makin Bacon

[DrBigLu]

Ok i would like to try making some bacon. Everywhere I read it says to use fresh porkbell. I am having hard time finding fresh pork belly. My butcher has some frozen and wont have any fresh in for a month..does anyone know if it would be ok to use defrost the frozen and cure it

Thanks for any advice in advance

[SoEzzy]

Frozen is fine, make sure its thawed somewhat, it becomes a little more flexible, two or three days in the fridge to thaw out, then rub it down with the cure and bag it, and refrigerate.

I like an 8 day cure when using, Hi Mountain cure, not the 10 - 14 that some sites recommend.

I turn mine every two days, so that the brine that is pulled out gets to work on the other side.

Rinse well, pat dry with paper towels, than air dry on a cooling rack in the fridge for 24 hours then smoke.

Once smoked, chill again and slice bagging into amounts you can eat.

If you are going to eat immediately just refrigerate, if it's going to be more than 2 weeks, freeze the packets.

This is just how I do it, others may do it their way with impunity!
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Here's a change Robert.

I still work here!

[DrBigLu]

Thanks for the reply...I was going to use dry brine for about 7 days then try the AMAZEing smoker...I have insta cure #1 then plan on mixing some sugar and some more salt with it.