Bob's Bacon


 
I'm reviving a little bit of an old thread. Just by months though, not years. :)

EDIT: Micheal, I hope you don't mind me tagging on to your thread. It seemed an appropriate place to place this.

There was a sale on pork belly a couple of weeks ago, which just happened to coincide with someone at my wife's work telling her about homemade bacon. So here we go with my first attempt at bacon, and I used Bob's Bacon Made Easy thread; Bob's Bacon seems a fitting name for sure.

I bought about an 8.5lb belly, and but it into generally equal quarters. 2 quarters I vacuum sealed for the freezer, and 2 quarters have been curing the fridge for a week. I forgot to take pictures of the prep and stuff a week ago, but each quarter received a measured mix of MTQ and sugar; one with brown sugar, the other with granulated white.

Out of the fridge tonight, rinsed, and back in the fridge on a cooling rack and sheet pan to dry. Smoking tomorrow on the WSM. I cut a slice off each and fried it up to test for salt level, both are good for salt. My wife and son tested a piece of each, and gave a big thumbs up on salt level and flavor. The brown sugar slab is in the lead so far though.

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Yummy.
Reminds me I need to make some bacon.
My favorite way is just apply The tender quick and put maple syrup in the bag too. It doesn't need to be any more complicated. I don't really care for black pepper taste on bacon personally.... Or other spices.

I have never had a problem with my bacon being too salty... I will rinse it and do some short soaks and water change... In fact, full disclosure, I often sprinkle salt on it when I put it in the skillet. Bacon is supposed to be salty. Occasionally I've gotten commercial bacon that was too salty.
 
It's kind of a breezy, chilly day here, and after the first hour I went out and put another line of charcoal around the basket to try and get the temp up. Since then it's held steady at about 140F-ish.

About 5 hours on the smoker. I will give it another couple of hours and then ramp it up to finish. I couldn't resist checking. Internal temp about 115F.

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Karl, those slabs look great, can't beat Bob's homemade bacon.
Bob will never be forgotten on this forum If only remembered for his bacon. I've made tons of it and given it away to friends and relatives. Everyone loves it. My method is little different than his as I'm on a salt restricted diet. So, I do three 20-minute rinses after the bacon is cured.
Then I add my maple syrup slurry and off to the smoker it goes. Bob was truly a great guy and always willing to answer any questions you had. I learned a lot of things from him.
 
Rich Dahl said:
Karl, those slabs look great, can't beat Bob's homemade bacon.
Bob will never be forgotten on this forum If only remembered for his bacon. I've made tons of it and given it away to friends and relatives. Everyone loves it. My method is little different than his as I'm on a salt restricted diet. So, I do three 20-minute rinses after the bacon is cured.
Then I add my maple syrup slurry and off to the smoker it goes. Bob was truly a great guy and always willing to answer any questions you had. I learned a lot of things from him.
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They live on every time we say their name. I'm pretty sure the first thing I learned from Bob was about sardines. Bacon and other things were secondary later on.
 
After 6 hours of cold smoke, I gathered the remaining coals together, and let the WSM ramp up to about 180F. and pulled the slabs at about 145F internal temp each. Bagged up, and they are sitting in an ice bath. Turned out beautiful. My son said he is very, very excited to try some out tomorrow. I am too.

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Karl Quist said:
After 6 hours of cold smoke, I gathered the remaining coals together, and let the WSM ramp up to about 180F. and pulled the slabs at about 145F internal temp each. Bagged up, and they are sitting in an ice bath. Turned out beautiful. My son said he is very, very excited to try some out tomorrow. I am too.

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Looks expert. Great work. Looking forward to your cooked pics too.
 
Karl,
Your bacon looks amazing, and I am honored you revived my thread and even more greatful that you brought Bob's name back to these pages. I was just on Wild Fork early this week placing an order and thought about Bob so I looked at the pork bellies. They were sold out. Next order I place I will have to pick one up.
I can't wait to see your slices tomorrow and to hear how the two different preps stack up to each other.
 
I sliced a few pieces of each sugar type this morning, and cooked them up in the air fryer. My family slept in, so it was just my treat with a nice omelet. I have to say, my preference is definitely the brown sugar vs. the white sugar.

After my family dragged themselves out of bed, I sliced up each slab, and cooked some pieces up for them. Thick cut, but pretty evenly done I think. Their verdict: both sugar types are equally good (whatever :rolleyes:).

This was my first time making bacon, but it certainly will not be the last. For me, it was Bob's "Bacon Made Easy" that made it work. Thanks again Bob.

Examples served up on the usual fine dining plateware:

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