Another BBQ Topic - bacon and summer sausage

[Seinfeld]

It’s looking like I’m going to have a good bit of time on my hands this holiday season, and I’ve been kicking around the idea of doing my own bacon and summer sausage. For the bacon, I was going to buy a 2-3 lb belly and then cure/smoke it at home. For the summer sausage, I was going to cut off a couple pounds of a NY strip roast that I have and then get the local butcher to fine grind it.

Any of y’all smoking experts ever tried either of these, and if so... any tips or recipes you’d recommend?

 

[Augustus McCrae]

I've always wanted to do my own bacon like you describe so I may try to do that over the holidays myself. I'm following this thread to see if anyone offers up any good tips or tricks, especially in regard to the bacon curing process.

 

[Seinfeld]

If we don’t hear anything, I’ll let you know what online recipe I end up trying. There doesn’t seem to be a heck of a lot to the bacon process. The summer sausage, on the other hand, seems a little like working on a car. Really not all that complicated when you have the right tools. If you don’t, though, you’re probably not going to be happy with the results

 

[Augustus McCrae]

Sounds good. Agree on the summer sausage and that's part of the reason I've never tried it before. Hope yours is a success.

 

[Villagedawg]

Bacon is super simple and you can riff off of a basic

It’s looking like I’m going to have a good bit of time on my hands this holiday season, and I’ve been kicking around the idea of doing my own bacon and summer sausage. For the bacon, I was going to buy a 2-3 lb belly and then cure/smoke it at home. For the summer sausage, I was going to cut off a couple pounds of a NY strip roast that I have and then get the local butcher to fine grind it.

Any of y’all smoking experts ever tried either of these, and if so... any tips or recipes you’d recommend?

recipe to create a million different kinds of bacon. Maple bacon, black pepper bacon, red pepper bacon, the possibilities are endless. Then you can riff on the type of smoke or no smoke at all. I like this book for all kinds of charcuterie:

https://www.amazon.com/Charcuterie-...rds=charcuterie&qid=1607616518&s=books&sr=1-4

 

[Villagedawg]

I usually buy 2 or 3 bellies at a time along with a few pounds of pork fat for sausage/confit. It takes about a week to cure your bacon depending on the thickness of the belly. Then a few hours of smoke. I cut mine into about 1/2 pound slabs since I'm pretty much the only meat eater in the house, wrap in plastic wrap then butcher paper and freeze. Mine keeps about 6 months this way. At some point the oxygen gets to it and it starts to taste rancid. That will not hurt you, it's just that taste of old fat. Just not pleasant to me. Vacuum sealing will probably make it last a little longer. I vacuum seal the pork fat I mentioned earlier in 1 pound packs. It keeps about a year before oxidizing. If you have a slicer, go ahead and slice the bacon up after smoking and before you freeze it. I haven't done that because I'm thinking more surface area means greater opportunity to oxidize. I don't know if that's true or not.

 

[Seinfeld]

Wow, I didn’t have any idea about it lasting that long after curing. With that in mind, I’ll probably get a few bellies myself. My family isn’t super huge on meats either, but they sure can go through some bacon

 

[stateu1]

It’s looking like I’m going to have a good bit of time on my hands this holiday season, and I’ve been kicking around the idea of doing my own bacon and summer sausage. For the bacon, I was going to buy a 2-3 lb belly and then cure/smoke it at home. For the summer sausage, I was going to cut off a couple pounds of a NY strip roast that I have and then get the local butcher to fine grind it.

Any of y’all smoking experts ever tried either of these, and if so... any tips or recipes you’d recommend?

I've done venison summer sausage from a kit. It's really pretty easy if you have a grinder. I vacuum seal and freeze.

 

[Villagedawg]

Keep in mind that 6 months is wrapped well and frozen in the deep freeze. I use if for a million things. Cut it up into small larders for spaghetti carbonara, use it to season red beans and rice etc. It is SO much better than anything you can buy in the store, even Wrights. I highly recommend doing your own. It is very hard to mess it up. If I haven't screwed it up yet, you will have no problem. Good luck.

 

[Polygonal]

I’ve got a couple of recipes I’ll share when I get home. Bacon is surprisingly simple. I usually cut the full belly in half and do different seasonings on each half. I do a 7-day cure in the fridge, then a smoke, then…Bacon!

 

[ronpolk]

I have some belly right now that I’m about to cure a portion off for bacon. I’ve never done it before so I’m following this thread. Looks like a fairly simply process. The only part I’m concerned with is using the right amount of curing salt. I don’t want anyone getting sick off the bacon I’m attempting to cure

 

[Seinfeld]

I think I’m going to give this one a go

https://amazingribs.com/tested-recipes/pork-recipes/how-make-smoked-bacon-home

Saving the skin for homemade cracklins isn’t a bad idea either

 

[Polygonal]

My bacon “recipe”

1. Trim the belly so edges are neat and square. Spread dry cure on baking sheet large enough to accommodate belly. Press all side of belly into the cure to coat.
2. Place belly in 2-gallon Ziploc bag. The salty cure liquid that forms must be able to be in contact with the belly as it cures. Refrigerate for 7 days, flipping the bag every other day.
3. Remove belly from cure, rinse, and pat dry.
4. Preheat smoker to 200F and smoke belly until 150F.
5. Remove skin, while the fat is still hot using a chef’s knife. Try a piece now while it’s warm.
6. Cool to room temperature and now you have bacon!

Dry Cure
- 1 pound kosher salt
- 8 oz sugar
- 8 tsp pink salt

(I use half this dry cure recipe for 1 full belly)

 

[Jddrew1142]

Did some just the other day. It turned out amazing. Hardest thing to do is cut it. I used the recipe on amazing ribs by meathead. They have a curing salt calculator that really is helpful. You gotta be careful with that stuff. The cracklins are an amazing byproduct

 

[Seinfeld]

Much appreciated. I’m not big on all the extra flavoring that I’ve seen in several recipes, so I’m glad to see one with just the basic stuff. Will give it a shot!

 

[Polygonal]

Here’s another Dry Cure that makes a more savory bacon.

- 4 garlics cloves minced
- 2 tsp pink salt
- 1/4 cup kosher salt
- 2 T dark brown sugar
- 4 T coarse ground black pepper
- 2 T juniper berries, crushed
- 4 bay leaves crumbled
- 1 t freshly grated nutmeg
- 4 sprigs fresh thyme

 

[signdawg]

That's a really good cookbook. Just be careful of the amount of salt that you use. The first time I went straight by the recipe and the bacon was really salty. Play around with the recipe and decide what you like.