Basic Bacon Brining Recipe

Home , Bacon, Brining, Curing salt, Ground meat, Ham

Basic Bacon Brine Updated 1/19/19 for more curing recipes and information: www.curecooking.com/baconclass

Prep Time: Equipment: 10-15 minutes of work Scale

3+ days of curing Fridge

2-24 hours of cooking Smoker (optional)

Ingredients: Pork, Beef, Chicken etc (whole Notes: muscles and not ground meat) • Dry-curing is a better option for Salt (non-iodized) belly bacon, but brining can be good for bacon made from pork Sugar (white and/or brown) loin, shoulder or ham. • This brining method can be used for Curing salt #1 (aka pink salt, Prague chicken or turkey, but please note powder, sodium nitrite) that the nitrite will make the meat pink like ham when cooked. Cold Water Perfectly safe, but can be alarming to some eaters. Spices/flavorings Steps: 1. Mix up a Basic Cure of salt (non-iodized), sugar (brown and/or white), and curing salt #1 (sodium nitrite): 2 parts salt to 1 part sugar and 15% curing salt #1 compared to the weight of the salt. Example: 100 g salt, 50 g sugar and 15 g curing salt #1. It is best to mix up a large amount of this basic cure. It will keep pretty much forever in an airtight container. 2. Weigh the meat you wish to brine/cure (grams is easiest). Place in a large bowl. 3. Divide the weight of the meat by 2. This is the amount of cold water needed. 4. Multiply the amount of water by 15%. This is the amount of Basic Cure needed. 5. Mix the cold water and Basic Cure until completely dissolved. 6. If you want to add any spices or aromatics for flavoring, be sure they are water soluble like garlic, onion, allspice. Spices like black pepper, chili powder and most anything else will be wasted in a brine. Save non-water-soluble spices until the brining is finished and coat the meat before smoking.

3661 Davenport St. Omaha, NE 68131

7. Add the meat to the brining container. 8. Weigh down the meat to unsure it is completely submerged. Press a piece of plastic wrap down onto the surface of the brine. 9. Store covered in fridge at least 1 day for each half inch of thickness. You may cure for up to 2-4 days longer if needed. Turn the meat each day. For highly marbled cuts of pork and for beef, allow 2 days for each half inch of thickness. 10. After curing period is finished, remove the meat from the bag or container and allow to dry and equalize for at least 8 hours and up to a day or so. Resting uncovered on a rack in the fridge is good or anywhere that is less than 55 F. 11. Smoke the meat. The curing allows you to safely cold smoke long periods of time at temperatures <140˚ F if desired. Smoking times are mostly about preference, but roughly speaking bacons are good at 4-6 hours and hams at 6-12 hours. Recommended that you avoid woods with bitterness like mesquite and hickory or if you do choose those woods shorten the smoke times. 12. If you want to be able to eat your cured meat (like ham) cold or at room temperature, it must be fully cooked/smoked to 150 F internal temp. Use your smoker or oven with medium low heat (170˚- 225˚) and slowly heat the meat until an internal temperature of 150˚ F. 13. For meat that will be cooked before serving (like bacon or baked ham), keep the smoker low and don’t bother cooking the meat to 150 F. If you cook it in smoker and then again in the frying pan or oven, meat will be drier and tougher. 14. In general, cured smoked meats may be kept in the fridge for a week or so. Better to keep them wrapped in wax paper than plastic. For long storage, vacuum sealing and freezing is best. Properly sealed with no air in the bag, meats will last a year or more in freezer.

Example: • Pork loin weighs 10 lbs. • Divide by 2 = 5 lbs. of water • 5 lbs. of water multiplied by 15% = .75 lb. of Basic Cure

3661 Davenport St. Omaha, NE 68131