Maple cured bacon full#
Maple cured bacon professional#

For this batch, I selected applewood chips to add a little bit of fruitiness to the caramel-y molasses flavors in the brown sugar and maple syrup cure.

I used an indoor stovetop smoker set over medium heat. Now, if you have an outdoor smoker you’ll want to preheat it to about 250 degrees. This will allow the surface of the meat to develop a sticky pellicle for the important forthcoming smoky goodness to adhere to. Once the meat feels firm, rinse and pat dry and move it to a wire rack over a baking sheet and refrigerate uncovered for 24 hours. If it still feels squishy at the end of a week, flip it and allow it to cure for another 24 hours. The bacon is cured when the meat is firm to the touch at the thickest point. Move the dish to the refrigerator and allow the belly to cure for one week, flipping it every other day to redistribute the cure. Rub the meat thoroughly with the cure on all sides.Ĭover the baking dish with plastic wrap and press down to remove as much air as possible. pyrex baking pan, but the pan you use will be dependent on the size and shape of your piece of meat. Place the trimmed pork belly in a snug-fitting nonreactive baking dish. This is important because you want the cure to penetrate the meat evenly. Trim the pork belly until it is as uniformly shaped as possible. Add the maple syrup and stir until the ingredients are thoroughly combined. freshly ground black pepper (I used a citrus pepper blend)Ĭombine the kosher salt, brown sugar, pink salt, and black pepper, and mix well. And rest assured that this “so-good-it’s-gonna-make-you-swear” bacon is just the first of many treats to come. So yes, while I haven’t written to you recently…oh, I have been cooking. I felt rejuvenated after that trip, and ready to forge ahead with so many of the food projects I’d put off due to lack of time. Calomiris and she as always sent me on my way with an armload of the perfect accompaniments, and an extra banana and a handful of cherries (“for your walk back to the office”). After acquiring the necessary animal parts at Union Meat (thanks guys!), I stopped to talk to Mrs. I decided to make some duck prosciutto ( recipe here) and try out my new Cameron stovetop smoker on a batch of maple bacon.

Maple cured bacon full#

My last few days at the office were full of last-minute trips to my favorite walkable spots on the Hill, and especially to Eastern Market. It has been where I manage to find a center…and so what recipe more appropriate to share with you than the sweet-salty balancing of over-the-top-crazy-good MAPLE BACON.

It has remained (along with family) as my home base, my safe place throughout this entire internal earthquake. And pigeon-holing a person, or boiling down their essence to a single occupation? Well…that seems oversimplified to say the very least.īut there are some constants and certainties in life, and one of those is surely cooking. I’ve already decided that I don’t want my identity to hinge on it… who I am is Neen.

Maple cured bacon professional#

So part of what I am hoping to do through these personal and professional development courses is figuring out what exactly I’d like to be next. I write new letters and apply for jobs every day, but nothing has leapt off of the page at me yet. Where I’m headed with my career is vaguer. I do crave a little bit of structure, which is on the horizon in the form of a recent acceptance into Tufts’ graduate certificate program in nutrition science for communications professionals, and (provided the application and interview process go well) beginning yoga teacher training in the fall at Pure Prana. And though I’m not perfect at it, I’m getting the hang of keeping my days busy and varied. Yes, the individual who hates being bossy or delegating tasks was suddenly thrust into the bizarre managerial scenario of being her own boss. It sounds strange I never thought that I was so attached to seeing myself as Associate Production Editor of Shakespeare Quarterly until I suddenly couldn’t do it anymore. My last week at the Folger was the epitome of bittersweet, and frankly I’ll admit that I’m still grappling with what and who I am now. Talk about a hiatus, eh? Well, Neen has not abandoned her Notes, but the last few weeks have been a little bit tricky.