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Hate to break up the corned beef talk, but found a recipe for German bacon and wondered what you guys thought of it. The time curing in the fridge is shorter and the smoking time is longer. It's curing in my fridge right now next to Ruhlman's Wonder Bacon. German Bacon Prep Time: 10 minutes, plus 3 days to cure Cook Time: 5 hours smoking time 3 pound slab of pork belly 2 tablespoons brandy, preferably German brandy 3 tablespoons kosher salt (I use Morton’s) 1/2 teaspoon curing salt (I use Instacure No. 1) 1/4 cup brown sugar 1/2 teaspoon celery seed 1 teaspoon dried marjoram 1 teaspoon mustard powder 1 teaspoon caraway seeds, ground 2 teaspoons garlic powder 2 teaspoons black pepper __________ Find a container that will just about hold the pork belly, or use a heavy duty, sealable plastic bag. Massage the pork belly with the brandy over a bowl. If you have any extra brandy, pour it into the container or plastic bag. Mix all the dry ingredients for the cure together, then massage that into the meat. Put the pork and any remaining cure into the plastic bag or container, seal it and set it into the fridge for 3 days. Every 12 hours or thereabouts, turn over the pork. This helps distribute the cure evenly. Take the pork belly out and quickly rinse off the cure under cold water. Some cure will stick to the meat — leave it, as it adds flavor. Pat the meat dry with paper towels and set on a cooling rack. Put the rack under a ceiling fan or in another cool, breezy place and let it dry for at least 2 hours, preferably 4. Or, you can put the meat on a cooling rack set in the refrigerator uncovered and leave it overnight. When you are ready to smoke, smoke the bacon at about 250°F for 4 to 6 hours. I never check internal temperature on the bacon, but if you are looking for a temperature, between 140°F and 165°F is fine. This is a pretty well-cured bacon so you don’t need to cook the hell out of it. Allow to cool before using.
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Feb 25, 2013 23:09
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Toast posted:Going to do the corned beef tonight, anyone have any particular recommendations for spicing over and above the pickling spice? I used too many cloves and after boiling all the salt got boiled out and it tasted awfully strongly of cloves. So don't do that.
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Feb 25, 2013 23:39
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I used the Alton Brown recipe last year minus the juniper berries AND saltpeter/pink salt (I couldn't find them anywhere in time), I really liked the clove taste though it was missing the "preserved" taste. This year I have berries and pink salt on their way to me. I'm planning on using the Rhulman recipe with the addition of the extra spices from the Brown recipe. My husband's birthday is on St. Patrick's day, so we're having a get-together with about 12 people, would 2 briskets be enough, or should I make more?
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Mar 3, 2013 21:26
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I've just finished my second batch of bacon. I had two bellies curing with the salt(s), brown sugar, pepper, and bay leaf aspect of the basic cure, one with honey and one with maple syrup. I'm not really getting a hit of either flavor on the final product. I had a tiny hint of maple on an end piece and that was really it. The bacon is righteous, don't get me wrong. Any suggestions for the next batch to really get that flavor out front?
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Mar 4, 2013 00:37
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I'm trying bresola now, which is dry cured eye of round. Have it sitting in the cure til Saturday, curious to try it, never had it before.
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Mar 4, 2013 16:05
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Amykinz posted:I used the Alton Brown recipe last year minus the juniper berries AND saltpeter/pink salt (I couldn't find them anywhere in time), I really liked the clove taste though it was missing the "preserved" taste. This year I have berries and pink salt on their way to me. I'm planning on using the Rhulman recipe with the addition of the extra spices from the Brown recipe. Judging by what I got out of mine 2 would be around right. That said leftovers aren't exactly a bad thing (already looking forward to making some hash and some sandwiches with mine) if you went to 3.
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Mar 6, 2013 04:13
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Generalissimo
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Ordered some backfat from a local farm to make some lardo but it ended up coming already chopped up. I guess I will just keep it frozen until I get a grinder to make some cured sausages.
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Mar 8, 2013 00:44
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I went to Safeway to get my ingredients for corned beef. I was able to get everything I didn't have...except brisket. They didn't have loving brisket. I asked at the meat counter and they don't ever carry it.
