tCan you break down the 7 day cure? Ingredients, process?
sure, my pleasure
INGREDIENTS:
Sure, my pleasure.
I make a reserve of dry rub that will make enough for probably 3 pork bellies, approx.
DRY RUB:
1/2 cup of kosher salt
4T pink salt #1
1/2 cup brown sugar
4T ground dried chili
4 T smoked paprika
1 t ground cumin
1 t ground coriander
1 t ground black cardamom
1t ground black pepper
1 whole pork belly approx 12 lbs. I normally cut into 2 pieces for more ease of handling, but you can cut into any amounts you see fit just keep in mind that you want a length that represents a bacon strip, so don't cut against the grain.
You will need to remove the skin on the fat side of the pork belly. Make sure you try and get as close to the skin as possible trying not to remove the fat along with the skin, this is a skill and the knife makes a difference but we really want to retain as much fat as possible. There are area's however that are just fat and seem to be out of place, so to speak, these can be removed or trimmed, hopefully that makes sense.
After that job is done and with gloves take some of the rub and massage it into the belly, all over, sides as well. You don't need as much rub as you might think, no need for waste, just recover what has escaped and reuse, but it needs to be well massaged into the meat.
Wrap in plastic wrap each piece individually, and then double wrap. Write the date and time with a felt pen and put in a refrigerated space for around 7 days, flipping over every 24 hours.
Remove the plastic wrap and then wash the rub off the belly in a few changes of water. The belly should feel stiff and drier, this is normal. Place on a rack and put back in the fridge uncovered overnight.
This is the stage just before smoking. I generally add black pepper back onto the belly. I take whole black pepper and use a mortar and pestle and make a fairly large crack then press back into the belly. I've used coriander seed in the past and that works well to, it really up to you and you don't have to add anything if you don't want to.
I like to get the smoker into the 170-180 range and smoke until I get an interior temp of around 150. 3 to 5 hours depending on the smoker.