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Kettle/Performer is perfect to sear with. After the sear, you can rake the coals to one side to finish indirect. With a BGE you can't rake the coals to one side. You have to first wait for it to cool way down. You can buy a little time by putting in a deflector pan under a raised grid and finish...

You have upload photos to a website first and link to them... http://tvwbb.com/faq.php?faq=vb3_board_faq#faq_postphoto

I have a Performer with an extension ring that I can cook indirect with 2 full grates of food for 8-10 hours. I of course use it for high heat grilling too. I also have a large BGE that I use pretty much just for over nighters. People rave about it as a grill, but to me that's not it's best...

For a 2kg belly, you would use 5gr of cure (.3gr sodium nitrite + 4.7gr sodium chloride), PLUS 35gr Kosher salt, PLUS 20gr sugar. That is the %2 salt recipe. 2.5% salt level would use 45gr of Kosher salt. The 1% recipe would use 15gr of Kosher salt, but I'd make sure it's ok to use that little...

It's not a requirement, but I think more a suggestion to help folks new to using charcoal smokers. 1. Briquettes are denser than most brands of lump charcoal, so the same volume of briquettes will typically burn longer than the same volume of less dense lump. Some lump, like Wicked Good WW and...

If a 10cfm fan was running all the time, either: 1. The pit probe was not functioning properly. You can test it in boiling water and calibrate if needed. 2. The pit probe was reading low, maybe too close or touching the meat. Another ATC maker cautioned at one time that water pans/steam can...

Well, I went 8 days on the cure. The soft spots were fatty areas and irregular sections of side. Other than those areas the sides are firm. Drying it now. The whole family are bacon fiends and can't wait until it's smoked and ready to cook.

Slabs are 1"-2" thick. Not much liquid in the bags. What's the risk or downside of taking them out too soon? Smoking mid-week is going to be tough, but not impossible. I'd rather wait another week and have them cured right if there's no risk of them going bad or drawback.

One belly piece is firm most places but a little soft in a couple corners. The other is soft over a lot of it. Fridge might have been a little cool the first few days. They've been in fridge for 7 days. How many more days is it ok to wait? I expected to be able to dry them either tonight or...

What kind of time window do you expect to cook in? Waiting for coals to burn out or go out leaves a hot grill that may still be hot by the time you want to leave. When I tailgate, I bring a small metal garbage can with a lid, some sand and a couple gallons of water. When I'm done cooking, I...

I've got a couple ~6lb bellies that have been dry curing, using the zip-lock bag method, for 6 days. Some sections are still soft. How firm is it supposed to be? What should I do if it's not that firm?

Do you mean MartinF's calculator? I used the measurements based on that for a dry cure using Michael Ruhlman's method. Does that mean it's not going to cure it properly? MartinF?

Might get a better response in the Charcuterie forum. Hope he doesn't mind but here's link MartinF provided for a cure calculator...http://www.diggingdogfarm.com/page2.html

I agree with Gary. Lump charcoal likes to be crowded. If you're cooking at low temps and it's not packed well, you risk the fire going out which is what it seems like here. Most lump is not as dense as K either, so packing in as much as you can will get a longer cook without adding charcoal.

Welcome Fred. Make no mistake. It ain't no career. Not one that pays in dollars, but you will be popular. Especially at Christmas party/pot luck time.

I leave the fat cap on. If you don't want the fat in the finished product, it's easy to scrape away.

1. How many pounds of charcoal would you say you put in the first time? 2 What brand charcoal? 3. What temps were you maintaining? 4. What was the outside temp? 5. When you added charcoal, how much of the original charcoal was left?

Thanks. So the cure from the calculator will work fine with that recipe? Ok to add the other stuff from the recipe too?

Ferment? Dry? Over my head. I'm getting to cure some bacon for the first time using a process from Michael Ruhlman where you cure the side in a ziplock bag for 7 days in the fridge, then rince and dry for 12-24 hrs in fridge, then smoke.

I plan to remove the skin after smoking. Is it ok to just leave the teets there until after smoking?