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Mar 8, 2013 03:22
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Yea, with things like briskets and pork bellies and jowls and all that jazz, it may be worth a call to them before you go. Since no one would buy anything but a whole one, (who would buy a single pound of belly?) they'll only carry what they know they can move. If they know they can't reasonably move a whole, $30 brisket on the regular, they just wont have it. I've got my Nth pancetta cruising along nicely in my fridge now. Normally I use some recipe that I had found on the internet, but because I am a techno-genius, I accidentally deleted all my bookmarks and can't find that one again. So, now I'm rollin with Ruhlman, though I added a tiny touch of some rosemary and a little more garlic than he recommends. For me: garlic + rosemary + fat = heaven.
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Mar 8, 2013 18:16
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I know H Mart carries bellies, that's where I always get mine. I know they have brisket too. Asian markets are the best markets. The only reason I didn't go is that it's the exact opposite side of my house from work.
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Mar 8, 2013 18:53
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Saint Darwin posted:I went to Safeway to get my ingredients for corned beef. I was able to get everything I didn't have...except brisket. They didn't have loving brisket. I asked at the meat counter and they don't ever carry it. I've gotten brisket points at SaveMart (if you live in an area where they have those), seen them at Costco, and I got a full brisket this year at Winco for a buck cheaper a lb than Costco. Check your 'poorer' area stores, and your huge mexican megamart too. Our La Pueblo also carries briskets.
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Mar 9, 2013 02:43
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Sorry for dredging the corned beef chat back up, but just to be clear, the pink salt IS optional when doing a 5-6 day brine? I understand that the color will be affected, but is there a large risk in NOT using it? After the brine time, would you guys recommend any time spent drying, or go straight from brine, to rinse, to pot? edit: hmm, someone on page 14 mentions 'absolutely' needing it, but no one really responded to that, what to think... I see that there. fucked around with this message at 15:33 on Mar 9, 2013 |
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Mar 9, 2013 15:26
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I see that there. posted:Sorry for dredging the corned beef chat back up, but just to be clear, the pink salt IS optional when doing a 5-6 day brine? I understand that the color will be affected, but is there a large risk in NOT using it? Quoth Ruhlman on his own blog: "i have brined beef without pink salt and you’re right, it works just fine. there is some flavor difference but the biggest difference is it looks like pot roast, not corned beef." Personally, I wouldn't skip it. Pink salt is not particularly expensive and if I'm going to spend a week waiting to eat something, I'm not really going to skimp on anything. Also I love the color it imparts. I've never tried using regular salt, so I can't really speak to any possible flavor differences. Also I have a horrible attitude re: eating healthy, so if it's an issue with the potential unhealthiness of nitrites that are keeping you from using the curing salt, then that's probably one good reason why you might be better served to go ahead and follow your own instincts there. As far as drying, for corned beef I'd just go from brine, to rinse, to pot. I don't think drying is really going to gain you anything unless you're trying to get a pellicle for smoke or crust to stick to.
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Mar 9, 2013 18:01
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I see that there. posted:the pink salt IS optional when doing a 5-6 day brine? I've did it last year without pink salt and it still tastes WAY better than anything I've ever had before, but there is a noticeable taste missing. The pink salt definitely adds a flavor to the corned beef. I'm stuck doing it this year without pink salt again, because my order got held up and wasn't going to get here in time. If you can't find it in person, I'd still make corned beef without it. Totally worth it. Does anyone think I could dissolve the required amount of pink salt in a little water and add it to my brine to add the flavor when it FINALLY gets here? Or should I just make another corned beef later?
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Mar 9, 2013 22:27
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This is a really stupid question but is it safe for me to taste the pink salt directly? Like I won't get a nitrate overdose or anything will I?
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Mar 9, 2013 23:27
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Still on the theme of pink salt - I've got limited options available to me here in Japan. Amazon Japan is pretty good for the things that don't meet the norm of Japanese food, but all I can find is pink Himalayan rock salt and pink sea salt. None of them mention "curing", so I"m guessing that they won't be any good for the nitrates that I'd be after. This is the salt I'm referring to: http://www.amazon.co.jp/gp/product/...&pf_rd_i=489986 femcastra fucked around with this message at 02:01 on Mar 10, 2013 |
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Mar 10, 2013 01:57
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No those pink salts aren't the same thing. I couldn't find Prague powder on amazon.jp either (just books about curing meats).
