Cold smoking bacon


 

k walsh

TVWBB Super Fan
I am currently doing the 48 hour cure with a belly and would like to try and cold smoke it.

What temperature and for how long do I smoke it for?

Thanks
Ken
 
bacon is typically cooked to an internal of 140* or more, which typically takes at least 3 hours when running your wsm in the very low 200's. I find that I can lay on sufficient smoke flavoring in that time period. There really is no need to kill yourself tying to cold smoke.

What will end up happening is that you'll lose your fire and you'll end up finishing in the oven. If this is your first bacon run, then go with a full water pan and make a very small minion with enough fuel to last 5-6 hrs. Try to keep it low, you'll be fine.
 
I'm just curious- how can you kill yourself by cold smoking cured pork?

It has to something with bacteria, I understand that part, but I do not know the details.
 
OK, I was not familiar with the expression used in that context.

That said- do give it a try. Almost all the bacon we can get here in Norway are indeed cold smoked, not hot smoked. It's a variation of bacon that could be nice to try if you are used to hot smoked bacon. Try to get som uniper wood and give it a long smoke, the taste is fantastic!
 
I am going to give it a go however I don't have juniper here. I thought I would try a hickory/apple mix.

I have heard of the Scandanavian use of juniper for smoking fish! (my wife is Finnish)
 
I use everything, even the needles, but they tend to burn off at once.
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The juniper I can find is not really trees, more like bushes. Because the growth conditions, they grow very slow, so the branches are quite thin. I usually use a small saw as well as a set of pliers ment to cut down thin branches on garden trees, like apple, when I harvest what I need in the mountains. A couple of branches from a bush, and a couple more from the next one, so I don't damage them too much.
Beware, this is a evergreen tree with resins, and not really suited for smoking if you are going by "the book". Even so, we have used it for smoking food here in Scandinavia for decades.
Start with a small amount, and increase until you find the taste that you like.

The flavour is quite strong, but is very nice with fish and also with bacon.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">I'm just curious- how can you kill yourself by cold smoking cured pork? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

sorry, it just a common thing to say.

I'm curious about your impressions of cold smoked vs. hot smoked. What makes them so different? I buy double smoked bacon, I wonder if its similar to cold smoked?
 
The usual argument for cold smoking is more hours of smoke contact, say eight plus. Given that it takes me 4-5 hours to get to temp at 170 I've never tried cold smoking but some people swear by it.
 

 

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