Bacon review

So I butchered and fried up some of the bacon.  The first few were so salty that I could barely eat it. And that is really saying something since I was a kid who used to lick her finger, dip it into the salt bowl and then suck on it like a Lick'em stick. Gross in so many ways, I realize that now.  But I love me some salt!  However, this bacon...

I was loathe to admit defeat on 5 lbs of pork belly, so I soaked them in water to try to draw off some of the salt.  After butchering some more the next day, I found it to be tolerable, but still a touch salty for me.  I have three remaining pieces that have been vacuum sealed and frozen.  I am going to try to soak those and add some sugar to the water.  The recipe I originally used was not quite sweet enough for my taste and I am hoping the sugar will offset some of the salt.

My big fear with soaking it would be that all the beautiful smoke flavor would be gone as well, but that was not the case.  I guess that's why it's so expensive to clean up a house fire.  A little water does not remove the aroma.

The next time I make bacon, I will use a rub instead of a brine.  I have used rubs in the past with great results.  This first time brine was not the wild success that I hoped it would be.

In the end, I took the salty bacon and made BLTA's with it.  I baked baguettes and those were a vastly better end product.

http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/easy-crusty-baguettes-recipe

The loaf was denser than I would have liked, but the crust was crispy and the flavor was excellent.  The dough seemed a little hard to me, so I will try a touch less dough next time to see if that lightens the crumb.

Homemade Bacon

Well shit. It's been three years since I posted?  Let's get back on this horse. And by horse, I mean pig. And by pig, I mean bacon. The gods favored me with cool weather today which means it is a perfect day to cold smoke some bacon. I started a week ago (I know, bacon is not for the spontaneous) by brining some Costco pork bellies in a solution of water, brown sugar, salt, maple syrup, garlic powder and coffee. Today I threw them in my makeshift cold smoker. How do you make a cold smoker?  You take an electric smoker that has died or an old dorm fridge. I like the old smoker because it already has a hole for the vent pipe. Get a $15 craigslist hotplate, salvage an old handleless pot destined for the trash, get a metal bucket and some heater venting from Home Depot and voila!   Cold smoker.

So I am cold smoking the bellies for 8 hours and hoping they will be ready for a BLT tonight.  The bread is rising on the counter and the fruit flies are telling me I don't have any more time on this tomato.  I will post again with results and the recipe if successful