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Home cured, unsmoked streaky bacon

Theo_9282

A pack of instacure no 1 has just arrived in the post, and I am planning on beginning my home cured unsmoked streaky bacon recipe. I wondered what the advantage of leaving the rind/rib bones on during the curing process has for the bacon, as it seems like they would just complicate things down the line?

The rub I plan on using will contain:

Salt/Instacure 1

Sugar

Mace

Pepper

Coriander Seed

Star Anise

Essentially a simplification of an MC recipe.

I then want to vacpac and cure for a week, then hang in the fridge for an additional week at which point I believe the bacon should be ready.

Any suggestions are appreciated!

Thanks

Theo

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DiggingDogFarm_65362

Some say the flavor is better if the skin and bones are left intact, but that's debatable.

Some also like to leave the skin on until after smoking or in the case of unsmoked "green" bacon, after drying because it's easier to remove.

Some see an an advantage in leaving the skin and bones intact because it slows down drying.

But, the bacon will cure quicker if the skin and bones are removed prior to curing.

For years I left the skin on, that's how many old timers did it, but for about the past 20 years I've always removed it prior to curing.

I use a rib puller to remove the bones and skin with a good skinning knife.

Here's a pretty good video.......

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SsdqRjI5OAE

FWIW, I have a cure calculator on my website that many folks find helpful......

http://www.diggingdogfarm.com/page2.html

~Martin

Theo_9282

Thanks! Calculator is really useful, I have read that bacon is meant to be a lower ppm than other cured meats, however this the fsis contradicts this in the case of dry curing bacon suggesting 200ppm (http://www.fsis.usda.gov/OPPDE/rdad/FSISDirectives/7620-3.pdf, p.28). The article was written in 1995 though..

Any idea what a sensible ppm is for my method of curing?

Cheers,

Theo

DiggingDogFarm_65362

Keep in mind that the guide applies to commercial bacon, but it's used by many home curers as a guide only.

The USDA is overly cautious in limiting nitrite in commercial bacon to help prevent the formation of nitrosamines.

For home curers, nitrite ppm of 120 to 156 in bacon is fine, if nitrosamine formation is a concern, limit the temperature applied to the bacon.

"A bacon cooking study, "Effect of Frying and Other Cooking Conditions on Nitrosopyrrolidine Formation in Bacon" (Journal of Science, Vol. 39, pages 314-316), showed no evidence of nitrosamines in bacon fried at 210 °F for 10 minutes (raw), 210 °F for 15 minutes (medium well), 275 °F for 10 minutes (very light), or 275 °F for 30 minutes (medium well). But when bacon was fried at 350 °F for 6 minutes (medium well), 400 °F for 4 minutes (medium well), or 400 °F for 10 minutes (burned), some nitrosamines were found. Thus, well-done or burned bacon is potentially more hazardous than less well-done bacon. Also, bacon cooked by a microwave has less nitrosamine than fried bacon."

Source: http://www.fsis.usda.gov/factsheets/Bacon_and_Food_Safety/index.asp

The 200ppm is for bacon that is hung and "dry-cured" for an extended period of time, in the fashion of country ham and the like, it doesn't apply to bacon that's cured short term, as far as the FSIS is concerned.

Some folks get very confused about this and it has led to a lot of debate, but the handbook is fairly clear about what is meant by "Dry Cured" (I've also confirmed this by communicating with a FSIS inspector supervisor) and as far as the 200 ppm nitrite limit in bacon goes, it's obvious that it's not a short term cure where a "dry cure" mix is applied...the type of curing that most folks do.

Page 28:

"INGREDIENT LIMITS

Dry Cured Bacon (rind-off): A maximum of 200 ppm of nitrite or equivalent of

potassium nitrite (246 ppm) can be used in dry cured bacon. Note: the calculation method for

nitrite in dry cured bacon is the same as that for nitrite in other dry cured products. Refer to

pages 24-27."

Page 24:

"NITRITE USED IN DRY CURED PRODUCTS

The amount of ingoing nitrite used in dry cured products, such as country ham, country style pork

shoulder, prosciutto, etc., is based on the green weight of the meat or poultry in the product

formulation. These products are prepared from a single intact piece of meat or poultry that has

had the curing ingredients directly applied to the surface, and has been dried for a specified period

of time. For large pieces of meat, the curing ingredients must be rubbed on the surface several

times during the curing period. The rubbed meat or poultry cuts are placed on racks or in boxes

and allowed to cure. Nitrite is applied to the surface of the meat or poultry as part of a cure."

Source: Processing Inspectors' Calculations Handbook

HTH

~Martin

Theo_9282

Thanks for the response, really useful. I like my bacon crispy as hell so I guess I'm going to have to risk it. Going down to the butcher today, so will try and remember to post the photos of the final product in 2 weeks. I recon I'll start with 2kg, vacpac excess and freeze.

here are a few extra websites i found of varying usefulness, for anyone interested in bacon curing:

http://baconwizard.co.uk/index.php?option=com_lyftenbloggie&view=lyftenbloggie&category=0&Itemid=14

http://www.localfoodheroes.co.uk/?e=541

http://www.amazingribs.com/recipes/porknography/making_bacon_from_scratch.html

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2011/mar/17/home-curing-your-own-bacon

http://thepottingshed.myfreeforum.org/archive/bacon-curing-step-by-stepthe-old-way__o_t__t_2219.html