Merry Christmas! ... First Attempt at Bacon!!!

[SmokedGouda]

I received the cold smoke plate for Christmas from my in-laws and the jerky dryer from my wife! I'm excited to put both to work but am going to start with the cold smoke plate and make some bacon! Oh and a vacuum sealer too haha

I'll be giving Pork Belly's cure a try with some bellies I plan on getting from Costco on Thursday or Friday. I'm thinking of going with 2 or 3 (depending on size) so I can try a few things.
http://smokinitforums.com/index.php?topic=1797.0

I've read many of the bacon posts here and am taking bits from each to determine how to smoke it. I like SconnieQ's recipe too...
http://smokinitforums.com/index.php?topic=5582.msg51933#msg51933

I've got a few days before curing and obv more time before smoking so I'll gladly take any last minute suggestions if you got em. Thanks for all the advice from the prior posts! 1 question I do have has to do with storing the cured bacon on a rack uncovered in the fridge for a day, depending how many bellies I have there may not be room in the fridge so is it ok to stack them or no?

I'll post updates as time goes on.

Baconnnnnn!

 

[SmokedGouda]

Instead of curing it in a regular zip lock bag, would a vacuum sealed bag be any better? Worth the extra effort?

 

[Joe]

Vacuum sealing works best for me; worth the effort.  Just put a quick seal on them so they have some room to move around a bit in the bag with the juices. I put a double seal on each end to prevent any leaking. 

 

[SconnieQ]

The bellies at my Costco are around 10 pounds. I cut them in half for curing/smoking. Sometimes in thirds so the slabs will fit my slicer. You don't want a tight bag, so leave some space in there when you seal it. I like to squish the bag around and redistribute the cure when I flip it. I'm not sure about stacking the slabs after smoking in the fridge. I would try to keep some air space, but if you stack them, give them a flip every now and then.

 

[SmokedGouda]

I should be able to make enough room in the fridge to leave them uncovered and not stacked. I picked up a slab today coming in a little over 11 lbs. I'm just waiting for the curing salt to get delivered from Amazon today and then I'll start the process using PB's cure recipe. I'll cut it in half or thirds to make it more manageable for myself. Here's a shot of the slab, I'll add some curing pics once I have them.

Ended up grabbing some pre seasoned ribs while at Costco too, so I'm gonna toss them on the smoker tomorrow and give that a try.

 

[SmokedGouda]

Just finished getting it ready. Cut it in half, although next time I might do thirds since it would've made  it easier to control and place into the bags. I used Brian/Pork Belly's dry cure recipe and didn't really have enough leftover  to save. There was maybe a cup or so left on the pan. I put 1/2 cup maple syrup and 1/2 cup of brown sugar in each 2 gallon zip lock bag, 1/4 cup just didn't seem like it would coat enough so I doubled his recipe. (Hopefully that was ok.)

The next 7 days are going to go by so slow...

At least I have some ribs to smoke tomorrow to hold me over. 

 

[Libohunden]

Looks good! 

I picked up another park belly tonight, as well. Won't get into the brine until tomorrow though

 

[SmokedGouda]

1 more day for the cure and then resting until the Sunday morning smoke!

Does anyone put more wood in for the hot smoke phase after removing the cold smoke plate? I'm planning on using 5-6 oz of sugar maple, cut into slivers for the roughly 4-5 hr cold smoke phase. I'm going to follow the on/off method that Kari uses.

I plan on brushing them with maple syrup after I remove the slabs from the smoker. Might sprinkle some black pepper on a little bit and some hot pepper flakes on some too, most will be left with no pepper.

I can't wait, I'm already drooling...

 

[DivotMaker]

Man, Phil, you bacon guys and gals are killing me!  Now that my local Sam's has bellies, I HAVE to find time to do this!  Thank goodness these holidays are OVER!

 

[SmokedGouda]

Into the home stretch, curing is finished! I rinsed & dried each slab and put them in the fridge. I plan on leaving them there till Sunday morning, which will be about 36 hours.

 

[SconnieQ]

Lookin' good!

 

[NDKoze]

Looks awesome! You are going to be in a bacon coma before you know it.

 

[SmokedGouda]

Getting ready, cut my wood chunks into slivers. 6oz that I'll use for the cold smoke phase. Not sure if I'll add more for the hot smoke yet. Maybe only like 2-2.5 oz if I do.

 

[Libohunden]

Looks great!  I just pulled half of my bacon out. Take a gander!

 

[SmokedGouda]

Those look great, awesome color! The plan is to let it rest 24 hours and obviously test some right away, but I'm afraid I'll just want to keep eating if it comes out looking like that!

 

[Libohunden]

Yours should look very similar.  I slather mine in maple syrup when I take it out.  This is the second belly I've smoke for bacon.  The first was incredible.  I let it rest for 4 days uncovered in the fridge before cutting it down to manageable sizes and vacuum sealing.  A few days after that I sliced a couple pounds with a carving knife and cooked it up.  Now, I need to stock up before the warm weather hits down here in Texas. 

Can't wait to see some finished product pics of yours!

 

[SconnieQ]

Getting ready, cut my wood chunks into slivers. 6oz that I'll use for the cold smoke phase. Not sure if I'll add more for the hot smoke yet. Maybe only like 2-2.5 oz if I do.

I haven't added any additional wood for the hot smoke phase. And I like it pretty smoky. I often use part hickory (with some cherry or maple thrown in). Since using all maple will provide a milder smoke, I think you'll be okay to add more during the hot smoke if you want to give that a try and see how it turns out. Letting it mellow in the refrigerator for a few days is important. Your first taste tests might be kind of strong.

 

[SmokedGouda]

Quick mid smoke update: I've been doing full blast for 15 mins then off for 45 mins. I checked the wood box after the 2nd cold hour and it was basically all gone, so I added another 4.375 oz and this time 1 was a bigger chunk. There was plenty of ice in the bottle still, but I dumped the tray and added some more cubes too. I won't be adding more wood during the hot phase since I added it here. Next time I'll prob make sure the slivers are a little bigger so they don't burn up so quickly.
I'm almost done with the 4th cold hour, I'm gonna do 1 more then remove the cold plate and turn it up to 200 until IT hits 150.

 

[Libohunden]

Looking good!  Man those are some clean looking side rails!  LOL

Can't remember if I posted a final pic of my bacon last night after I slathered both pieces with maple syrup.

 

[SmokedGouda]

Haha I actually just tossed the side rails in the dishwasher after my last smoke, so that's why they're so clean now haha.

Those look so good! Another few more hours before I can get some finished pics up...