Hideous bacon!

Well, $h*t...

I've been rather looking forward to seeing how your bacon turned out.

I sure hope soaking gets the job done. I wouldn't throw the belly in the bin until you've exhausted all the options (folks smarter than me will be along shortly to provide some... or, maybe the search function can come through for you...).

Hang in there, brother.

Grind it up for sausage or ice cream toppings.

Don't toss it. Use it as "salt meat" and us it to season greens, cabbage, boiled squash, chop it an put it in some chili It should hold in the fridge awhile .
Go the other direction and salt it some more.

Is the recipe written down somewhere?

When I was new to making bacon I used to soak for a period or time, slice a piece, fry it, taste test it. If it was still salty back into the water it went until I had it right. Something to consider until you get comfortable where you don't have to fry test it.

Don't let it get you down. It happens.

QDoc said:

Don't toss it. Use it as "salt meat" and us it to season greens, cabbage, boiled squash, chop it an put it in some chili It should hold in the fridge awhile .
Go the other direction and salt it some more.

Click to expand...

Ive never made bacon ...My thought would have been to toss it as well...I never would have thought of using it as "salt meat".. Perfect idea and another reason why I love this site ...Opens up me horizons and ways of thinking ...The exposure to so many cooks from around the world. :razz:

Take a few slices and blanch them in a frying pan with water for a minute or two then dump the water and then fry. That will get a lot of the salt out.

Sorry it didn't turn out. Hopefully one of these solutions works for you. I'm the same way though. I know when to put the creature out of it misery. You'll get it next time and nail it.

Do some google searching on cures and cure calculators. Most recipes I see have way too much salt for my taste. Like four or five times as much, sometimes more! As long as you are using cure #1, you can safely cure with far less salt but do your research carefully.

don't throw it away! i second what QDoc said. repurpose it. i had a batch of bacon that didn't turn out to my liking so i diced it and just last night used some to make spaghetti carbonara. it was awesome!

and don't let it get you down. once you nail it, you will forget all about this little hiccup.

as an aside, i use the ruhlman recipe with great success.

Oh my! I just watched the video, well half of it anyway. That is a great example of how NOT to cure meat. Way too many things wrong there. I would add that guy to the permanent ignore list.

Curing is like baking, it requires fairly precise measurements and process control. You don't just put on some salt, and later out on a little more. It is not safe nor going to give reliable results.

Use cure 1. Yes, you can safely cure meats without it, but that means much higher salt levels, among other things. Nitrates are not a health risk like some people believe (lots of veggies are loaded with'em), and if you look at the label of "uncured" bacon you will see celery juice which is naturally high in nitrates so they are just getting to the same place with a different ingredient. Use a calculator to figure out how much cure 1 you need for the weight of meat you have, this is not the place for a sprinkle or a smidge. Weigh out the salt and sugar as well. Spices and seasoning don't need to be as precise. Wet cures are a good way to get an even salt and cure concentration, but you may not like the texture without adding some drying time, but if you are soaking your meat to get the excess dry cure salt out, you need to dry anyway. I would at least give it a try.

Don't give up, and good luck with round 2!

Tatanka,

We all make mistakes, but we all learn from them. Consider this part of the learning process.

My only words of advice I can offer is:
1) Purchase a few books on curing and read them. (see below)
2) Purchase a scale that can switch to metric mode for accuracy.
3) Follow a proven recipe from a professional author.

Just because it's posted on the internet doesn't mean it good or the right way. Curing isn't hard, but precise weights and measures are a must! I have seen so many things about making ham and bacon on the web that make me cringe. It seems as if people just post so that they have something on the web.

m-fine said:

Oh my! I just watched the video, well half of it anyway. That is a great example of how NOT to cure meat. Way too many things wrong there. I would add that guy to the permanent ignore list.

Click to expand...

I agree m-fine, right out of the gate was the grate issue, and absolutely no cognitive measuring whatsoever.




Tatanka,

If you're really interested in curing and sausage making, then invest in one of these recommended books for sausage making and curing meats....


I would suggest doing some reading before you make the leap so you have an understanding of some of the processes...... Keep in mind there are many different types of sausages; some are made and cooked fresh, some contain a cure so they can be safely smoked, while others are cured and dried. It is important that you follow the recipe using exact amounts as well as the proper procedures to maintain a safe meat product. When in doubt read and read again, and ask questions if you need to.

