Charcuterie: What if I leave this meat in my fridge for 6 months?

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Goons with Spoons > Charcuterie: What if I leave this meat in my fridge for 6 months?

Pfhreak: Jan 30, 2004; Frog Blast The Vent Core!

I got a BGE as a gift this holiday season and while I'm tickled with the concept of grilling with it I get a serious :awesome:

when I think about smoking with it. Living in Seattle gives me access to some awesome salmon. The bacon pictures in this thread have me going already.

Problem is, I've never cured or smoked anything in my life. Other than the Ruhlman book (which is being delivered to my kindle while I type this) are there resources I should be reading?

# ¿ Jan 3, 2012 08:44

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# ¿ May 5, 2024 07:26

Pfhreak: Jan 30, 2004; Frog Blast The Vent Core!

What sorts of things can you use in a cure? I mean, aromatics make sense, but can you add alcohol to a cure for a beer, whisky, or other unique flavor? Do you have to avoid things that are too acidic?

# ¿ Jan 6, 2012 00:18

Pfhreak: Jan 30, 2004; Frog Blast The Vent Core!

AlternateAccount posted:

Well, went and found some "pork side meat" at the local butchery-place. All they had was frozen :\
$4.89/lb seems absurdly pricey, especially when their own fantastic in-house bacon is $5.69/lb. I got a hunk anyway, we'll see how it comes out, it's thawing now.

There's a specialty meat wholesaler down near where I work, I may have to talk to them. Even if they make me buy 25lbs at a time, I can freeze some and bacon it up in chunks.

ooh, actually they've updated their site, they list

BSP53719 Skinless Sheet Bellies 5/Box

Is that 5 bellies per box or 5lb boxes, do you think?

Typically (when I worked for Costco in the meat dept/deli) this was a qty per box. Also, 5lbs is probably less than a single belly.

# ¿ Jan 29, 2012 03:16

Pfhreak: Jan 30, 2004; Frog Blast The Vent Core!

AlternateAccount posted:

So I don't know what the gently caress I got sold. It's proper bacon-y pork bellyish on one end mostly except for an entire quarter of it that is just fat, no lean on it whatsoever. The other end is a mess, where the belly ends is a very thick section of that sort of fluffy fat and then just straight lean pork. The whole thing is about 3 inches thick on one end and it tapers down to practically nothing at the other end. Skin still on it, too. There's no way to get more than about a half a pound of proper bacon out of this and I don't know wtf you would do with the rest of it. What a loving mess, I don't know what to do with this, I just chucked it back into the fridge in a fury.

Smokey lean meats are good for flavoring soups and dishes when cubed. So are smokey fats. Dice that poo poo up fine and toss it in a picadillo or split pea soup. Are you really telling me you have no idea what to do with salty, smokey fat?

# ¿ Jan 31, 2012 07:37

Pfhreak: Jan 30, 2004; Frog Blast The Vent Core!

AlternateAccount posted:

I want Bacon :\

I know, there's no bad pork fat, but I am disappointed that this is now a salvage operation when I explicitly told the butcher what I was planning.

So slice it and cook it like bacon. It'll still be delicious.

# ¿ Jan 31, 2012 07:47

Pfhreak: Jan 30, 2004; Frog Blast The Vent Core!

I've got to try taking it to the grocer. But I generally try to keep it whole until I want some bacon, then I slice off what I plan on eating.

# ¿ Mar 25, 2012 17:16

Pfhreak: Jan 30, 2004; Frog Blast The Vent Core!

Rangpur posted:

I've been following the recipe in the OP, which treats 90 minutes/150 degrees as roughly equivalent. I have a probe thermometer so I figured I'd go by internal temp. It's a 4.8 pound pork belly, and it's been cooking at 200 degrees for more than three hours. No part of it reads hotter than 142.

Seriously, what the hell am I doing wrong here?

You keep opening the oven to check on it? Your oven/smoker has a bad thermometer?

# ¿ Mar 26, 2012 13:05

Pfhreak: Jan 30, 2004; Frog Blast The Vent Core!

Timo posted:

I think I made a bacon mistake.

I used Ruhlman's recipe for a basic dry rub (1 lb salt, 8oz sugar, 10tsp pink salt), added some spices, and used it on five pounds of pork belly. It's been about a week and I'm ready to smoke it, then I happened to glance at the book again. It says to use a quarter cup of cure for 3-5 lbs of belly. I got a little nitrite-scared and realized I used about 10x the amount of nitrite, or about 2.5x higher than the maximum limit for human consumption.

The bacon will be eaten by the trash can, and I'll have to wait another week.

Make sure you read the label on the pink salt. Mine gives a suggested amount per 100/lbs of meat.

# ¿ Apr 6, 2012 02:58

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# ¿ May 5, 2024 07:26

Pfhreak: Jan 30, 2004; Frog Blast The Vent Core!

Petey posted:

I bought 4lbs of boneless pork belly from whole foods today. I (mostly) followed Ruhlmann's recipe, trying, more or less by sight, to take out 20% of the ingredients to account for the smaller size:

Two questions:

1) judging by other pictures, I think I may have included too much rub. Is this a problem?
2) I left the skin on. Is it best to cut it off before or after cooking?

Any other advice appreciated as this is my first attempt! I'll be trying to cook this in my oven next weekend.

e: my deviations from Ruhlmann (apart from portion) were no garlic or thyme, but added mesquite and grade a dark amber maple syrup.

Skin on is good. It'll almost slide off right after smoking it.

# ¿ Jan 13, 2013 08:29

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Goons with Spoons > Charcuterie: What if I leave this meat in my fridge for 6 months?