preventing the solution from becoming a foam during the tumbling process.

I have 2 whole Berkshire bellies heading into brine and 5 half Durock bellies to do. I’m going to only try the Waltons seasonings on the later, Duroc, by the end of the week!

processhead Paul, They also state “When you are vacuum tumbling Bacon Taste Booster”.
That is a dry brine style is it not?

I wasn’t sure, but after doing a little research, it appears that vacuum tumbling is a wet brine process. One of the reasons commercial processors like vacuum tumbling is because they can add water weight as well as flavor to their products and do it more quickly. So yes, it appears to be a wet process.

Here are the directions listed with BTB

“Specifications:
Use 5 to 6 oz. of seasoning to 100 lbs. of bellies, plus bacon cure. Add taste booster to brine mixture.”

To me it seems counterintuitive to add additional salt and sugar and not expect it to not turn out saltier, but maybe I am missing something or maybe the amount used for only 1 or 2 bellies is too insignificant to affect the overall saltiness.