Anybody cure, smoke & slice their own pork belly? As I understand the basic process is curing (wet or dry), smoking, chill & slice? Any hints or details that will increase my success rate this first go-round? I'm inspired to DIY after trying some a friend made himself. It was fine eatin, maybe the best I'd ever had!
Dry. Just puttem down on cure the day you block the hog out lettem set for 8 days pullem up spray em off lettem hang for a day so they will dry then gettem about half froze and slice away
Yeah. It was an injector with 5 needles, each needle has multiple holes for the brine to come out of. There's a tub that has all your brine/cure, which has a hose that pumps it into the needles. As the meat is injected, it will leak a bunch of the brine out because it can't hold that much, but the brine is recycled back into the tub at the bottom. I can't remember what percentage I used for the final weight compared to the initial weight of the meat, but I think it was pretty close to double the initial weight.
Normally inject 10% to weight. Dry cure is simply the best, rub both sides down place in container in the frig and turn over meat each day, rinse throughly to remove all the salt after 7 days. Hang the cured slabs to dry, them place back in frig uncovered for a day. Smoke at 140 degrees for 3 hours or until desired color return to frig over night then into freezer for about an hour then slice and package. I like to use our Maple sugar cure the best but most of our customers use both the sugar cure and the maple. you can find these at Sausage Making Casings - Jerky Supplies - Meat Seasonings from Frisco Spices
