The Chilebrown Ice Cave is getting a little low on home made bacon. It is time to cure and smoke some pork bellies. This batch of bellies is going to receive a special treat of Maple sugar. The maple sugar was procured from the Vermont Country Store. Ten pounds of pork bellies were corralled from our local International Market. To really kick this bacon up a notch it will be smoked with sugar maple wood chunks. These were bid on and won from E-bay. This will be a first for me. I have a trick to try to cut down on the saltiness. After the initial curing stage, I will soak and rinse the bellies for a longer period of time.
The recipe is exactly the same as Makin Bacon I. The only difference is instead of brown sugar, Vermont granulated sugar will be used. They will be put in the ice box for 8 days. After 4 days I will flip the bacon over to even the curing process. They will then be soaked in clear water to rinse the salt off. I will go into more detail later when the smoking begins.
Ms. Goofy and I went to Catahoula's coffee shop in Richmond Ca. today . We went there to meet and greet Pam from Zoomie Station. We gifted her a sack of home grown apples and tomatoes. Lo and hehold the Reverend Biggles was there also. Good friends and coffee is a good way to spend a plesant morning.
8 comments:
Jealous! I am jealous of your Catahoula kaffeeklatsch.
Maybe we can actually plan one sometime? (I know Biggles has put out open invitations of a sort...)
Anyway. Good going on the bacon. I just started my first batch ever on Thursday (and I turn the bellies over every time I go in the refrigerator for something). Cranky did not want me to use anything maple, so it's plain sugar, salt and pink salt. Thanks for the tip about getting the salt washed off, and smoker here we come. Well, next week, that is.
What kinda of smoker are you going to use? I would soak and rinse for a least half of the day. Then you need to dry them well. Let them sit in your reefer, uncovered, overnight. That will dry them perfectly.
Thanks for the lovely produce! I have a question about the peppers - are the red ones, black ones and green ones all the same kind? And will the heat vary depending on their color?
The thought of your maple sugar bacon had me casting about mentally for something else I could offer as a trade! :-) Sounds heavenly!
And, Cookiecrumb, you're always invited - you know that!
Zoomie, I gave you some Jalepeno's and some Serrano's. They are not very hot unless you are pepper challenged. I would suggest you try a little taste before you use any. Have a glass of milk by your side just in case the peppers do not agree with you.
I will not give my Hot Arsenal away, unless, you ask for it our you deserve it.
Thanks for your quick answer - can you also tell me which are jalapenos and which are serranos? I'm new to peppers in their native state so I'm being cautious! Thanks for the tip about the milk! :-)
Yeah man, that was nice.
I drug home a fridge sized cold smoker early Sunday morning. It'll be a lot easier to use and modify than my other choices. Plus I'll be able to smoke more than 60 pounds of bacon at a time. Yay !
if you soak out the salt, wouldn't it also soak out the other flavors as well?
just curious and trying to learn...
OK, I am *stoopidly* late coming back to answer questions.
We are using a Brinkman. We already used the Brinkman, I mean. This is past tense.
We rinsed the cured bacon twice, really plunged it in the water. But did not soak it.
It came out great!!! Really. Not too salty. Oh, and we did do the "pellicle" thing. Fun. I thought pellicle was just for smoked salmon (but it works for baked beans too!).
:D
Post a Comment