I've struggled getting in contact with my usual pork belly supplier, so I settled for a "commodity grade" pork belly from Costco. It weighed 10.26 lbs, was long, uniformly trimmed, and about the same thickness throughout. The difference in meat quality between a heritage breed and the grocery store stuff is dramatic. However, I figured that every other brand of bacon we buy is the same stuff, so it won't make a difference.
However, if you're going to make your own bacon, I HIGHLY recommend, if not require the meat to be from a heritage breed hog. It's firm, darker red, more meaty, and all around better quality.
10.26 lbs trimmed pork belly = 4653 grams
2% Kosher Salt = 93 grams
1.5% brown sugar = 70 grams
0.25% Pink Salt = 11.6 grams
I chopped up (10) normal-sized cloves of garlic, crumbled in about (10) bay leaves, and ground fresh black pepper until my arm nearly fell off. I mixed it all in the bottom of a Tupperware snap-top container.....use a whisk to break up the clumps of brown sugar. This belly was too long for the container, so I cut it in half and dredged each piece in the cure mix. They're stacked in the container with a good quantity of cure mix between them. I'll have to flip them around once a day for the next 4 or 5 days to make sure all the meat gets in contact with a good quantity of cure liquid.
However, if you're going to make your own bacon, I HIGHLY recommend, if not require the meat to be from a heritage breed hog. It's firm, darker red, more meaty, and all around better quality.
10.26 lbs trimmed pork belly = 4653 grams
2% Kosher Salt = 93 grams
1.5% brown sugar = 70 grams
0.25% Pink Salt = 11.6 grams
I chopped up (10) normal-sized cloves of garlic, crumbled in about (10) bay leaves, and ground fresh black pepper until my arm nearly fell off. I mixed it all in the bottom of a Tupperware snap-top container.....use a whisk to break up the clumps of brown sugar. This belly was too long for the container, so I cut it in half and dredged each piece in the cure mix. They're stacked in the container with a good quantity of cure mix between them. I'll have to flip them around once a day for the next 4 or 5 days to make sure all the meat gets in contact with a good quantity of cure liquid.
