After quite a lengthy hiatus from my blog and cooking for that matter (sadly my diet has been largely fast food for the past couple months) it feels good to be back in action.  It feels even better to have made my very own batch of the candy of meats, bacon.  Making bacon has been on my list for quite some time, but it always seemed so difficult and scary, well it was neither difficult nor scary, in fact it was very rewarding and dare I say tasty.

Bacon, the candy of meats

Before I could make bacon I had some fears to overcome in the process, maybe not fears but decisions.  I did not want to use any nitrates or nitrites in the process, which is scary at face value because nitrites, sodium nitrite particularly, and nitrates are used in meat processing and curing to prevent botulism.  Botulism is like cancer, no one wants it and everyone is scared of it.  The problem with using nitrates and nitrites in the curing process is that nitrites when exposed to high heat in the presence of protein, think frying bacon which has been cured in sodium nitrite, the proteins in the meat bind with the sodium nitrite to form nitrosamines.  Unlike sodium nitrite which is recognized as generally safe when consumed in small quantities, some nitrosamines have been proven to be carcinogens.

So the options are botulism or cancer then right?  Well not so fast, sodium nitrites are necessary in large commercial meat operations where there are numerous individuals handling the meat using various machines.  I contend that at home there is much more control over who and what are used in the processing of meat.  Like any other home cooking or canning exercise a good measure of cleanliness and attention to proper handling and sanitation will go a long ways in eliminating the need to add toxins to keep the meat botulism free.  With that said continue at your own risk.

As part of my operation everything was either new in package that was used (zip locks, foils pans) or sanitized in the dishwasher or cleaned with a bleach solution prior to contact with the meat.  Hands were washed regularly (with proper technique) and an alcohol based hand sanitizer was used just to be safe.  Overkill maybe but I suffer from Mysophobia.

If all of that is too much and you want to be safe just use some sodium nitrate, it won’t taste the same but it should at least provide a little more comfort, it is often sold under the names pink salt, curing salt, instacure and Morton® Tender Quick® among other names.  Be sure to follow the dosing instructions carefully when using these as they are toxic in large amounts.

So with all of that business out of the way I decided I would not use nitrates or nitrites in the curing process and would be extra vigilant in the processing, curing and smoking of my bacon and I am glad I chose to go this route, the end result is phenomenal.

Raw pork belly the start of the bacon process

I started out with a 13.54 lb chunk of pork belly from my cousin, she had a hog slaughtered a while back and had kept the belly in the freezer with hopes of having bacon made.  Keeping with the cautious side I had wanted to wait until daytime temperatures were set to max out around 40°F so I could truly cold smoke this and not have to worry about getting up too far into the scary temperature range.  First I chopped the belly into three fairly even chunks, I had three variations I wanted to try.

Next I mixed up my three cures they were all pretty simple and started with the same base recipe which can be found below, the recipe below is good for 3-5 pounds of meat.  The most important part of applying the cure is that it is applied evenly and thoroughly.  In addition I made two alterations to the base recipe to one I added 1/2 cup of real Michigan maple syrup and the other I added about a tablespoon of ground black pepper.

Bacon in the fridge curing

Once I had all three of the cures made up I took care to rub them on their corresponding pieces of meat making sure to get it in all the nooks, crannies and crevasses.  Once this was done I sealed up the meat in gallon zip lock bags getting as much air out as possible and then placed them in labeled foil pans in the refrigerator for seven days.  Each day I flipped the bags over, it was amazing how much liquid the salt pulled out even the first day.  As the days progressed the liquid continued to accumulate in the bags and the meat continued to firm up.

