Bacon

[Charlie Fry]

Gonna try some bacon. Curing now, will be ready for smoker monday. Planning on hanging in wsm 18 over foiled water bowl without water. what would be the best charcoal setup to keep temp below 200* planning on using chunk apple.

 

[Bob Correll]

Not so sure about hanging the bacon, but a snake fuse is the way to go for low smoking temps. Regular old Kingsford works great, but some briquette brands don't light well off each other. I lay the cured slab on the top grate.

 

[tjkoko]

Gonna try some bacon. Curing now, will be ready for smoker monday. Planning on hanging in wsm 18 over foiled water bowl without water. what would be the best charcoal setup to keep temp below 200* planning on using chunk apple.

The following are comments taken from this forum around 10 - 12 years ago. Basically a full chimney minioned with five lit coals. Top vent is open and adjust the bottom vents for a very slow rise. Slabs should reach 145F in about 4 to 5 hours. Here goes:


Most bacon is hot-smoked. If you Minion the start with a small amount of lit you can milk the resulting slow rise for its smoke potential. I shoot for a top end of 200 and take the bacon to 150.
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Making sure the belly is dry and that the pellicle is good before putting it in the smoker results in even smoke adherence during the crtical early stage. Some moisture/fat sweating can occur after the belly warms but as long as you don't go hog wild with the smoker temps it's minimal and the bacon will be at or near ready by that point.
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Though I start with a full chimney's worth (lump) and Minion with a few lit (K'ford) there is some left over when it's finished--so, not much.
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I almost fogot: place the bacon on the smoker skin-side-up. This has two purposes. One: the skin prevents smoke from reaching the tasty meat. Smoke goes up. Thus, the meatiest side goes down. It’s common sense. Secondly, under the skin is a thick layer of fat and collagen that will gradually melt as you slow-cook the pork, essentially self-basting the bacon. Self-basting bacon.
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You can run a cold smoke easily with a sand heat sink but you certainly should use fewer than 20 lit briquettes.

When I smoke bacon I use a clay saucer, and build a small fire with about 6 lit briquettes. I start to close down the vents when the cooker hits about 150-160 degrees. This should keep your temperature at or below 200.
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I use a dry cure and cold smoke it till an internal of 150. Hot smoking begins to render some of the fat and ruins the texture.
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Depends on what type of wood I'm using. Apple prob around 2 fist sized pieces, if using Hickory, about 1.5. like Kevin, I break them down to small pieces as well. I do this to the wood on all my cooks.
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[Bob Bass]

I've used the method Bob Correll uses with excellent results !!!

 

[tjkoko]

Not so sure about hanging the bacon, but a snake fuse is the way to go for low smoking temps. Regular old Kingsford works great, but some briquette brands don't light well off each other. I lay the cured slab on the top grate.................

How long does your snake burn for and what temperatures are you running???? Inquiring minds need to know now as tomorrow I will be smoking two slabs, one on the top grate and the other on the bottom grate.

 

[Bob Correll]

How long does your snake burn for and what temperatures are you running???? Inquiring minds need to know now as tomorrow I will be smoking two slabs, one on the top grate and the other on the bottom grate.

That pic was from the time I made bacon for Chris to add to cooking topics.
"Bob placed the three pieces of pork belly into a rib rack on the WSM top cooking grate. He cold-smoked the meat at about 135°F for 6 hours, then broke the snake, piled a few briquets together to bump-up the cooker temperature to about 160°F, and left the meat in the cooker for another 3 hours until it reached an internal temperature of 140°F when measured with an instant-read thermometer."

Making Bacon Using Pork Belly - The Virtual Weber Bullet

Make your own hickory smoked bacon by curing pork belly and cold-smoking it using the Weber Smokey Mountain Cooker. Slice, fry or oven bake, and enjoy!

www.virtualweberbullet.com

 

[tjkoko]

That pic was from the time I made bacon for Chris to add to cooking topics.
"Bob placed the three pieces of pork belly into a rib rack on the WSM top cooking grate. He cold-smoked the meat at about 135°F for 6 hours, then broke the snake, piled a few briquets together to bump-up the cooker temperature to about 160°F, and left the meat in the cooker for another 3 hours until it reached an internal temperature of 140°F when measured with an instant-read thermometer."

Making Bacon Using Pork Belly - The Virtual Weber Bullet

Make your own hickory smoked bacon by curing pork belly and cold-smoking it using the Weber Smokey Mountain Cooker. Slice, fry or oven bake, and enjoy!

www.virtualweberbullet.com

Here's an article from this website, shown in 2012, that may shorten your smoking times for bacon:

At the VWB this is a thread listing good and reliable bacon curing and smoking information:

Another bacon smoking question

Somewhere at this forum (methinks) a poster mentioned to not taking the temperature of the pork side/belly, while smoking, above 110F and absolutely do not take the bacon temp above 125F according to the master chef for who he worked. Why is this discrepancy when everyone else takes the belly...

tvwbb.com

How much time at 140F is required to kill microbes?
A bit over 11 min. At 135, 36 min; at 130, 113 min; at 145 4 min; at 150, a bit over 1 min.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Time at Temp:
140F A bit over 11 min.
At 135 36 min;
at 130, 113 min;
at 145 4 min;
at 150, a bit over 1 min.

Temp	Time
130F	113(sic) minutes
135F	36 minutes
140F	11+ minutes
145F	4 minutes
150F	1+ minutes

 

[Charlie Fry]

Thanks all for the ideas. I think I'm gonna try the snake method. I'm still gonna try hanging the slabs using a hunsaker hanger.

 

[G Mouser]

That pic was from the time I made bacon for Chris to add to cooking topics.
"Bob placed the three pieces of pork belly into a rib rack on the WSM top cooking grate. He cold-smoked the meat at about 135°F for 6 hours, then broke the snake, piled a few briquets together to bump-up the cooker temperature to about 160°F, and left the meat in the cooker for another 3 hours until it reached an internal temperature of 140°F when measured with an instant-read thermometer."

Making Bacon Using Pork Belly - The Virtual Weber Bullet

Make your own hickory smoked bacon by curing pork belly and cold-smoking it using the Weber Smokey Mountain Cooker. Slice, fry or oven bake, and enjoy!

www.virtualweberbullet.com

Very nice. NExt time I make Beef Bacon I will use your method and my WSM.

 

[tjkoko]

Happy to have helped!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[tjkoko]

Me too. Tomorrow I attempt to use the Snake Method.