Finally ready to do my 1st Bacon

[TmanEater]

Ok. I had a 1/2 pig butchered last week and decided it was time to take my first attempt at makin' bacon! I weighed out my pork belly and it was just over 10 pounds. I'm going with the following curing mix (note it's a per pound recipe).

Curing Mix (per pound of meat)
1 Tbsp. Morton’s Tender Quick
1 Tbsp. brown sugar
1 Tbsp. maple syrup
1/4 tsp. granulated garlic
1/2 tsp. cracked black pepper

I cut up the bacon into 2 pound hunks and then dredged each in the tender quick. After that I rubbed in the brown sugar, granulated garlic, black pepper mix. I then poured the maple syrup into the storage baggie and spread it around to get even distribution. In went the bacon. I used my vacuum sealer accessory to remove as much air as I could before sealing up the baggie. Into the fridge it went where I will flip it once a day for the next 7 days. Next Saturday I plan to open it up, rinse it off, water soak for 15-20 mins, then air dry in fridge till Sunday. I will then cold smoke it with hickory (and maybe some cherry) for 3 hours using my #2 cold plate and pan of ice. At 3 hours I will remove cold plate and ice pan, crank smoker up to 200 and finish smoking until internal bacon temp reaches 150. After that I plan to chill it in fridge for ~24 hours (not sure if I should vacuum pack here, baggie it, or just leave it exposed here... any recommendations?). Once chilled, it's time to slice it up, try some, and vaccum pack the rest. I'm getting excited. Oh, and I just ordered a Chef's Choice 615 Premium Electric Food Slicer for this special occasion.

Will start with the early pictures now.

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[Pork Belly]

water soak for 15-20 mins

Other than the "water soak" it looks like a solid plan. A good rinse under cool water wile rubbing away all cure is all that is needed.

You should consider extending your cold smoke time. I have gone as long as 12 hours with cold smoke. I know some guys that do repeated 8 hour shifts of cold smoke, resting the meat in the fridge between sessions.

Good luck

[TmanEater]

Thanks Brian. I'll try your advice and just rinse without the soak then. I'll also see how long I can make the cold smoking process go. Does that much cold smoking make a big difference in tasted and quality?

[elkins20]

Hey Tony, what temp. will you be cold smoking at. I have done both 80 degrees at 10 hours and 90 at 3 hours. The up the temp. like you to 200 to reach an IT of 150. Good luck with your bacon.

[SconnieQ]

Sounds like a good plan to me. I did a 30 minute soak in plain water after curing, but I'm thinking a good rinse is all that's necessary as Brian mentioned. I also ended up doing a 5 hour cold smoke. Then raised the temp to 200, and it took about another 2 hours to get to 150. I would say it was fairly smoky. Some people might like it less, and a few might like it more, but it was a fair bit smokier that most bacon you buy, and about the same smokiness as Neuske's bacon (which was my benchmark).

I'm jealous of the slicer. I'm pretty good with a knife, so I hand-sliced mine. Cold bacon and sharp knife made for nice even slices.

[TmanEater]

Tonight should be the night the bacon is done curing. I will probably pull it, rinse, air dry in fridge for ~18 hrs, then start the cold smoke process tomorrow. I'll use my cold plate with a tub of ice on top of it. I plan to do the 15-20 mins on, 40-45 mins off pattern. I'll probably smoke about 5-6 hours, finish to 150 IT, and pull to cool in fridge another 24 hrs before slicing.

[BedouinBob]

Can't wait to see the result Tony!

[gregbooras]

Tony,

Keep us posted, I have a belly in the freezer that I plan to smoke in the next couple of weeks. Before the smoke I plan to top it with black pepper.

Greg

[TmanEater]

Here's some early pics...

[TmanEater]

2pm here and I'm on the second hit of smoke. Chamber temp at 84 currently. At 2:30 I'll probably check the ice to see how it's doing on the cold plate. Then I'll crank the heat up again for the 3rd smoke hit. I'll try going enough 15/45 sessions till about 8-9pm and then finish it to 150 IT.

See the box temps here:
http://bbq.tonylyne.com

[Pork Belly]

Your doing it the hard way, just set the temp for 80 or 100 and go do something else. Chips or slivers of wood are best for low temp smokes for me.

[TmanEater]

It's 8:00. I've hit it with 7 smoke hits with the cold plate. Now I've pulled the cold plate and am going at 200 till I reach IT of 150. I put fresh chunk of cherry and some more hickory on. Should be smokey when I'm done.

[TmanEater]

Your doing it the hard way, just set the temp for 80 or 100 and go do something else. Chips or slivers of wood are best for low temp smokes for me.

Is 80 or 100 enough to keep the chips smoking and the cold plate holding back the temps?

[TmanEater]

When it gets done in a couple hours should I just put it back in fridge unwrapped? Or wrap it in plastic/baggies? I'll probably end up slicing it sometime tomorrow and then vacuum seal most and try to cook some.

[NDKoze]

I usually plastic wrap mine and let them mellow in the fridge for 2-3 days before slicing.