Thread: BiP's First Attempt at Homemade Bacon & Subsequent Breakfast Bacon Manwich

You do realise the next project will be making your own cheese...

Fankhausers cheese page is good. And I have a recipe for making your own amercian processed cheese. As you would expect its cheese scraps and gelatine.

You did good.

Orrens
Sharks are misunderstood

Originally Posted by Dillinger

Doesn't look too great tbh,

Originally Posted by bsnub

Like you are one to talk.

He's not serving it to paying guests though.

One challenge at a time Orrens...I've got considerable room for improvement on the bacon front. Will be hitting the forum with another Kitchen thread later in the week, something completely different. Regards, -BiP

Originally Posted by Orrens

You do realise the next project will be making your own cheese...

Fankhausers cheese page is good. And I have a recipe for making your own amercian processed cheese. As you would expect its cheese scraps and gelatine.

You did good.

Orrens
Sharks are misunderstood

Going to have to lift my game quite a bit before we subject guests to that cyrille. But might help interest non-Asians in our homestay, all guests to date and currently booked are ethnic Asian, predominantly Thai. Not your usual audience for bacon aficionados.

Originally Posted by cyrille

He's not serving it to paying guests though.

For the last year or so, I have cured a fair amount of bacon. I try to select pork bellies that have a reasonable amount of meat. Without removing the skin, I weigh each belly and then add sugar at 16 grams per kg, salt at 22 grams per kg and Prague powder No 1 at 1 teaspoon per 2 kg. Apply the rub to the meat side somewhat evenly. Vacuum seal each belly and refrigerate for 5 – 7 days. I try to turn them every day but occasionally forget to do it. After 5 days or so remove from the bags and if I want salty bacon, I just give the cured pork belly a quick wash under the tap. For less salty, which my wife prefers, I soak the belly in water for an hour or two. I then smoke the bacon on a Weber kettle grill using apple wood. I try to maintain a grill temperature of 110°C until the bacon has an internal temperature of 65°C. As soon as I take the bacon off the grill, I remove the skin. It just pulls off easily while the bacon is hot. I let it cool and then refrigerate it for a day and then slice it with a meat slicer.

I played around with other cures, like Cajun and Italian rubs, but have always come back to the basic salt, sugar and pink curing salt.

For a while I was buying the pork belly at Villa Market on Sukhumvit 33. They are generally cut into 1.5 – 2 kg pieces. I just started buying the pork belly from Sloanes. They are cut into 1 kg pieces. I ordered them online and in the notes of the order requested that they “The pork belly is for making bacon. If possible, please select the pork bellies with a good amount of meat rather than fat.” Two of the three pieces were perfect for bacon, while the third one was acceptable but would have preferred a little more meat.

https://www.sloanes.co.th/product/pork-belly-1kg/

Originally Posted by BoganInParasite

Half a cup of brown or raw sugar.
Three tablespoons of kosher or another course salt.
Three heaped teaspoons of black pepper.
Two heaped teaspoons of paprika.
Half a teaspoon of curing salt.

I have found that weighing the belly first and then adding the rub at predetermined ratio works better and give more consistent results.

Originally Posted by BoganInParasite

The first is to get a wider piece of pork belly. Makro only had narrow long strips the day I was buying it.

If you can't get it in the size you want maybe ordering it from Sloanes is an option. It will probably be more expensive than Macro though.

Originally Posted by BoganInParasite

The second is to remove the skin/rind before dry rubbing and starting the marinading process.

Removing the skin first is a bit of a pain in the arse. I have found that after the belly has been cooked the skin pulls off very easily. You'll need to use a tea towel or two to hold the bacon as it is very hot, but it pulls right off. Also, after a bit of experimenting I found that it makes no differnece curing with the skin on or off.

Originally Posted by BoganInParasite

The third is to finish it with either a honey glaze or add a smokey flavour either by traditional smoking or some sort of liquid smoke if that is possible. I've never done any smoking previously so a little tentative to tackle it atm.

I have tried using liquid smoke, but it is not a substitute for the real thing and I wouldn't use it for bacon again. If you want a quick and easy way to start smoking and you are only doing small amounts of bacon, I suggest that you get a Weber Jumbo Joe. They are about 5,000 baht from the offical dealer and reasonably easy to set up. If you go that way let us know as I can probaly give you a few tips on setting it up.

Hi Barty,

Some great info, thank you. I've got an electric webber (purchased in the USA) that I've stripped out the electrical components and converted to use charcoal. Do you see any possibility this could be used? The grill is two piece. Could put the heat on oneside and the bacon on the other to get indirect heat. Also have a decent thermometer to monitor inside temp, but don't own a meat themometer.

