Alaska salmon roe caviar
Salmon roe is separated from skeins and treated in two salt-water stages using a University of Alaska Extension formula.
Cusic-style dry-cured bacon
Cusic-style bacon
Pork belly receives a measured salt-and-sugar cure with coffee and spices, then is refrigerated before cooking or hot smoking.
What this bacon is
Cusic-style bacon is a dry-cured pork belly: a slab of belly rubbed with a salt, sugar and nitrite cure, rested in the refrigerator for several days and then cooked or hot-smoked. The name is the one the source gives for the formula, and the source's own recipe is coffee-and-spice cured, so the finished slab carries a dark crust of ground coffee and paprika over the meat.
The defining feature is the cure itself. Salt draws water out of the belly and carries the curing agents into the meat, sugar softens the salt's edge and feeds the surface, and the coffee and paprika are flavour rather than preservation. Where a cure of this kind is used, the nitrite is what gives cured pork its characteristic pink colour and its cured flavour, and it is also the reason the premix in this formula must not be swapped for another salt.
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How the cure works
Curing is a physical and chemical process, not a fermentation. Salt diffuses into the muscle over several days; the free water it pulls out forms a brine that the sugar and spices sit in, and the meat firms as its proteins are changed by the salt. The home formula calls for a refrigerated cure of five to seven days, turning the belly daily so the rub reaches every surface and the brine redistributes. The source's time window of 120 to 168 hours is the period it asks for, and nothing in it is tied to a fermentation stage.
Nitrite is the active curing agent in the source's Cure #1 premix. Cure #1 is a sodium nitrite preparation mixed with salt and is not interchangeable with plain salt or with another premix. Using the wrong mix changes both the safety margin and the colour, so the measured teaspoon named in the formula is part of the method rather than a seasoning choice.
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Finishing and keeping
After the cure, the belly is rinsed to remove the surface rub and then cooked or hot-smoked until the thickest part reaches 160 °F (71 °C). The formula treats this endpoint as the safety step. Cold smoking is not a cooking step and does not reach that temperature, so a belly that is only cold-smoked still needs the cooking endpoint before it is eaten.
The source does not establish shelf stability for this bacon. Its instruction is to keep it refrigerated during and after the cure, and to cook or hot-smoke it before eating. Ready-to-eat cured meat is governed by validated process hurdles in USDA FSIS guidance, and this home formula does not claim to meet them, so the page carries that limit as a warning rather than a promise.
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History
Modern home-bacon formula in Oregon State Extension; no older origin inferred.
Ingredients
Scaling: source batch only
Pork bellyTrim as desired.
2.27 kg5 lb as recorded
Ground coffeeCure.
74 mL5 tbsp as recorded
Brown sugarCure.
74 mL5 tbsp as recorded
PaprikaCure.
74 mL5 tbsp as recorded
SaltCure.
74 mL5 tbsp as recorded
Cure #1Named premix only; do not substitute.
4.9 mL1 tsp as recorded
Method
Risks and precautions · Elevated risk
Nitrite formulation error
Cure #1 is a specified premix; another mix or plain salt is not interchangeable.
Hazard sourceUndercooking
Source specifies a 160°F (71°C) finish.
Hazard sourceFollow exact Cure #1 formula, refrigerate during cure and cook to stated endpoint.
Control sourceReady-to-eat cured meat requires validated process hurdles.
Control sourceCure #1 is not ordinary salt and cannot be exchanged for another premix.
Source does not establish shelf stability; refrigerate and cook or hot-smoke to 160°F (71°C).
Cold smoking is not a cooking step.
- Mix coffee, brown sugar, paprika, salt and measured Cure #1; coat belly evenly.
- Refrigerate 5–7 days, turning daily.
- Rinse the surface. Cook or hot-smoke until thickest part reaches 160°F (71°C).
Conditions
Fermentation5–7 days
Temperature controlRefrigerated
Places
United States
Traditional preparation · Country evidenceThe source documents a named home formula, not its historical birthplace.
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Sources
Oregon State University ExtensionRecipe · Process · Safety
Making Cured Bacon at HomeCure #1 is 6.25% sodium nitrite with salt, not interchangeable; recipes include dry coffee/brown-sugar cure and wet maple-beer cure; 5–7 days refrigerated, turning daily; cook/hot smoke to 160°F (71°C).
Cited in: What this bacon is; How the cure works; Finishing and keeping
USDA FSISSafety
FSIS Guideline for Meat and Poultry ProductsReady-to-eat cured/dried meat needs validated process hurdles.
Cited in: Finishing and keeping