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Classic America Bacon – No Nitrites added

There are several different ways to make bacon. You can cold smoke, cold smoke/dry cure, you can hot smoke, or you can low temperature smoke and cook it. Today we will be doing some low temp smoking and cooking for our bacon. In later posts we will cover the other methods.

The first step to making bacon is to acquire a pork belly, remove the skin, and properly cure it. I chose to “square” the pork belly up but if you want to leave it whole that’s ok too.

Curing the Bacon

There are several ways you can cure a pork belly. We will be using a method known as dry curing. This simply means we will be applying precisely measured spices directly to the pork belly and then placing it in a vacuum sealed bag (or zip lock bag) into the fridge. In the refrigerator the salts and spices will slowly make their way to the center of the meat. Once this happens the meat is totally cured, and we can begin smoking/cooking.

The amount of time the meat needs to cure is relative to the size of the meat, or in this case the thickness. Here is a link to a website that has a curing calculator. Click on the option that reads “brining time” and fill in the appropriate spaces. The site recommends adding an additional 20% to the results to ensure the meat is fully cured. Here is the site: salt brining calculator (genuineideas.com)

Are Nitrites Necessary?

I do want to take a minute and address the elephant in the room. Are nitrites required for curing bacon? Well, that’s a tricky question. Nitrites are added for protection against unwanted bacteria (botulism), for color enhancement (no one wants dull grey bacon), for flavor enhancement, and for preservation. The debate about nitrites in bacon is certainly a hot one, especially when it comes to the topic of nitrosamines. Nitrosamines are what happen when amino acids that are found in the meat get converted into amines and bond themselves to unconverted nitrites. The result is a carcinogen called Nitrosamine. Commercial producers of bacon mitigate this unfriendly conversion by reducing the number of nitrites that are originally added and by adding a cure accelerator.

There are “natural” forms of nitrites in the market like celery juice powder or beet root powder that are gaining in popularity, but let’s be honest with ourselves nitrites are nitrites. In a later post we will go deeper into the use of “natural nitrites”.

A week ago, I came across a product sold by The Sausage Maker called EcoCure #1. This product claims to be a nitrite free curing agent that protects the meat from unwanted bacteria, preserves the color, and increases the shelf life of your product. So, after doing a tremendous amount of research on the properties of this product I can confidently say that EcoCure #1 is the first nitrite free curing agent that exists for the home consumer. We will get into the nitty gritty of this product later but the long and short of it is this. EcoCure #1 uses antioxidants and polyphenol rich extracts from fruits and herbs to protect the meat. Using this product at 1% of the meats weight has been tested and shown to be as effective (and in some cases more effective) as using nitrites to cure meat.

So, are nitrites necessary to cure bacon safely? Yesterday I would have said yes, but after discovering EcoCure #1 I have to say no! This recipe uses EcoCure #1 to create a pork belly that’s protected against harmful pathogens. If you don’t have EcoCure #1 the I would advise you to use Insta Cure #1 in this recipe at a rate of .193% (1.93 grams per kilo of meat) with the addition of a cure accelerator (refer to package directions for usage amount). If you want to use a “natural” form of nitrite like celery juice powder, then I would recommend using a cure accelerator as well. Cherry Powder is a good choice.

Can you just use regular salt to cure the meat. Technically you can, but unless you know how I would stick with either EcoCure #1 or Cure #1 (with a cure accelerator). It’s safer and will produce a more consistent product.

Enjoy the video and the recipe where I take you through the entire process of making this bacon. If you have any questions let me know.

Here are a few things you might find useful when making Bacon Jerky

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4.15 from 14 votes

Classic American Bacon (without Nitrites)

Smoky and delicious
Prep Time5 days
Cook Time2 hours
Total Time5 days 2 hours
How much do you want to make? 1000 g

Ingredients

Instructions

Prepare the pork belly

  • If the skin is still on, carefully remove the skin without cutting into the meat/fat too much. At this time, you can also square your pork belly (make it into a rectangle by trimming the sides off) up to make it more manageable or you can leave it whole. Either way is fine.

Curing the pork belly

  • Measure the thickest part of your bacon. Record that number
  • Weigh the meat and record the weight (doing this in the metric system is much more accurate so if you can switch your scale over to grams). Once you have the weight of your pork belly enter that weight in the box (in this recipe) that reads "How much do you want to make". The ingredients will automatically calculate for you.
  • Combine all of the ingredients and rub them all over your pork belly. You will want to use 100% of your spices for this cure so don't leave anything behind.
  • After your pork belly has been rubbed with the spices place it into a zip lock bag or a vacuum seal bag. Any spices that fell off the belly, scoop them up and add it to the bag. Place it in the refrigerator.

Curing Time for the meat

  • Go to the curing calculator (link in the post above) and select the "Brining Time". Enter the thickness of your pork belly and once you get the results add an additional 20% time to it to ensure it gets cured evenly and to the center.
  • Once a day massage the pork belly and flip it over. This is optional but I find it helps the cure penetrate better

Cooking/Smoking the Pork Belly

  • I like to set my smoker to 175f (79.4c) and cook till the internal temp reaches 145f (62.7c)
  • If after 3 hours, it still isn't there increase the temp to 200f (93.3c) and continue cooking till you get to 145f (62.7c).
  • Apply whatever wood smoke you love. I like using Hickory Wood at 30% and Apple Wood at 70%, but this is just a personal preference. I am generally applying thin smoke through the entire cook. A cold smoke generator is great for regulating the smoke.

Finishing

  • Once finished, remove the bacon from the smoker and allow it to cool. Wrap in cling film and let it rest in the refrigerator overnight. this will develop the smoke flavor and allow the bacon to firm up a bit.
  • The following day, slice and enjoy!!

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7 thoughts on “Classic America Bacon – No Nitrites added”

  1. This worked out really well. How long does the bacon keep in the fridge even if you use nitrates and smoke it per this recipe? Thx. Simon.

  2. Can I just use pink cure#1 and no cure accelerator. Leave in the fridge, vacuum sealed at 7 days per 1″ thickness of meat? What would you suggest? Thanks, Peace!

  3. 4 stars
    I just ordered the EcoCure #1 to try out this weekend. After the brining, does the pork belly need to be rinsed the same as you would with other recipies?

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