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Alibubba
Member
Post Number: 242
Registered: 7-2004
| | Posted on Saturday, April 05, 2008 - 2:29 pm:
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Smoked some bacon today. The pork belly has been curing in a maple sugar/coriander/peppercorn/cayenne cure for the past ten days. Photos 1 & 2 show the cured, unsmoked bacon, under a fan developing a pellicle after being removed from the cure. Photo 3 shows it going into my #9 which is preheated to about 190 degrees. I'm using maple to smoke it. The last photo shows it almost done, with nice color, after about 6 hours @ 190 degrees, internal temperature about 160 degrees. I saved the leanest of the sections to braise - if you've never done it, try it!!
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The_handler
Member
Post Number: 143
Registered: 6-2005
| | Posted on Sunday, April 06, 2008 - 5:24 am:
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So when are you going to have us all over for breakfast? |
Endoguy
Member
Post Number: 26
Registered: 7-2005
| | Posted on Sunday, April 06, 2008 - 10:06 am:
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Were'd you get the meat. Did you order it from a butcher?? |
Alibubba
Member
Post Number: 243
Registered: 7-2004
| | Posted on Sunday, April 06, 2008 - 10:25 am:
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We're very fortunate in Houston in that we have some great "neighborhood" butcher shops where I can get all sorts of cuts without having to special order. I've tried the high-end pork bellies (Berkshire, etc) which I have to special order, and which costs about $5.00/lb. I honestly don't see a difference in quality or flavor to what I get at the butcher shop I frequent where I pay $1.99/lb. It is important, though, to develop a relationship with the purveyor. I always bring a piece to them every time I buy the bellies. They also know what I'm looking for - you really need a good blend of fat & lean in bacon. This is especially important if you're going to use the pork belly for a slow-roast/braise preparation, which, if you've never had before, is true food porn. This is very popular now in high-end restaurants.
If you don't have a local butcher shop, you probably have some large Oriental grocery stores - we're fortunate to have some huge ones, which usually stock pork bellies - it's also a staple in oriental cuisine. |
Endoguy
Member
Post Number: 27
Registered: 7-2005
| | Posted on Sunday, April 06, 2008 - 1:07 pm:
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Right on!! Thanks!! |
Mark
Member
Post Number: 651
Registered: 7-2001
| | Posted on Sunday, April 06, 2008 - 10:46 pm:
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Pork belly is now a popular cut in hip yuppie joints as well as a standby in authentic Asian restaurants. As much as I enjoy fatty meats, I like smoking it, but I'm not sure about the popularity of eating hunks of steamed pork belly by itself. I buy it at a big Asian supermarket in Phoenix, cure it and and smoke it over grapevine. Good stuff! |
Alibubba
Member
Post Number: 244
Registered: 7-2004
| | Posted on Monday, April 07, 2008 - 9:35 am:
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Steamed? I agree - I wouldn't eat it steamed either. But braised for 6 or 7 hours in an aromatic liquid then sauteed to crisp it up & brown it - you bet, bring it on. And I'm not even a yuppie. There's a great restaurant here in Houston, Catalan, with a very talented, creative chef, Chris Shepherd, who serves a Pork Belly with Steen's Cane Syrup which is absolutely fantastic. I wouldn't advise pork belly as a regular diet, but every once in a while it's a great luxury |
Janzy
New member
Post Number: 8
Registered: 8-2006
| | Posted on Monday, April 07, 2008 - 10:12 am:
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do you buy the bellies with or without the rind? |
Janzy
New member
Post Number: 9
Registered: 8-2006
| | Posted on Monday, April 07, 2008 - 1:57 pm:
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Al,
Would you mind sharing the amounts of your cure recipe?
Thanks |
Mark
Member
Post Number: 652
Registered: 7-2001
| | Posted on Monday, April 07, 2008 - 3:23 pm:
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The bellies I get still have their rind. After curing and smoking, I trim off the rind and into the beanpot. And I slightly freeze the now rindless bacon to facilitate slicing. |
Alibubba
Member
Post Number: 245
Registered: 7-2004
| | Posted on Monday, April 07, 2008 - 8:03 pm:
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I use the basic maple-cured recipe from Michael Ruhlman's "Charcuterie":
For a 5 lb piece of pork belly (about 1/2 of an average one):
2 oz kosher salt
2 tsp pink salt (Insta Cure #1)
1/4 cup maple sugar or packed dark brown sugar
1/4 cup maple syrup
I also add to Ruhlman's recipe
2 T black peppercorn
2 T whole coriander seed
1/2 t cayenne
I've found that there are no "bad" combinations - let us know if you come up with anything interesting.
I cut the bellys into fairly large rectangles and place them in 11" X 16" vaccuum seal bags. If you do it in vaccuum seal bags only remove about 1/2 of the air from the bags & then seal. You need to leave room for the large amount of liquid which comes out of the pork belly. Place in the refrigerator for 7 days, flipping the bags over every day to distribute the cure throughout.
Remove the pork bellies from the bags, rinse them thoroughly and pat dry. put them on cooling racks and let them air dry to develop a pellicle. I put the racks under a large ceiling fan for a few hours. The pellicle is necessary for the bellies to absorb smoke. I use maple to smoke them - I prefer the slightly sweet smoke flavor this produces. When the bacon is still slightly warm you can slip a long boning knife or other slim blade just under the rind and slice it off. I'm with Mark - I freeze it & use it in hearty soups, gumbos and chilis.
After you've made a batch, and the next time you're invited to a friends house for dinner, don't bring wine, bring candied bacon. If you've never had it, it's hard to describe - and easy!
Thick slice about a pound of bacon. Make a thick slurry of maple sugar, 1/2 water & 1/2 maple syrup, and about 1/4 t cayenne. Use dark brown sugar if you can't find maple sugar. Start with about a cup of sugar. you want a very thick consistency. Dredge the bacon in the slurry and place on a parchment lined sheet pan. If you have any of the slurry left, spoon it over the bacon. Put in a preheated 350 degree oven for about 30 minutes. Remove from the oven & immediately place the slices on a cooling rack to cool. Cut the slices in half - they'll be coated in the most luxurious caramel you've ever tasted. When the caramel in the pan hardens somewhat, peel it off the parchment paper, crumble and put in an airtight container. Use it as a topping over some homemade vanilla ice cream. Bacon flavored caramel - doesn't get any better than this. |
Janzy
New member
Post Number: 10
Registered: 8-2006
| | Posted on Tuesday, April 08, 2008 - 5:12 am:
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Thanks Al!
About the only place i can get pork bellies in the Boston area are the large Asian supermarkets. I bought some yesterday, but they are only 1 lb. pieces, with a small bone in them.
I hope this works for me! |
Bacon