First taste of cured but unsmoked bacon

On the seventh day I removed the bacon from its home in the bag, rinsed it under running water patted it dry and placed it on a set of drying/cooling racks over a cookie sheet in the refrigerator.  In our home the are used for drying racks for smoked meat as much as they are for cooling racks after baking.  I digress, something else happened on that seventh day that was magical, this is a must, I sliced off two pieces of the bacon and fried them up to check for their saltiness and a flavor to see if anything needed to be adjusted.  This was a semi alarming process to be completely honest, the bacon started to cook like bacon then all of a sudden it turned GRAY!  Subconsciously I knew this would happen, it had no nitrates to give it the nice red color I am used to be it still took my by surprise, a few moments later it did turn a nice rosy color as it cook and the fat sizzled.  Then it was time to try, I was a little apprehensive, what if it was terrible?  It wasn’t it was salty, but not too salty and the maple bacon, it was like candy- sweet, salty and mapley, it was good.  At this point had it been too salty I would have soaked the bacon for an hour in cold water, rinsed, dried, fried and then put them in the refrigerator to dry if all was well.


Bacon in the fridge forming a pellicle   Bacon in the smoker ready for a long day of smoking

After a good 24 hours in the refrigerator to form a pellicle, it should sit in the fridge for 12-24 hours but truth be told I didn’t have much of a chance for anything but 24 hours, I pulled the bacon out of the fridge, put it in the smoke house and fired up the smoke house.  The bacon was smoked for 12 hours using hickory and apple wood chunks, I also did some cheese in the smoker during the same time for good measure.  During the time it was in the smoker I monitored the temperature of the smoker constantly, I ended up having to put a house fan our in the garage on the firepot because despite the fact that it never got over 25°F, I had a hard time keeping the temperature in the smoker near 40°F like I had hoped.  My over fascination with keeping the temperature that low was likely that just an over fascination but none-the-less I did.

Early on in this whole process I made sure to save a couple of smaller chunks of meat to mix in and pull out throughout the day to test for smokiness, this was a mistake.  Mostly because the chunks of meat were so small that they got really smokey, too smokey really quick and I got worried.  I figured the smokiness would mellow as the bacon aged, like cheese does after a smoke but I was still worried.  So when the fateful hour came to kill the smoker I started to get anxious.  I killed the smoke and left the meat sit in the smoker for another couple hours to come down to a near freezing temperature slowly.

Then it happened.  Bacon.  I took the bacon out of the smoker and brought it in to a once again meticulously sterilized work environment and began chopping it in to appropriately sized pieces of about a pound and chopping off a few slices here and there to try.  In the interest of perfection and not making my house smell more like a find smokehouse I cooked the bacon in the oven, this is cheating but delivers perfect bacon every time.  Because it was in the oven I am not sure if it ever turned gray or not but when it came out and sat for a few minutes it smelled like bacon, it looked like bacon and it tasted very little like the chemically altered pork you find at the supermarket, it was phenomenal.  It was sweet, it was salty, it was smokey and most of all it was bacon.  It was the candy of meats.  Number one on the periodic table of meats without question.  And the maple was still the best, all it needed was a pancake and some syrup to go with it.

Finished bacon, vacuum sealed and ready for the freezer

At the end of the day we ended up with a literal pile of bacon, a big smile on my face and a delicious plate of bacon to be sampled.  We also ended up with a renewed understanding of why bacon is the candy of meats, it can be so sweet, salty, smoky and necessary.  On more accomplishment on the Nate’s must do everything at least once list, but this one will end up on the why can’t I do this weekly list I have a feeling.  It was good to be back in action and there is no better way to come back than with bacon.

Here is the recipe for the basic bacon cure, this will make enough for 3-5 pounds of raw pork belly depending on how thick it is.  The thicker it is the farther it should go.

[dc_getRecipe id=”15″]

 

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Well they are finally gone, and sadly so, the last rack of ribs we had in the freezer was dinner tonight.  But not without some trying something new first.  In the past I have been a fan of jerk chicken, and have made some completely from scratch…more about that later.  I have also used some store bought ‘jerk’ rubs in the past and they are alright but wanted to go out and try something new.  So that is what I did, I found a jerk rub and complimenting glaze I liked and tweaked it a little and it was a bit spicy, so if you are not necessarily for spice, you might want to back it off on the pepper a little.