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Mar 10, 2013 02:18
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Flash Gordon Ramsay posted:This is a really stupid question but is it safe for me to taste the pink salt directly? Like I won't get a nitrate overdose or anything will I? It takes a ludicrously small amount of the curing salt to do anything, and the bag I have CLEARLY warns you not to even "taste" the product before it is mixed into anything... so I wouldn't.
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Mar 10, 2013 02:26
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nominal posted:Quoth Ruhlman on his own blog: "i have brined beef without pink salt and you’re right, it works just fine. there is some flavor difference but the biggest difference is it looks like pot roast, not corned beef." I started making Ruhlman's corned beef last week and ate it tonight. The only weird thing I saw was that the brine must not have penetrated all the way through. After cooking the beef, there was a slight brown area that ran through the center. It was cooked all the way through, but it just looked a little odd. Five pounds of brisket, six adults, and there are three slices left. So it definitely tasted right. Flash Gordon Ramsay posted:This is a really stupid question but is it safe for me to taste the pink salt directly? Like I won't get a nitrate overdose or anything will I? Pink salt is 93% salt. If you taste it, it will taste like salt.
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Mar 10, 2013 04:01
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Flash Gordon Ramsay posted:This is a really stupid question but is it safe for me to taste the pink salt directly? Like I won't get a nitrate overdose or anything will I? From Ruhlman http://ruhlman.com/2011/02/meat-curing-safety-issues/ quote:—You do need to handle it with care because it’s toxic if you ingest it directly. It’s colored pink to prevent accidental ingestion. Keep it out of kids’ reach. According to this link on Oxford University’s site, the exact toxicity is 71 milligrams per kilogram. I weigh nearly 100 kilograms. That means if I ate 7.1 grams, it could kill me (by binding the oxygen carried by my blood to the hemoglobin, making that oxygen unavailable to my cells). That’s about a teaspoon. If you’re a petite 110 pounds, 1/2 teaspoon would be toxic. This article on its toxicity suggest an even lower amount is harmful. Bottom line: Don’t be afraid of it, but keep it well identified, and use it only as a recipe calls for. I don't know if this is pure sodium nitrite or the pink salt mix but I wouldn't risk it just to taste some salt.
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Mar 10, 2013 04:22
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femcastra posted:Still on the theme of pink salt - I've got limited options available to me here in Japan. Amazon Japan is pretty good for the things that don't meet the norm of Japanese food, but all I can find is pink Himalayan rock salt and pink sea salt. None of them mention "curing", so I"m guessing that they won't be any good for the nitrates that I'd be after. I'm in Tokyo and the only way I could find to get it was for the wife to get sodium nitrate directly from a pharmacist and mixing it with salt.
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Mar 10, 2013 05:21
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Thanks for the help. I could probably ask the science department at my school to order some sodium nitrate, but honestly, I'll probably just import it from Amazon US. In the meantime I'll use regular salt as I have the last few times. It still tastes great, just without the bright pink colour. Update: no luck on Amazon, none of the sellers will post it to Japan. I have however just ordered curing salt successfully through ebay, so now I just need to wait for it to arrive. femcastra fucked around with this message at 07:56 on Mar 10, 2013 |
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Mar 10, 2013 06:15
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Can you get saltpeter? (Potassium nitrate) It is also used for curing meat and is used in Alton Brown's recipe.
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Mar 10, 2013 06:40
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femcastra posted:Thanks for the help. I could probably ask the science department at my school to order some sodium nitrate, but honestly, I'll probably just import it from Amazon US. I would have sent you some had I seen this earlier sorry.
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Mar 11, 2013 14:26
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Errant Gin Monks posted:I would have sent you some had I seen this earlier sorry. No probs. I've made 3 batches of bacon without it so far, about to make my fourth. It'll be good to change it up when I get it, but I've still been able to make awesome bacon.
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Mar 12, 2013 10:02
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Amykinz posted:I've gotten brisket points at SaveMart (if you live in an area where they have those), seen them at Costco, and I got a full brisket this year at Winco for a buck cheaper a lb than Costco. Check your 'poorer' area stores, and your huge mexican megamart too. Our La Pueblo also carries briskets. I went to yon H Mart and ended up getting 1 pound pieces. Not the ideal huge piece I wanted, but it's only getting 8 days as it is. I just cut the measurements in half since those were for a 4-5 lb piece.
