Jowl

[TX300mag]

Am I the only one that prefers smoked jowl over belly bacon?

 

[ROUGH COUNTRY HUNTER]

Hard to beat some good Jowl

 

[AllOutdoors]

That's all grandpa ever fixed for breakfast. I grew up on it. I get a package to eat ever so often.

 

[catman529]

I like em both just depends on what I'm in the mood for. It's all smoked pork which is hard to beat


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[DaveB]

My Dad about fell over when his brother told him he wasn't gonna be feeding any breakfast jowl. Thought WWIII was about to kick off. Turns out Uncle John never served it. Said it was too valuable to eat. He had a butcher connection where he sold it. That and beef tongue.

 

[waterman]

love me some jowl, although mainly have it on new years. with black eyed peas .....and greens

 

[TAFKAP]

I've only ever had it once and loved it. It's nice to be meatier than belly, but sometimes you just need the fat. I'm about to pull a 5lb belly slab off the smoker now. It's been curing for a week.

 

[TX300mag]

I've only ever had it once and loved it. It's nice to be meatier than belly, but sometimes you just need the fat. I'm about to pull a 5lb belly slab off the smoker now. It's been curing for a week.

Sounds great! Post a pic up of it if you don't mind. I need to get motivated to cook and smoke another belly. I have a whole head in the freezer I plan to cut jowls off of. Do you think the same recipe I use to cure bellies will work on jowls? I can't think of any reason-just never done it.

Is there a different cut of jowl that is meatier than belly bacon? The jowls I buy are much fattier. The best jowl I buy is in Clarksburg Market (TN) but it doesn't have nutritional values labeled. The Smithfield I can buy in TX has 34g of fat to only 4g of protein. I buy it specifically for the higher fat content than bacon. The stuff in TN is minimally processed, so I salt lightly to taste.




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[Hawk]

I've only ever had it once and loved it. It's nice to be meatier than belly, but sometimes you just need the fat. I'm about to pull a 5lb belly slab off the smoker now. It's been curing for a week.

Sounds great! Post a pic up of it if you don't mind. I need to get motivated to cook and smoke another belly. I have a whole head in the freezer I plan to cut jowls off of. Do you think the same recipe I use to cure bellies will work on jowls? I can't think of any reason-just never done it.

Is there a different cut of jowl that is meatier than belly bacon? The jowls I buy are much fattier. The best jowl I buy is in Clarksburg Market (TN) but it doesn't have nutritional values labeled. The Smithfield I can buy in TX has 34g of fat to only 4g of protein. I buy it specifically for the higher fat content than bacon. The stuff in TN is minimally processed, so I salt lightly to taste.




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The Clarkburg Market has some of the best made in house sausage you can find. I drive out of my way from I-40 to buy it. Being that Clarkburg is a notorious speed trap that ride takes twice the time it should.

 

[TAFKAP]

I've only ever had it once and loved it. It's nice to be meatier than belly, but sometimes you just need the fat. I'm about to pull a 5lb belly slab off the smoker now. It's been curing for a week.

Sounds great! Post a pic up of it if you don't mind. I need to get motivated to cook and smoke another belly. I have a whole head in the freezer I plan to cut jowls off of. Do you think the same recipe I use to cure bellies will work on jowls? I can't think of any reason-just never done it.

Is there a different cut of jowl that is meatier than belly bacon? The jowls I buy are much fattier. The best jowl I buy is in Clarksburg Market (TN) but it doesn't have nutritional values labeled. The Smithfield I can buy in TX has 34g of fat to only 4g of protein. I buy it specifically for the higher fat content than bacon. The stuff in TN is minimally processed, so I salt lightly to taste.




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My experience with jowl is limited to the plate of it I ordered nearly 2 years ago at Lambert's Cafe (home of the throwed rolls) in Sikeston, MO.

As for curing it, exact same recipe across the board for any pork curing. If I ever have a jowl available to me, I'd like to attempt a dry-cured Italian guanciale one day. Curing & smoking bacon has become so commonplace anymore, I rarely take pictures. If you have a heritage hog farmer anywhere near you, I will HIGHLY HIGHLY HIGHLY suggest sourcing your bellies from them. The fat quantity and quality is incredibly different than plain ol' commodity belly.

I use a calculated Equalization cure. My EQ ratios are 2% Kosher, 1.5% brown sugar, and 0.025% Pink Curing Salt. I rough chop about 5 cloves of garlic, sprinkle some red pepper flakes, crumble 4 bay leaves, and will grind at least 10grams of black pepper out. I use Tupperware snap-top tubs to cure bellies in, and end up having to rotate the meat around every night to ensure the curing liquids are evenly distributed. Vacuum bags would work fine, but it's not worth the money, and I don't have a wide enough bag to do it. After the end of a week curing, I'll rinse off the cure, pat dry with paper towels, then lay on a cooling rack. I'll coat it well in more ground black pepper, then in the fridge overnight to dry.

Hot smoke the next day.....I start about a half chimney of charcoal, and dump it in my offset fire box. It'll heat the barrel to about 300°. I'll put some smoking chunks (pecan, hickory, maple, and apple) over top of the fire, and that'll go about 3 hours. After that, it's done. While the bacon is hot and fresh off the smoker, slip a knife under the skin and work it off. Roll that up & freeze it to add flavor to soups. Chill for a day to mellow the smoke, then slice it the next day. I stick mine in the freezer for at least an hour to firm up, then use a 10" chef's knife to slice.

I have some curing now that'll smoke tomorrow night. I'll post up pics.

 

[TX300mag]

I've tried other methods, but following Michael Ruhlman's method fairly closely has been easily my favorite.

Looking forward to trying it on jowl cuts.


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[TAFKAP]

Well why didn't you say so?!??!?!?!

I've adapted the Ruhlman/Polcyn recipe to what you see above. They're both a big proponent of the "salt box" method, whereas I can just as simply calculate my recipe. The fridge-dry is an adaptation as well. But since we seem to be (almost literally) on the same page, you got it.

Another resource if you're on Facebook is to join the "Salt Cured Pig" private group. There's a wealth of knowledge on there from true craftsmen, and there are plenty of ideas and lots of guidance from the professionals.