Bacon on 22.5" WSM w/ Cajun Bandit Door/ Ring and Signals/Bellows


 

MManning

New member
So I got bored over the holidays and decided to make some bacon using my WSM. This is not my first time making bacon, but I did scale things up as people are always asking to buy some. So I intend to sell ~20/30 lb or 2/3 of the Pork Bellies that I smoked.

I used the method outlined at https://amazingribs.com/tested-recipes/pork-recipes/how-make-smoked-bacon-home. It has worked every time. I did modify one recipe in which I added some cinnamon to make a cinnamon-y bacon that turned out delicious. I prefer the maple/black pepper combo, but this was a unique and tasty change up. Especially with french toast, pancakes, or waffles.

Most importantly: Gallery... https://imgur.com/a/PqteWvF
 
That bacon looks delicious! I'm made a couple of batches myself using more of a dry cure approach. The amazing ribs method is interesting.
 
My first time doing the bacon I used meatheads method, worked great. Yours looks outstanding, digging the cinnamon twist!

Tim
 
Your bacon looks great, but I have to wonder how much smoke flavor you can get by smoking it at 225 F before it reaches 150 F internal?
I try not to go over 160 F to get a good smoke flavor.
 
Your bacon looks great, but I have to wonder how much smoke flavor you can get by smoking it at 225 F before it reaches 150 F internal?
I try not to go over 160 F to get a good smoke flavor.

Well, heres the amount of wood he used so my guess is plenty:)


But I'm with you, I go low and slow and clean smoke.



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There's gotta be a point of diminishing returns with smoking bacon, though right? At some point you've smoked it enough. I read about old school smoke houses smoking things for days. Most of the reason for that was the drying process. If I've smoked a slab for 5 or 6 hours it's fine. I usually let it smoke at 150 to 160 and then after a few hours bump it to 180. I haven't tried just a solid 225 but my guess is the reason Amazingribs is pushing that is just hedging their bets on if someone cured the meat properly. There's a lot of really redundant safety in that approach.

Also, I should have given credit where credit is due and mention my method was more or less Bob Correll's method.
 
I haven't tried just a solid 225 but my guess is the reason Amazingribs is pushing that is just hedging their bets on if someone cured the meat properly. There's a lot of really redundant safety in that approach.

I suspect your correct.
Meatheads articles lean toward ultra conservative when it comes to curing.

But even without curing, there's no necessity to smoke at a temperature higher than what it takes to achieve 40 to 140 degrees F in 4 hours.

And for meat that's about 1 1/2 in thick that doesn't take 225. It'll do that at 180F, maybe 160. So anyway you go about it 225 is a bit overkill.

Now when you throw curing on top of that..... Yeah that's pretty damn conservative.
 
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