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Mar 12, 2013 18:11
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Saint Darwin posted:I went to yon H Mart and ended up getting 1 pound pieces. Not the ideal huge piece I wanted, but it's only getting 8 days as it is. I just cut the measurements in half since those were for a 4-5 lb piece. Chernobyl and I have a beef brisket in the brine 5 days tomorrow. Using Ruhlman's pickling spice. We have half a mason jar of it left, and can bring you some tomorrow. Also curing salt if you haven't found any yet. Let me know...
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Mar 15, 2013 03:09
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Hired_Sellout posted:Chernobyl and I have a beef brisket in the brine 5 days tomorrow. Using Ruhlman's pickling spice. I put those in when I posted using Alton Brown's recipe (and pink salt I've already had), but thank you.
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Mar 15, 2013 04:01
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I have a quick question. I made Ruhlman's bacon once already, and it came out okay, but I was missing the smoke flavor. Now I live in a place with no access to a smoker, and I really don't want to try a stove top one as I live in an apartment, so I was wondering if it would be possible to use liquid smoke in the cure to make up the flavor? I'm browsing through Google options for that, but I'm not coming up with much luck. Alhough this has taught me that I do need a house so I can get a smoker permanently set up in my backyard.
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Mar 16, 2013 03:00
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Foam Monkey posted:I have a quick question. I made Ruhlman's bacon once already, and it came out okay, but I was missing the smoke flavor. Now I live in a place with no access to a smoker, and I really don't want to try a stove top one as I live in an apartment, so I was wondering if it would be possible to use liquid smoke in the cure to make up the flavor? I'm browsing through Google options for that, but I'm not coming up with much luck. I spent years smoking pounds and pounds of tuna while living in an apartment. I had an electric barrel type smoker, and ran a really long extension cord around to the back of the building. A balcony would work great too. Where there's a will there's a way!
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Mar 16, 2013 08:27
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I just put in my order with Butcher-Packer. The Ruhlman book, a lb of curing salts and a bunch of spice related impulse buys are on their way now! More to follow when the goodies arrive.
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Mar 17, 2013 01:55
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So, kind of a crosspost with the meat rabbit thread- I used Ruhlman's pork chop brine recipe on a whole rabbit. It turned out great, tasted almost just like Boston Market baked chicken.
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Mar 17, 2013 02:10
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Armed Neutrality posted:I spent years smoking pounds and pounds of tuna while living in an apartment. I had an electric barrel type smoker, and ran a really long extension cord around to the back of the building. A balcony would work great too. Where there's a will there's a way! Could you recommend a smoker for me then? I have a small porch landing that I think I could set it on, but all the smokers I can find in stores around here aren't really small enough. I'm looking through Lowe's and hopefully I'll be able to find a suitable one.
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Mar 17, 2013 02:20
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Got my pink salt! Just got to buy another belly or two and I'll have bacon that's slightly more bacony than the one I've been making. If there's anyone else in the Tokyo area who wants some curing salt, let me know.
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Mar 18, 2013 22:37
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After roasting pork loin with fennel and chilli loads of times I finally remembered to use those in my cure. I'm out of garlic though so it was just curing salt, black pepper, chilli flakes and fennel seeds ground in a mortar and pestle. I saw on TV someone had cured using beetroot and wonder how its done. Other than just throwing beetroot chopped in with the salt.
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Mar 19, 2013 20:08
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femcastra posted:Got my pink salt! Just got to buy another belly or two and I'll have bacon that's slightly more bacony than the one I've been making. Bacon!!!!!  The piece down the bottom on the right was from my last batch of bacon prior to getting the curing salt. You can see the difference in colour pretty clearly, but here's another shot anyway:  Apart from the difference in colour, the taste was undeniably different too, much closer to bacon than my previous efforts. All my bacon so far is oven bacon, that's probably how it's gotta be while I'm here in Japan, but I feel like I've turned a corner with the inclusion of some nitrates/nitrites. I cut up a bit of it tonight, fried it, and put it in pasta bake, and it was awesome.
