DOH!

Thank God I did some reading before I bought a bunch ... LOL..

Got my order in to make home made Bacon & Sausage ... finally...

bacon wise -
1) DQ Curing Salt (pink salt) - from butcher & packer supply
2) Dextrose (instead of sugar) - from sausage maker supply

Sausage wise

1). 21mm Sheep casing for breakfast sausage
2). 32mm hog casings for dinner sausage
3). 5lbs of hi-temp cheddar cheese (diced)
4). AC leg sausage mix (7 different kinds)
Maple breakfast sausage, Jalepeno snack sticks, sweet Italian sausage, chirizo, Brauts,..

I use Morton Tender Quick

The wife got me the Charcuterie book by Brian Polcyn (kind of famous guy, even I have heard of him)...
So I’m learning how it all works, and just bought some pork bellies to make bacon... now I need the right salt, ...

The book basically says Kosher Salt / Sugar and 1/10 sodium nitrate salts (pink salt).

The DQ Curing salt 1 is what the pro’s use... it’s 6.5% sodium nitrate 93.x salt...

Either way .. this should be a heck of a lot better than factory bacon.

Yeah, that Himalayan pink salt is probably gonna get somebody killed being labeled like that as someone may eat “real” pink salt, not knowing the difference. I keep curing salt locked away.

OK! You're ready to do SOMETHING. I would strongly suggest either bacon or breakfast sausage as a first go. Maple bacon is easy. 1 tsp curing salt, 3TSP canning salt, A teaspoon or two of pepper, 3 Tbsp dark brown sugar and 1/2 to 1 cup real maple syrup. Take a hunk of pork belly that fits in a gallon Zip-Loc Mix the ingredients and warm in a microwave. Add them to the bacon on the Zip-Loc and turn daily for 10 days then smoke to 155 internal temp.

While the bacon is curing, look for pork shoulder on sale. Cut the shoulder into chunks that will fit in the grinder. Weigh out out. A Taylor 33 lb digital scale is good. I mix the weighed seasoning before the first grind, run it through the coarse late then regrind through the fine plate. !/2 to 1 cup of real maple syrup is really good for breakfast sausage too. Form into balls a little smaller than a tennis ball. Lay the balls out on a copper grilling mat on a cookie sheet then freeze before vacuum packing. DO NOT fry the breakfast sausage. It will scorch the sugars. Form into two patties/ball and bake on tin foil until they are a nice pretty brown.

When you're happy with your process THEN start with the wild meat. Pork you can buy cheap easily, venison, not so much. Venison mixed about 1/2 and 1/2 with pork shoulder Makes outstanding snack stix, brats and polish.

Miles -that’s why I went with dextrose vs. using sugar - I’m hoping I can’t fry the stuff I make... I’m a newb, but will learn fast

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Just remember people show up from everywhere once they find out you make bacon. 😁

DAAAAAAAMMMMMNNNNNN. That looks good

What kind of smoke do you guys use...

I have hickory (thinking that’s the best), Apple (should be good too), Cherry and Alder (for fish)

Years ago chipped up my own Mostly hickory with apple maple butternut cherry oak

Not fond of hickory.

I like apple and cherry. Have some pecan I have tried. Liked it better than hickory.

I’ll try the Apple first... Yum !

Mostly Hickory, or Apple, usually add some Cherry.

If you are going to use good maple syrup it will scorch. I have access to a lot of maple syrup here and it is available at reasonable prices. I still prefer not to scorch it.

Almost all seasoning mixes have sugar in them. A lot have dextrose to reduce scorching. If you want REAL maple flavor you gotta use REAL maple syrup and be careful about cooking it. It is worth the effort.

My wife likes the farmland pepper bacon, so I’ll make some of that as well - at least I won’t have to worry about scorching as much with it.