Author Topic: Pictures of my first go at bacon! (dry cured with maple syrup and brown sugar)  (Read 8838 times)

Event Horizon

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Thanks for all the nice comments everyone.  The bacon is fantastic, as everyone that has made it says “I will never buy store bought again”.

I had been out of town the week before on business and got my belly on the way home from an abattoir.  I had read both methods and had planned on making up my mind before picking up the belly as I could have had them remove the skin.  Being the newbie that I am to all of this and NOT doing my reading and waffling on the decision I just left it on.  At the end of the day I decided that I wanted to remove the skin before smoking. 

I am no butcher by any stretch, so if I could remove the skin anyone can.  I watched this video https://youtu.be/bqqdHi9WLAs and just took my time. To make it easier I started by cutting the belly into the 4 pieces that would fit into the freezer bags before removing the skin.   You can see in this picture you need to get a pretty good grip on the skin once you get going, after that it is a matter of getting a good angle upward without going too far upward to the point of cutting the skin. 
John from Blenheim.

Walt

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I make pork rhinds with the smoked skin after removing.  Count me as one who removes the skin after the smoke. I haven't found any lack of smoke to the bacon doing it this way.
Walt from South East Louisiana
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BedouinBob

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Walt, what's your process for rinds after smoke?
Bob - Colorado Springs
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Pork Belly

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Don't worry about the skin being on, it cures and smokes just fine. The added benefit is the skin comes off so easy when the belly is hot.

If you have a slicer you can also leave the sin on the bacon. You then have a county style rind on bacon that is pretty tasty to nibble on. Generally I skin the hot bellies chunk up the skin and put it back in the smoker on low heat to dry it for dog treats.
Brian - Michigan-NRA Life Member
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Walt

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Walt, what's your process for rinds after smoke?
Check out the post in the Bacon section called......"Pork Rhinds".  After the skin is removed from the warm bacon I cut it up into 2" squares & set them on a seafood rack in the fridge overnight. The next day I dehydrate them in the smoker useing the Jerky fan & no wood. They come out way too smokey after a 6 hour cold smoke & a 2 hour hot smoke & additional smoke during the dehydration. Then drop them in the fryer for a couple of minutes to crisp up. Let them drain for awhile so they will get brittle.
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Event Horizon

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The added benefit is the skin comes off so easy when the belly is hot.

Brian, does the skin pull off or do you still need a knife when trying to remove it while hot?
John from Blenheim.

Pork Belly

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You will still need to use the tip of your knife to separate the skin on hot bacon.

Brian - Michigan-NRA Life Member
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SconnieQ

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Walt, what's your process for rinds after smoke?
Check out the post in the Bacon section called......"Pork Rhinds".  After the skin is removed from the warm bacon I cut it up into 2" squares & set them on a seafood rack in the fridge overnight. The next day I dehydrate them in the smoker useing the Jerky fan & no wood. They come out way too smokey after a 6 hour cold smoke & a 2 hour hot smoke & additional smoke during the dehydration. Then drop them in the fryer for a couple of minutes to crisp up. Let them drain for awhile so they will get brittle.

Wow. That sounds like a lot of steps. Why would you just not render down slowly in oil on the stovetop, and call it a day? Like you would with cracklins? Or just skip the whole additional smoke steps and drop in a fryer?
Kari from Madison WI "77 Square Miles Surrounded by Reality"
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Pork Belly

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Why would you just not render down slowly in oil on the stovetop, and call it a day? Like you would with cracklins?

Short answer is because your trying to make pork rinds not cracklins.

The drying step is critical to having the rind puff up and bubble. You end up with a light airy product not hard and dense.
Brian - Michigan-NRA Life Member
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SconnieQ

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The drying step is critical to having the rind puff up and bubble.

Ah ha! Right. The puffed ones. I get it now.
Kari from Madison WI "77 Square Miles Surrounded by Reality"
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DivotMaker

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Keri, if you figure out how to make smoked skin into cracklins, let us know. I haven't figured out that one yet.

Ask Walt...he knows!
Tony from NW Arkansas
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