I bought this pork belly at the Detroit Eastern Market a few weeks ago, it's been sitting in Pops low salt brine for about two weeks. Yesterday I removed it from the brine, gave it a quick rinse and patted it dry. Back into the refrigerator overnight for some drying time.
Today, I took the slabs out of the refrigerator and put them into my new 3D with 5 ounces of Sugar maple chunks (from SmokinLicious). Inserted the probe and set the controls for a smoke temp of 200 degrees and an internal meat temp of 150 degrees.
It took about 3 1/2 hours to get to the internal temp. Had a little bit of fat rendering but it was minimal and expected.
I know alot of guys go the cold smoke route, I just prefer the hot smoke method.
The first thing I noticed is that the Sugar Maple smoked bacon is lighter in color than my previous hickory smoked bacon (may be the result of the wood or the result of the new smoker, either way it looks good!).
I'll leave it in the refrigerator for a few days and then get the slicer and vacuum packer out and package it up.
The 3D performed flawlessly and I'll be interested in tasting this lighter smoked product (its my opinion that you really cant over-smoke bacon but I do prefer a lighter smoke flavor).
