How to set up WSM coals to smoke bacon


 

Monty House

TVWBB Pro
Is there a general consensus on how to set up the coals for a bacon cook in the 200 degree range? One chimney lit? MM with fewer unlit?

Searching for a consensus view on how big of a furnace to stoke....
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I smoke my bacon at lower temperatures to avoid fat renderering.
This makes it possible to keep the bacon in the WSM for a longer period as well.
The bacon does not reach the desired core temperature with such a small amount of coals, so I just finish it off in the stove.

I'm using 8 to 12 briquettes of charcoal, and three to four chunks of wood. When the temperature drops after around three to four hours, I just move tha bacon to the stove.
 
I just did mine on tuesday. I have the 18.5 I made a tiny minion.

couple handfuls of kingsford about 6 lit and topped off with a couple chunks of apple wood.

It went for about 2.5 hours temp started dropping (charcoal used up) so I finished in the oven.

my variables.

only about 2 pound slab
no water in the pan
I used an ATC
and it was cold outside..
 
I'd keep it well under 200 - shoot for 170.

I do a ring of coals, each with a similar sized piece of apple on top, with a couple of lit coals in the middle. That's really all it takes.
 
When I did mine, I used a 3/4 full Weber chimney and dumped that on my wood. It first went how, so I let it calm down, then put the meat on. Cooked for a nice long time, and I ended up finishing in the oven. Next time I might put a small bed of coals underneath and used a half chimney.
 
I think I lit about 8-10 coals and added them to a good amount of unlit used coals. Topped generously with apple chips and a chunk or two, 1 bottom vent cracked open and the top wide open. I kept it around 200 for maybe 2 hours, bacon right out of the fridge onto the top grate. Oh, and water in the pan.
 
Thanks for the replies.

Some of you are using a really small number of briquets. Are these with water or without? (I'm using water.)
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Monty House:
Thanks for the replies.

Some of you are using a really small number of briquets. Are these with water or without? (I'm using water.) </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

the way I looked at it since its bacon and not really a "set it and forget it" type of cook. I did not want to babysit it. I just smoked it till the wood chunks stopped smoking then finished in the oven. It was my first time doing bacon but I think I will do it like that again. Smoke the hell out of those slabs even if just for an hour or two just for the bacon to get the smoke in it then finish inside.
 
I smoke my hot smoked bacon as low as 150 F. This is the only time I do not use water in the pan. If the bacon is wet/har small water droplets on the outside, there will be less smoke particles that clings to the meat.

Now, I usually smoke bacon around Christmas times, as pork belly costs almost nothing at this time of year. Belly at OK prices is difficult to get our hands on rest of the year. December, January and February in Norway means freezing temps, and condensation issues you might not have is a part of the game. So for me, 8- 12 briquettes, smoke for around 4 hours, and finish off inside is a tried and tested recipe. You might have different conditions.

On my first couple of hot bacon smoking, I used more coal. The cook time became too short, and the smoke taste was not strong enough. I prefer my bacon smoked for approx. 4 hours, or even for a couple of days if I cold smoke the belly.
I've used about 4 fist- sized chunks of oak.

If I would like to eat bacon with just a tiny amount of smoke taste, I can easily buy it in the store. I like to make something that tastes different, and bacon can take a lot of smoke taste. That does not mean I like hard smoked foods..
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Like Geir I like a good amount of smoke flavor on my bacon. I use three firebricks to form a smaller fire ring (easier to maintain a small fire in a small space) so I can keep temps down <160 and put extra smoke on the slabs. After 5-6 hours I'll knock the bricks down to open up the space and add new lump to bring the temps up to 200-225 and finish the bacon. Pics of what I do can be found here http://tvwbb.com/eve/forums/a/...091074506#7091074506
 
I want to smoke some self cured bacon without cooking it...is it possible to get around 100F in the WSM? Maybe use 3-4 coals and a hunk of wood? I'd like to smoke it for 5-6 hours, without cooking it.
 
Might want to look into using a hot plate and wood chips. Or, if you wanted a dedicated low temp smoker check out Little Chief Smokers. I use one of those for all my fish. With a little creativity you can cold smoke with one as well.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Chandler J:
I want to smoke some self cured bacon without cooking it...is it possible to get around 100F in the WSM? Maybe use 3-4 coals and a hunk of wood? I'd like to smoke it for 5-6 hours, without cooking it. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I've been thinking of the same thing. My idea, which I haven't yet tried, is to make a single ring of coals, open on one end. Make a foil pack of similar dimensions containing wood chips. Light one coal and put it at one end of the ring. My thinking is the oxygen supply will be choked just enough to slowly burn each coal, which will supply just enough head to the chips above it for them to smolder. And if it still gets too warm, I'm thinking maybe I put ice in the water pan.
 
I actually built a "Little Brown Egg" ceramic electric smoker based on Alton Brown's design, but it easily went above 200...I could try with the hot plate on the very lowest setting but not sure it still won't get too hot.
 
So currently attempting a cold smoke, it's stabilized at 117 F...I used an arbitrarily small pile of leftover partially burned coals from a previous smoke which I got going with the torch and then put one big piece of apple wood on top. I'll be home all day so I can monitor it and try and keep it cold and slow.

I'm using a home dry-cured bacon, 8 days in the fridge, then soaked, rinsed and dried overnight.
 
I didn't realize that lower than 200 wouldn't cook it...When Alton Brown did it with some ducting to cool the smoke down the temp was under 80 F ...I really don't want to cook the bacon at all, just flavor and preserve it.

In any event I'm 4 hours in and have had little issue keeping it between 96-110 F...if the smoke stops I give the pile a burst from the blowtorch until smoke starts again.

Next time I do this I will do 10lbs of bacon instead of 5 so that I'll have enough to vacuum seal for several months.
 
Last year I did a "cold smoked versus hot smoked bacon"- run, splitting a piece of rind in half, and smoked one piece cold, and the other one hot.

I hope you can learn something from the thread.

http://tvwbb.com/eve/forums/a/...701041506#7701041506

As I said, this is really two different products, the taste is different, and the same goes to texture, aftertaste and so on.
 
Here's how i've always done my bellies.

185 for first hour, then 195 for remanning ~2 hours till 145-150 internal. 60 unlit w/ 6 lit on top. Let the Guru do the work of maintaining temps.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Chandler J:
Next time I do this I will do 10lbs of bacon instead of 5 so that I'll have enough to vacuum seal for several months. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
Agreed
 

 

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