There are many great books and guides on sausage making. I am sure almost everyone who posts may have a few recommendations for books on sausage making. These are by far the best books for basic and advanced sausage making. They start with the basics and move forward to help you master the craft of sausage making. Contains true recipes before the use of chemical enhancers/additives, and fillers were added to stretch the amount of commercial production.

While there are many books out there that all contain enough information to get you off to a good start, there are a few books that I would highly recommend.


First Recommendation..

Home Production of Quality Meats and Sausages by Stanley Marianski and Adam Marianski


This is a book that covers everything from making a smokehouse, to curing meats, and making sausage. Very easy to read with a great collection of recipes and techniques for the beginner. This book is actually two other books ("Meat Smoking And Smokehouse Design" and "Polish Sausages, Authentic Recipes And Instructions") combined into one single book plus more on making sausage and curing meats. Most are simple one Kilogram recipes, so you can make a small batch of the product before deciding to make a large batch. This also makes it easier to make a larger batches with easy multiples. The use of a metric scale in sausage making and curing makes the process much more accurate and provides a consistent product time after time.


Second Recommendation..

Great Sausage Recipes and Meat Curing by Rytek Kutas and Ben Kutas


This is often called the definitive book on sausage making. The explanation of how cures work, and what they are for, just this understanding to a beginner is worth the price of the book. However the smallest quantity the recipes is for ten pounds, so a beginner will have to properly calculate and scale down the recipes. The book is equally helpful to the beginner or the advanced. Some of the recipes are a little too salty for my taste, but I just make a note and reduce the salt in the next batch. The book also contains a some stories that are entertaining. *** DO NOT BUY THE BOOK / DVD COMBO, in my opinion the DVD is worthless even to a beginner, but that's just my personal opinion.


Third Recommendation..

Charcuterie: The Craft of Salting, Smoking, and Curing by Michael Ruhlman and Brian Polcyn

This is a great book, although it lightly touches the basics, I feel the book is more for an intermediate or advanced sausage maker. Most recipes are in five pound batches, but I suggest you scale them down to try them before making a large batch. You'll find that you will have to tweak a lot of the recipes to your individual liking / tastes. This book takes sausage to the next level with using some top shelf ingredients as well as some hard to find ingredients to make sausages that could be considered in the "gourmet" classification. Michael Ruhlman has many proven recipes, but you must have an understanding of the basics before you try to get into the gourmet type recipes contained herein.



Also keep in mind that there are many great resources on the World-Wide-Web (Internet), but reference books are always good for checking factual information when in doubt.

I would stress to all beginners to use only a tested and proven recipe from a reliable source, there are many recipes I have found on the Internet that I would have concerns about. Just because it's out there doesn't mean it is correct. Also the use of an electronic scale that also has a metric mode is an invaluable must have. The weighing of the cure is critical to food safety, so if everything is properly weighed and not measured, you will have a great product in the end.


Resources for tested recipes:

The Marianskis have a website which is another great resource:
http://www.meatsandsausages.com/

Len Paoli's Recipe site
http://lpoli.50webs.com/Sausage recipes.htm

http://web.archive.org/web/20010214020112/http:/home.att.net/~g.m.fowler/frame/Sausage1.htm

and so many more....

Salt pork it.

Boston baked beans and salt pork is a tradition.
Turnip greens and salt pork is a good southern dish.
I've used salt pork in coq au vin.
Fresh green beans with salt pork and new potatoes is a killer.

Let your imagination be your guide.

A trick I learned from my dear Mother when salt cured meat is too salty. Put it in a boiling pot and cover it with cold water. On the stove, and bring it to a boil. As soon as it boils, remove the meat and put it in fresh cold water til it cools. The boil will draw a lot of the salt out.

Plenty of recipes for some salted pork my friend! Some beans, green beans, spinach, chop it up in some tater skins, we could keep going on and on.

Using it as a salted meat is a good idea, cut it into chunks and freeze them....another thing you can do is soak in cold water for a few hours, put it in he largest pot you have to get the most volume of fresh water to meat. After a few hours let it dry in the fridge for a few hours or maybe even try smoking it again.