LOL! The way I read this I pictured some catering company driving up in a van with an oven in the back to bake your cookies.

Sounds dodgy to me. Didn't awriter say that the sugar doesn't really get into the meat? I wouldn't worry too much about it.

Here's an alternative that I've experimented with: A farmer we used to get bacon from made it with apple cider vinegar instead of sugar. I've adopted this technique for my (fresh) breakfast sausage - I've used ACV, kombucha, beet kvass, pickled turnip juice and kimchi juice. I think acids can provide some of the moisture and curing properties that sugar does. And tartness is as good as sweetness as far as I'm concerned.

Nancy request them from any butcher or an Asian or Mexican butcher. (I KNOW you have pork belly in San Diego! I have been there many times and you guys have great markets!)
We have a wonderful Southeast Asain market here that has the best pork around so I go there. But also we have them in the regular markets as well they just cut the skin off them and I want the skin!

Funny on the cookies your right that did sound like it!


Cap your right I ended up using 1 part maple syrup in this batch and am not worried about the sugar at all

thanks I like the idea of the acidic component makes sense and sounds wonderful. That is what I am doing with the hens buy using bitter orange I wonder why it never occured to me to add it to the bacon or ham hocks?

mmmmm kimchi I am going to go to the Korean deli tomorrow and get my fix they have prepare so many types of banchan there I have trouble sitting down to make it myself! But I am going to make the puple cabbage one for sure I have never seen that!

I've been to a butcher, a real butcher shop. They didn't carry them. Bleh.

I think it'd probably have to be an ethnic butcher.

I can not imagine a butcher who will not cut you a pork belly what a drag!

you will find one

I just love pork belly (nice to live in a high fat world huh? )

I wonder how "real" butcher shops are these day. I doubt they actually work with the whole animal. They probably order parts of the animal they think will sell. Maybe they get whole tenderloins and chop them into smaller pieces.

I once did some work for a company that supplies meat to grocery stores and it looked like basically everything was already butchered but in large vacuum sealed bags. Then the "butcher shop" puts them into smaller vacuum sealed bags and sells them to you and me.

I think that's right. My dad grew up in his parents' grocery store - his father was a butcher. Recently I asked him about becoming a butcher myself and he said it's all an assembly line now.

well I have to say guys I beg to differ on this! it is not all assembly line and I have had to look but managed to find every type cut and quality meat I want. I encourage you to find these folks and keep them in business! Especially the kids in 4H who raise things for food! Check them out they are an awesome source. This is a rant for me I am sorry. I can not believe I am just extremely lucky! I do not live in the largest city in the state I live in a small town. In fact I find actual butchers in rural areas more than the cities (aside from the ethnic butchers) We have several good butchers here who have hanging meat ... cut meat order ...what you want and you can even buy half, wholes or quarters they cut wrap and freeze for you. Will hang it for as long or as little as you want. If our butcher does not have it he has a connections everywhere! and can get it. Yes we have Ethnic butchers we have Halal butchers, Mexican butchers Asian butchers even one Ukrain. But we also have good old country butchers they just requre a drive to get there is all.

I am not convinced if you look for and ask for you can not find what you want

I am buying grassfed beef for $2.40/ butcher cut the way I wanted and sharing it with some friends at work
(I get all the trimmings and guts because I raw feed my dogs so it pays for me to buy larger amounts than we can eat)

and this guy sells meat himself.

check out the 4H's around, see what they have to offer sometimes they know if someone who does not want all of an animal and will arrange for them to split it or quarter it. We have gotten half pigs that way and a HUGE belly with it! I know for some it may be too much to buy half a pig. Realistically it is not when it comes to the lb cost because it is so cheap this way and meat keeps so well if wrapped and frozen. I have always when I found a bargain found folks linded up to share organic, humane butchered meat.

There are so many options but it all takes time and work I guess if it is not right there.

The most important thing about charcuterie is the meat I think, so this is a good note to point out. If you are going to preserve meat it should be of quality and a decent quantity so you can have it for a while or give it as gifts.

