Homemade Bacon with Skinless Pork Belly??!

[Carbear99]

I want to make Michael Ruhlman's Homemade Bacon recipe that was published in the NY Times a few years back...

The recipe calls for a piece of pork belly, skin on. I have skinless pork belly in the freezer and am wondering if skinless with also work...

Has anyone had any experience with using skinless vs. skin on belly, and what was your outcome?

Thanks for your help!

[hankstramm]

It will work just fine. I have Ruhlman's book Chacuterie and I've made the recipe many times. Skin on protects the meat for the final step--ie baking at a very low temperature in the oven. You will eventually trim off the skin anyway.

[Carbear99]

Thanks for your response, so should I adjust the cook time/temp or do anything else differently?

[Zeldog]

I don't have Ruhlman's book, but I do make bacon now and then, and I've done it skin on and skin off. I expect the low temp oven step takes the place of smoking. I've never done it that way, but as Hankstramm says, the skin will protect it (keep the bottom side from drying out too much) . If the recipe doesn't call for it already, I would just put a sheet pan on a rack just below the rack with the belly so the meat doesn't get too much direct heat.

[sbp]

I have Rulman's book too, and have made more than 100lbs of bacon in the past 6 months (mostly for other people - though I would love it, I don't think I could eat that much bacon and live). The bellies I get are skin off (from D'Artagnan). I make no changes to the recipe, and the bacon is beyond amazing. I can't imagine the skin makes any real difference at all - in fact, I suspect skin off means better smoke penetration.

PS: If you are making bacon, by all means get your hands on pink salt. Just not the same otherwise. See www.alliedkenco.com

[hankstramm]

I do the pink salt too. Just a miniscule amount to keep the nice pink color.