Was gonna do this yesterday but the ice storm had me afraid of power loss during the day. 2" of sleet and freezing rain covered by an inch of wet snow at the end last night.
32º now with 10-15 mph winds from the West today ~ Good day for outdoor cookin'.
Looks great Bill and thanks for the pics. Did you follow Rytek in the drying at a low temp for X amount of time before adding the smoke? This is how I do my bacon as well, was just wondering.
My guess is he did that because of the quantity of meat he was smoking instead of how the book Charcuterie says to dry for 12-24 in the fridge for us home smokers, small quantity.
Thanks. Bryan, I followed Rytek's cure/brine verbatum (25 lbs) but used Dave Witt's instructions. Rinsed and scrubbed the loins, patted dry, then in the smoker at approx 130 - 140º for 4 hours with the damper wide open to allow the moisture to easily escape, then started the smoke process at 150º w/damper at 25%, slowly raising to between 160 and 170º. 2 pans of sawdust and let them ride until they hit 142/143º. Immersed in cold water to cool to 110º, then allowed to bloom until temps dropped to 80º or below, then in the fridge overnight.