Jerked Pork Ribs

The little strange yellow color in the picture is the pineapple glaze that didn’t get absorbed, its tasty even if it does look a little strange.  Using the recipe for the rub below, I rubbed the ribs and sealed them in plastic wrap in the fridge over night.  This morning I took them out and let them set out for about an hour before I fired up the smoker.  I then smoked the ribs using the 3-2-1 method using pecan wood.  During the final hour I began brushing the glaze onto the ribs and did so three times, it could have really used one or two glazings.

When it was all said and done I let them rest covered with foil and a towel for about a half hour then it was eating time.  They were sweet and spicy and had a nice jerk flavor, not quite authentic but still very good.  We will be making these again.

Jerk Rib Rub
Ingredients
3 tbsp dark brown sugar
2 tbsp kosher salt
1 tbsp ground black pepper
2 tbsp ground coriander
2 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp onion powder
2 tsp dried thyme
2 tsp ground allspice
1 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp cayenne pepper (remember it was spicy)

Instructions
Combine all until mixed uniformly.  Rub into meat.

Pineapple Glaze
Ingredients
2 c pineapple juice
2 tbsp cider vinegar
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
3 tbsp dark brown sugar
3 tbsp butter
1/2 tsp ground black pepper

Instructions
Combine all ingredients in a sauce pan.  Heat to a boil and cook, stirring occasionally, until mixture is reduced to about half.

Like I said they were tasty, I am glad I have leftovers for tomorrow.  They should make a fine lunch.

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Ribs, everybody wants to make some and a lot of people are not sure how.  Well like most meat low and slow will give you a juicy and fall off the bone tender result.  But with ribs there is something special that needs to happen.  I like typically like to stick with larger cuts of meat but no man could claim to be even a novice of the BBQ without having ribs tucked away firmly in his belt.

Rack of ribs

Like most chunks of meat I smoke the ribs started out the night before with a trimming, which I historically do a less than professional job at.  From there I wash the ribs and pat them dry with paper towels and then rub them.  Typically rubbing is a two part process.  The first is to coat them in mustard or some other liquid to help the rub stick and the second is the rub them with your rub.  How much is up to you, ribs have a delicacy to them that is easily over powered with too much rub.  Once this is all done is into the fridge in a sealed container to think about what they have done.

Freshly rubbed spare ribs

The meat (ribs) in the picture above were rubbed with two different rubs.  After a nights worth of sitting in the rub or a couple hours if that is all that is available I get the smoker ready.  I boil some water in my kettle for my water pan to speed up the preheating process and get my wood for the day ready.  Once the smoker has reached that magical temperature of 225°F it is ready for some meat.  So I lube my grate with some oil, its a habit and then throw the meat on and let the smoke start rolling.

Ribs just on the smoker

When smoking ribs I use the 3-2-1 Rib method, which is not my invention but seems to work quite well and is easy to remember.  The first stage is to smoke the ribs for about 3 hours.  The time is not nearly as important as is the appearance at this point.  Once the meat begins to pull away from the bone and has pulled back about a 1/4 inch it is time to move onto step two.

Ribs at the end of stage 3

Once your ribs are looking like these it is time to move on to step two.  Stage two is kinda hard to swallow at first, I mean I just wanna continue to flood my ribs with smokey flavor but its time to pull back for a few.  In stage two its all about time, take the ribs off the smoker and wrap them in foil with a little apple juice.  I am not sure how much apple juice I use it depends on the meat and what looks good.  You could certainly substitute some other liquid here the goal is just to provide the ribs with some moisture while they are in the foil.  Throw the ribs wrapped in foil back on the smoker for two hours and let the magic happen.  During this time the ribs are soaking up the juice and getting their fall of the bone tender status.  There is no need to supply smoke during this period.

Ribs after stage 2

After two house in stage two remove the ribs from the foil and place them back on the smoker grate and get the smoke rolling again.  It might be time to check that water pan too.  The ribs should look like those above at this point, shrinkage has occurred and they looking kinda mushy.  That is where the final stage of the 3-2-1 method comes in smoke them until they reach 172°F in the thickest part of the meat.  This should take an 45 minutes to an hour.  If you would like to add BBQ sauce during the last 15 minutes on the smoker is the time to do this.