Then when you do this you also end up with wonderful chops and steaks and ground meat.

my bacon is drying and tomorrow I am smokin!!!

what a fun process this is really you should try it. I am anxious to see how much maple syrup changes the bacon from just salting and smoking

mmmmmmm bacon

phew a lot spewed out of me this evening

after 5 days in a dry brine of 1 cup kosher salt 1/2 cup maple syrup in a vacuum sealed bag (I have that cheapo Glad bag hand sealer and LOVE it!!!)
I put it on a drying rack in the bottom of sanitized fridge to let it dry two are pepper coated two are not
total cost of all four pork bellies (just about 7lbs of belly here) was $$14.97
I dry the bacon on a rack for at least 24 hours sometimes a day and a half it is really good to get the outside of the meat good and dry . (this is why I want a great big used Charcuterie fridge




so then when it is dry I always have to cut some off and try the bacon at this stage to see how the brine took. so I slice off a few end pieces of the pepper one. then pack pepper on the end again. Before I smoke it I pack another layer of pepper on the peppery ones so they have a nice crust. I use fresh cracked pepper corns mixed crush.



so this was the breakfast I served my husband this morning

I swear this is the way to someone's heart! Cheddar spinach scramble with pepper bacon

the maple syrup matters! I will never leave it out again! the amount of salt was perfect at this point I am very satisfied


the bacons are now in the smoker with half alder half apple smoking away so I will keep you posted for the final product!

(again I am sorry for the poor quality of my pictures hopefully I will improve!)

thanks for sharing this adventure I can not wait to see what others produce !

Maybe I should take more pictures - your photos are so inspiring!

Ruhlman says the drying phase in the fridge develops a "pellicle" on the surface of the meat that smoke adheres to.

Wow, looks absolutely wonderful. I am drooling!

Cap Please take pics!!! it really helps and I would love to see your kimchi everything folks make!!!
"pellicle" that was the word I was looking for thank you!!! I could not remember and the book was not handy!

thank you Nancy it is my aim to make folks drool over our "diet" food!!! my pictures suck but my husband gave me his "old" (he is big into picture taking) camera and it is more than a point and shoot so I can not get it figured out. He is trying to teach me but my photos are so blurred dark or whatever! I dont know what the heck? I should just sit down with him and "LEARN" (eyes rolling) or maybe he could take them for me? nah that would be no fun
the finished product is really good and I wanted to post pics of how it looks I am proud but of course there are all these things I will do "next time" LOL anyway the photobucket uploader is not working for me now.

today we are having the cornish hens I smoked after the bacon yesterday

my brine if you wanted to try it was
4 hens split
1 gallon of water
1.5 cups kosher salt
2 cups of bitter orange
1 cup molasses
1 tbl of maple extract (real maple)
soaked them for 90 min let them dry for an hour and hot smoked with alder and apple (same as the bacon) until they were cooked you can grill these for sure or even bake them in the oven (there is a method for oven smoking someplace online has anyone tried it?)

today I will serve the hens with the purple cabbage kimchi (thanks Cap!) to offset the unhealthy cookie baking I will be doing I am thinking the tang of the cabbage with the smoked hens will be just perfect. I also have to make a pitcher of Jamiaca tea to go with it. (this meal feels summery in the midst of the winter I like that!) I feel guilty baking these cookies, I will not touch them myself and know how bad they are for you. But you know when a 23 year old girl looks at me with her huge brown eyes and tells me "so on my birthday I will come over and we can bake the rose cookies ok?" what am I going to say ??? she melted my low carb heart with that request!

your bacon making looks great. I live in a condo so no smoker .

Ruhlman is a local foodie hero around here. I may need to check out the book as it seems there are non smoker items too.

there are tons of things to make with no smoke! in fact I am off smoke for w while now that I have impermiated my every nook and cranny (I do this all at once make a lot then I have plenty until I feel like making it again. the book is wonderful for sure get it! as mentioned somewhere here the duck prociutto is really great very simple and tastes outstanding I think

he one of my culinary heros that is for sure

Thanks for bringing this back! I took some pictures of the breakfast sausage I made the other day but I never uploaded them. It's been slow in the kitchen lately, no exciting new projects. Maybe I'll get inspired again.