Collops.

With the absence of a Berkel (tm) bacon slicr you may be making collops. Heres the history.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collops

You might also be making salt pork (and molasses is all you get int jail: Nutbush)
Perhaps our merkin friends will advise.

Wish I was doing it. Life collapses faster than it builds.

Orrens
I always wear a spit mask.

Originally Posted by BoganInParasite

I've got an electric webber (purchased in the USA) that I've stripped out the electrical components and converted to use charcoal. Do you see any possibility this could be used? The grill is two piece. Could put the heat on oneside and the bacon on the other to get indirect heat.

That will work. Go with the indirect method and get the grate temp on the meat side to roughly 110°C (don't stress about it too much, over 100 but less than 125 is fine). I can't see where the vents are on the grill, if there is top vent that is to one side, make that the meat side.

That looked pretty damn good BiP, and the number 1 thing for me - when you cook the bacon, you do not get that disgusting water in the pan where the commercial producers 'add' water for no purpose other than messing up your pan (read increase their profit by selling water as bacon).

Good bacon is so hard to find these days (esp. in the Middle East! Best i found here in Dubai was at Park n Shop - 1. reasonable price and 2- NOT smoked as an option.)

well done!

Yeah TD we find the Thai bacon available in Nan is watery and even leaks blood, and not salty enough. Dubai bacon (from Spinneys) was marginally better but would still 'sweat' blood. USA bacon was fine but nothing imho beats Aussie bacon. Looking forward to seeing you and Joy up here one day. Regards, -BiP

Originally Posted by Thai Dhupp

That looked pretty damn good BiP, and the number 1 thing for me - when you cook the bacon, you do not get that disgusting water in the pan where the commercial producers 'add' water for no purpose other than messing up your pan (read increase their profit by selling water as bacon).

Good bacon is so hard to find these days (esp. in the Middle East! Best i found here in Dubai was at Park n Shop - 1. reasonable price and 2- NOT smoked as an option.)

well done!

Originally Posted by Barty

That will work. Go with the indirect method and get the grate temp on the meat side to roughly 110°C

Agree with this also if you can get yourself something like this;

https://smile.amazon.com/Cuisinart-C...s%2C205&sr=8-7

I have this and put it on the hot side of the BBQ with hardwood chips in it. It really does a great job in luau of am actual smoker. I did this brisket using that smoke box with hickory chips and the indirect head method...




Here it is with some chicken smoking away....

That looks quite good eating bsnub.

Barty, how long do you leave the belly smoking? Do you have to add coal/wood chips during the process on a Weber?

Originally Posted by BoganInParasite

That looks quite good eating bsnub.

It is easy to do if you have the patience. Since you have converted to charcoal you will need one of these...

https://smile.amazon.com/Weber-7429-...9237688&sr=8-4

Or if you have a cheap coffee can or something in country you can use to warm the coals that will suffice. Since you are a handy offshore type you can most likely figure out something creative. \

I really hope to get the smoked meats thing going in the food thread. Sad that SKKin flounced as he has a nice stickied thread.

The best for a charcoal is to buy the pot with a clay lining inside a cone metal bucket - "tau" - used everywhere at Thai markets, available in many sizes, costs 30 - 50 Baht. With a small piece of charcoal you get very soon a concentrated heat, unlike from a feshie rectangular grill needing some 1/2 an hour to get into a glow.

And for starting fire: also at the market you can get bundles of wood splinters full of resin - a kind of a spruce obtained in the mountains, a good scent, the fire can be lit up just by a lighter.

Good job. When we make bacon, we make A LOT of bacon. We buy the belly off my wife's uncle and ask him to remove the skin for us.

Originally Posted by cyrille

Cheese and butter on a bacon sandwich?

Taking the short route to a heart attack there.

He forgot the mayo

Originally Posted by CSFFan

Barty, how long do you leave the belly smoking? Do you have to add coal/wood chips during the process on a Weber?

I use a digtal thermometer and leave the belly on the grill until it reaches a temp of about 65°C. For one 2kg belly it takes about an hour. For multiple bellys at a time it can take up to two hours.

If I use the 22" Weber I can hold a grate temp of about 110°C for 8 - 10 hours without adding extra charcaol. If you layout the wood chunks on the unlit coals you can have smoke for the same amount of time, however, meat normally won't take on more smoke after a few hours in the grill.

With the little 18" Weber Jumbo Joe I think I can go for about 3 maybe 4 hours without adding charcaol, but I am working on building a new charcaol basket that will hopefully extend that time a bit.