Ribs cooked to perfection

Once the ribs are done pull them off the smoker and let them rest for 15 minutes on the counter.  During this time the juices will redistribute and you will be glad you waited.  Serve and enjoy.

The 3-2-1 method assumes you are dealing with spare ribs.  If you find yourself with baby back ribs you will be looking at something more like the 2-2-1 method, just be sure to be more attentive to the meat an hour earlier with baby backs.

As with most other pork I prefer to mix apple and hickory for my ribs, gives them an excellent flavor.

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So many people have raved about apple cider brined pork chops and smoked pork chops that I had to see what all the fuss was about.  Well now I know, they didn’t knock my socks off but they were certainly good enough to make again and when paired with my made from scratch bbq sauce, it was a match made in heaven.  They were delectable.

Apple Cider Brined Smoked Pork Chops

Looks expensive doesn’t it, well it doesn’t have to be.  In addition to being inexpensive, it was crazy easy to make.  All that is involved is an over night soak in the brine detailed below, a quick dusting with any seasoning you want.  I used a little bit of BBQ 3000 just to give it a little more and then a quick (2 hourish) jaunt on the smoker at 225°F with some apple wood.  I cooked them up until the internal temperature was 165°F, pulled them and let them rest for a short while, before cutting into these juicy and mighty tasty pork chops.

Ingredients
4 c apple cider (not juice)
1/4 c brown sugar
1/4 c kosher salt
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp chile powder
1 c boiling water

Instructions
Mix sugar and salt into boiling water until dissolved.  Cool mixture.  Mix together apple cider, chile powder, vinegar and water mixture.  Place pork chops in a 1 gallon zip lock bag, pour in brine and fill remaining space with cold water.  Refrigerate over night in brine, remove, season and smoke.

Like I said this recipe will be sticking around next time it might not be chops, it might be another cut of meat.  It would also make a great base for some other marinade, just adjust the seasonings.  Please tell me it at least made you hungry to look at.

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So today I made pulled pork, again.  But it was not nearly as dreadful as I make it sound, as an avid connoisseur of all things smoked, pulled pork is a staple.  Its fairly easy to make, requires a slight flexing of the smoking muscle and is almost impossible to screw up.   Today was no different, I had a ham roast in the freezer that was just begging for some smoker time and as it ends up I also had a rosemary shortage which prohibited me from making my preferred Brown Sugar and Rosemary Rub, so it was back to the drawing board.

BBQ Pulled Pork

In the end I ended up with an excellent stand in using some ready made rubs and and brown sugar.  And a spritz with some molasses, cranberry juice, bbq sauce and seasoning, again we didn’t have any apple juice.  The day was full of improvising. You will find the recipes for the rub and spritz below.

I threw the meat on the smoker about 7:30 AM and it smoked at 225ºF with apple and hickory wood until it reached 165ºF, at which point I wrapped it in foil and threw it back into the heat until it reached an internal temperate of 205ºF.  Then it was, while still wrapped in foil, wrapped in old towels and thrown into the cooler for 2 hours to rest.  I then pulled it, put it on a sandwich and enjoyed.  It was most tasty not quite as tasty as the Brown Sugar and Rosemary Rub but it is certainly still edible, and will likely be the source of lunch room envy tomorrow.

Mix and Match Pork Rub
Ingredients
brown sugar
bbq3000
bad byron’s butt rub
mustard

Instructions
Mix together 2 parts brown sugar to 1 part each bbq3000 and butt rub.  When thoroughly mixed, spread mustard on meat in evenly.  Then rub meat liberally with bbq rub created above.  Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate over night or cook immediately.

Spritz Recipe
Ingredients
1 tbsp molasses
2 tbsp bbq sauce
1 c cranberry juice
1/4 c white sugar
1 tbsp bbq3000

Instructions
Combine all ingredients until mixed well.  Mop onto meat every hour until meat reaches 165°F.

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