MAD MEAT GENIUS

MAD MEAT GENIUS
Chilebrown at home

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

BACON, BACON, BACON


Sizzle, sizzle, pop, crackle, fizz, sizzle, can you smell that? Boy, oh boy does it smell good in here. The black iron skillet is frying up some home cured and smoked bacon. This sowbelly was created for my good friend, ‘The Great White Hunter’. He requested that I use a nitrate free recipe to satisfy his restricted diet. A pork belly was soaked in a brine of salt, sugar, molasses water, and apple cider for three days. The next step was to dry and form a pellicle on this cured belly to prepare it for smoke.


A pellicle is when you prepare the surface of your protein to allow a better acceptance and penetration of smoke. This is achieved by completely drying the surface of the meat. Placing your meat in the refrigerator uncovered overnight will accomplish this. If you are pressed for time a fan will speed up the process. Once the pork was ready it was time to fire up the smoker. The meat was smoked for several hours with hickory wood. My special French talking thermometer spoke something to me which I assumed meant the slab had reached 150 degrees. (I must learn to speak French.) The bacon was rested and cooled completely. It is time to take our bacon on a test taste run.


This bacon smells like a beautiful hickory smoked ham. If this smell was a perfume, I would buy it. The maiden tasting voyage will take place in our trusty, reliable cast iron skillet. This is the perfect bacon cooking utensil. The first thing I noticed was the bacon started to brown a little to fast. I needed to turn down the fire because of the high sugar content in this bacon. The combination of brown sugar, molasses and apple cider really soaked through this batch of bacon. The bacon was cooked to a lovely crisp. “The envelope please”, Sweet with a slight hickory smoke flavors danced on our tongue as we wept with joy. Ms. Goofy liked it because it was not too smoky. The molasses flavor is prevalent with its dark honey like flavor. The salt component was present but not overpowering. Overall, this recipe produced sweet, smoky, great tasting bacon. It is worth the time and effort to create your own. You can adjust the sugar, salt and smoke to your own preference. You just need to do it!

16 comments:

meathenge said...

Schwing !!!! MmmMmMMm, bacon.

When you going to set up a cold smoker?

xo, Biggles

Chilebrown said...

Hey Doctor, Someday I want to build a Hillbilly type wooden shack for smokin purposes. It is only a dream now.

Zoomie said...

Wonderful. Sounds perfect. I'm having bacon tonight, too, but just storebought.

cookiecrumb said...

Ack! Beautiful. So this was your best bacon ever? Love those thick slices.

Chilebrown said...

Zoomie, I have been known to buy bacon from the store when I am desperate.

cookiecrumb, I will not make the claim of best ever. That title is a fading memory of the bacon from "A&B" Market Bend Or. It is pretty darn good though.

Zoomie said...

Oh, and what kind of stove do you have - it looks marvelous! Reminds me of My Beloved's mother's.

Chilebrown said...

Zoomie, It is my pride and joy. It is a four burner, convection oven, with griddle/broiler Wolf.

Greg said...

Bacon should be a food group. Looks so tasty.I've been mulling over the purchase of a cast iron pan. I think you just sealed the deal.

Chilebrown said...

Greg, That is the perfect item to find at our secret cooking untensil store. You can buy new Lodge pans for just pocket change and they will last you forever.

Chilebrown said...

Greg, I acutually bought this pan on E-bay for ten dollars. It needed some work but it is probably my favorite pan.

http://www.madmeatgenius.com/2009/01/black-iron.html

meathenge said...

I just checked Craigslist, they're filthy with sheds. GO man! Good weather and inspiration is calling you!

xo, Biggles

Ms Goofy said...

Do not get him started Biggles!

Zoomie said...

Okay, green with envy over here. Someday...

meathenge said...

I, er, well, uh, ahem. That wasn't me.

meathenge said...

I smell BEEF in yer smoker !!!

Chilebrown said...

Not the Smoker, but the Weber. We have our fingers crossed.