Makin Bacon
- Thread starter LMichaels
- Start date
Timothy F. Lewis
TVWBB 1-Star Olympian
Give it heck Larry!
LMichaels
TVWBB 2-Star Olympian
OK, I am in a quandary. Everything I see says to smoke them until they hit 140. How etched in stone is this? I have uneven temps on them. Likely due to uneven thickness and fat content. But, I am seeing low 140's to middle to upper 130s depending on which end my probe goes in. Should I simply pull them, cover them, and rest them prior to refrigeration? Wrap them? If so butcher paper? foil? Both?
Jason in CA
TVWBB All-Star
Ditto
I have a small pork belly I'm planning to do the same thing to
LMichaels
TVWBB 2-Star Olympian
Well, I pulled them a while ago. Left them on a rack to cool. Just got done slicing off a few slices (2 from the mostly salt 3 from the BS and salt). First they smell good, I fried them up. A little saltier and "drier" than commercial. And a little "tougher" or chewier texture, but not in a bad way. Just different than I am used to.
Taste is subtle smoke, a bit saltier than I was hoping but again not badly so
.
Taste is subtle smoke, a bit saltier than I was hoping but again not badly so
.
Last edited:
Joe Anshien
TVWBB Honor Circle
They look great. I am itchin to find out the results of the different salt ratios. I will now have to try this.
We do our bacon different over here in the UK, and usually have to wait for Autumn when the temperatures drop into single figures at nightime/daytime to cold smoke the meat after curing it for between 9-14 days depending on thickness (belly or loin).
This is the last batch I did in March this year, Did a 2kg piece of loin with #1 cure, salt, sugar, Telicherry Pepper, 2 tsps of Sumac and 4 bay leaves
After 2 weeks curing in a zip loc bag and turning daily to spread the cure and liquid, washed the cure off under the tap and patted dry. Then smoked for 14 hours (2 mazes of Beech dust) in the cold smoking cabinet
Obviously you close the door on the cabinet and where the maze go, but this picture shows the set up inside, before doing so.
Left in fridge for 48 hours to let smoke settle and sliced and vac packed. Cut a couple of bacon chops to cook on the grill and the tail end bits for using with pasta
After frying in a pan Serve up with heinz ketchup and tiger rolls for Sunday brekkie
No piccies of this in frying pan, but we fry our cold smoked bacon up raw (about 6-7 minutes each side) in a frying pan or skillet
This is some streaky from belly being fried up, I did in a seperate batch
if you cold smoke your own cheese, you'll know the principle of maze and dust and cool temperature to cold smoke it.
I've tried the form of American bacon mentioned here in this threadand although tasty needs to be eaten in a few days, this way, once cold smoked, you can keep it for around 10-14days if vacpacced in the fridge or as I do stick them in a freezer and get them out to defrost the day before.
Before buying the cabinet, used to use my Bullet smoker to cold smoke salmon, bacon, cheese, works just as well.
This is the last batch I did in March this year, Did a 2kg piece of loin with #1 cure, salt, sugar, Telicherry Pepper, 2 tsps of Sumac and 4 bay leaves
After 2 weeks curing in a zip loc bag and turning daily to spread the cure and liquid, washed the cure off under the tap and patted dry. Then smoked for 14 hours (2 mazes of Beech dust) in the cold smoking cabinet
Obviously you close the door on the cabinet and where the maze go, but this picture shows the set up inside, before doing so.
Left in fridge for 48 hours to let smoke settle and sliced and vac packed. Cut a couple of bacon chops to cook on the grill and the tail end bits for using with pasta
After frying in a pan Serve up with heinz ketchup and tiger rolls for Sunday brekkie
No piccies of this in frying pan, but we fry our cold smoked bacon up raw (about 6-7 minutes each side) in a frying pan or skillet
This is some streaky from belly being fried up, I did in a seperate batch
if you cold smoke your own cheese, you'll know the principle of maze and dust and cool temperature to cold smoke it.
I've tried the form of American bacon mentioned here in this threadand although tasty needs to be eaten in a few days, this way, once cold smoked, you can keep it for around 10-14days if vacpacced in the fridge or as I do stick them in a freezer and get them out to defrost the day before.
Before buying the cabinet, used to use my Bullet smoker to cold smoke salmon, bacon, cheese, works just as well.