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Mar 28, 2013 13:02
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I upped the production this time around! Started out with about 11-12 pounds of pork belly. ~3pound x 2 and one 5 pounder. Since my last two batches of bacon went fairly smoothly, loosely following the Ruhlman's savory bacon recipe, I decided to branch out and try something new on the smaller of the three slabs. BEER! No, I didn't brine the pork in Westy 12 but I did dry hop the hell out of it. I took a 1oz bag of cascade hops (pellets) and put them in a food processor and ground them up into a fine powder and added that to the recipe below for the dry portion of the rub. (I didn't use the entire 1 oz bag in the actual rub though, I sort of eye balled that portion, sorry!) —Mix the following together in a small bowl: ~1.25 ounces kosher salt 1.25 teaspoons pink curing salt #1 (I use this DQ Cure from Butcher-Packer, $2) 2.5 tablespoons coarsely ground black pepper 1/4 cup of bourbon syrup I mixed this all together and rubbed it on the belly. Then I mixed up a bit of extra light malt extract (powder) and some water and warmed it up on the stove to make a small malt base and poured some of that on to the belly in the bag working it in with my hands. The next of the smaller batches was just regular old bacon: —Mix the following together in a small bowl: ~1.25 ounces kosher salt 1.25 teaspoons pink curing salt #1 (I use this DQ Cure from Butcher-Packer, $2) 2.5 tablespoons coarsely ground black pepper less than a 1/4 cup of (white) vanilla sugar  Rubbed that in and put it in a 2 gallon bag for the rest of the week. The 3rd and largest of the bellies would be another batch of savory, again mostly following Ruhlmans recipe except I omitted the garlic so I could compare with my last batch to see exactly what the flavors it was giving to the bacon. Except I forgot the bay leaves. poo poo. —Mix the following together in a small bowl: 2 ounces (1/4 cup Morton or Diamond Crystal coarse kosher) salt 2 teaspoons pink curing salt #1 (I use this DQ Cure from Butcher-Packer, $2) 4 tablespoons coarsely ground black pepper 1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg 1/4 cup bourbon syrup 5 to 10 sprigs fresh thyme (optional) I put these in the fridge on Wednesday night and flipped them each day till Wednesday. I felt each belly and noticed the beer and the savory were not as firm as the regular so I left those two in their cures and removed the regular one. Washed it off and set it out to sit over night. The next day I did the same with the other two and prepped to smoke on Sunday.  Got the meat hung and started to smoke it @200degF with hickory sawdust This is what they looked like right before I took them out, internal temp around 140-150degF.  This is what they looked like after I let them sit for another day to firm up before putting them on the deli slicer.  Notice how the middle belly has the the bottom end cut entirely cut off. I like to cut off the fattier or thinner end of the belly for a couple reasons. 1. It keeps my bacon slices to a easy to manage length of around 10". 2. I can freeze this entire chunk that I cut off and then make lardons with it, to the thinkness that I want and as much as I want without thawing the entire piece. Great for salads! You'll see this same thing in some other pictures too. You have to sample! [IMG]http://i.imgur.com/JFqpeC5.jpg[/tIMG] I usually cut my slices in two thickness, little less than 1/8 to an 1/8 of an inch for my normal slices. and my thicker stuff is about 3/16". And again, I always have the chunk I cut off at the bottom to make really thick stuff or cubes if I want.   So how did the Beer Bacon turn out? Interesting. First bite of a piece, it tastes of bacon, normal bacon. Then an after taste of hops. Its not something I would necessarily eat by itself or with breakfast. But perhaps on a burger? or Paired with nice IPA or light pilsner (Prima Pils comes to mind). Would I make it again? I think it turned out great but not until I find something to pair with it. Overall, another bacon success!
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Mar 28, 2013 14:49
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Does anyone have tips on how to get more flavour into the bacon from the cure? The chilli and fennel I added to my cure don't really seem to have made much difference. Is this always likely to be the way?
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Mar 28, 2013 15:10
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What's overpowering the flavor? Salt? I'm no expert but if that's the case, cut back on the kosher salt and add more of the fennel
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Mar 28, 2013 15:16
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The salt didn't overpower it, it was more that the chilli and fennel flavour just wasn't there. I used a tablespoon of fennel seeds bashed up a bit using a pestle and mortar
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Mar 28, 2013 15:28
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