Well... here goes nuttin....

Greetings... and welcome to my blog.

Been on the fence about this for awhile, simply because blogs take time, and time is getting to be a precious commodity. Having said that, I've developed a keen interest in the various techniques of preserving and preparing meat, as well as having a lifelong love of cooking... so this is my way of paying it back to all those web authors who have inspired and informed me, as well as maybe passing on a nugget or two to whoever might get some value out of it.

Once this gets going, I'll get my act together some more, and this will be a little more organized.

And I have a hunch that some of the stuff I blog about will include pet peeves and other stuff that just irritates the heck out of me. What the heck... the blog is free, and therapists cost an arm and a leg...

So, to get something on the page, here's a pic of my latest pass at some homemade bacon. This was 2 12 pound pork bellies, and I wound up with a whole ton of bacon, and a couple wheels of some really good pancetta.



And a close up of the pancetta. It was my first attempt, so it's uglier than a homemade fence, but it tastes oh so good.



When I made this last batch, I didn't take the time to get pictures of all the steps. I will next time though. But for anyone who's done it, and is curious, here's the cure recipe I used:

• 1 cup kosher salt
• 1 cup brown sugar
  * Per pork belly
  

that's it. At the time I didn't have any curing salt, and I've made great bacon without it, although I've since gotten some and will use it in the future, if only for the color retention.

I cut each belly in half and trimmed to get it more or less square. Any large end pieces I sliced up and threw in a skillet for fresh side meat. Generously rub each side of the belly with the cure, pressing it in a little bit. Put the trimmed half belly in a 2 gallon zip top bag. In my case, I put in a generous dollop (1/3 cup or so) of maple syrup and schmoozed it all around in the bag. Toss it all in the fridge. I turned it about twice a day, usually once in the morning and once in the evening. Let it cure for 4 days.
On day 5, I pulled it out, rinsed everything off, and put each belly back in it's bag. Then I added about 2 cups of water to each bag, sealed it, and tossed it back in the fridgedator. About 12 hours later, I pulled it all out, rinsed and dried it all off, and set about drying the bellies.
This is a daunting task, simply because they are big, and no one wants large cuts of raw meat lying around in their fridge. I got around my dilemma by using some rib racks for my smoker. I put 2 racks in a half sheet pan, stood the bellies on end inside the rack. About 24 hours in the fridge, and I had that wonderful tacky dry pellicle.

Then it was off to the smoker for a few hours. After a good cool down period overnight, I sliced and vacuum sealed. The rest, as they say, is history.