Late update, but belly #2 turned out better that #1.
Firstly, having the right pans, trays, and racks makes a huge difference. Wow, life was way harder than it needed to be. Best $60 I may have ever spent.
I dialed back on the salt a smidge and it seemed to make a difference. I actually had enough mixed up from the first one left over to do the second. So i didn't change any salt ratios.
I was able to get 3hrs of cold smoke on it before going hot. I race RC cars in the winter, so I rigged up a car stand w/fan to help move air through the box. It actually made the AmZn smoke thing work correctly. It was 85F here that day, packed with frozen tupperwares I was able to keep the box below 65F for those 3 hrs. It started rising and my time window was closing so I stopped at the 3 hrs.
Taste and thoughts...
Salt level was better, still firm though. My wife thinks an hour cold soak in water before drying should be standard procedure. #3 we will go this way.
Garlic was a nice touch. Plays with the black pepper nicely.
Maple syrup, I don't pick up on. I may need to add a little more. Not a huge maple guy, so I may keep it modest to just help balance salts
Cold smoke, I am happy I figured out how to get it working. I don't think there's enough on this #2 bacon to tell any difference. It does seem different, but I added garlic, so I may be making things up. When the weather cools off, I look forward to going 8hrs cold smoke to really see the difference. This picture is the box empty on my practice run. It wanted to run into the 90s without the meat and ice packs.
Finally, it's amazing how easy it is to make some really tasty bacon. I figured this last batch at about $3.50/lb, so damn, it even saves some money!
