Newbie bacon


 
B

Brian Lee

TVWBB Fan
Hello,

I just made my first batch of bacon yesterday, so check out the pics below. I bought the belly (2 pieces, total weight=4.5 lbs) for $2.39 /lb at an Asian supermarket in Cherry Hill, NJ. I used a wet brine solution (2.5 liters water, salt, sugar, pink salt, pickling spice). I bought 4 oz of pink salt from American Spice for $2 or so. The belly cured for 2 days, rinsed and then soaked in cold water for 30 minutes, followed by 2 days air drying in the fridge. The cured belly went on the WSM at 10:45 AM and was taken off at 6:15 pm. The outside temps in Fairfield CT were between 30-35 degree yesterday. I purposely didn't use a lot of charcoal, so I couldn't get the smoker to 180 degrees as the dome temp was consistently in the 130 to 150 degree range. I figured 7 hours of smoking at low temps was sufficient, as the final internal temp was 140 degrees.

cured.jpg

Here is the cured belly before smoking.

smoking.jpg

Here is the cured belly going onto the smoker. I am using Kingsford and apple wood chunks

cooked.jpg

Here is the smoked belly after 7 hours. I left the skin. The belly has shrunk considerably.

sliced.jpg

Here is the sliced bacon that I will be cooking for lunch today. The bacon is very hard to slice so I will use a sharp cleaver to cut the rest.

Thank you to everyone on this forum for sharing their wisdom in making bacon!
 
Below is a pic of the cooked bacon. I would say the flavor wasn't too salty and the texture was more like Canadian bacon since I didn't slice it very thin. I cooked it in a non-stick pan on low heat and was surprised it didn't burn very easily, but I couldn't get it super crispy. It definitely tastes so better than processed bacon. I also noticed the rendered fat is very clear and there isn't any moisture when cooking
it.
cookedbacon.jpg
 
Looks great for sure. I found many of the first things similar with my first (only) round of bacon from a few weeks ago.

For a long time I have been getting my bacon from a local producer who must have used a similar technique. Most of his bacon had far less fat than commercial bacon and didn't produce a lot of water when cooked either. Sadly due to continued constraints on small meat processors they recently had to close... which lead me to making my own.

I have another 9 lbs doing it's thing in the fridge right now... my doctor won't like this new hobby but my stomach sure does!
 
I just want to report back that I had success tonight in slicing the bacon lengthwise into thin slices. I placed a cutting board on top of the belly, pressed down and then used the edge as a cutting guide. I cut it with a very sharp cleaver, which appears in this photo:
Sliced2.jpg
 
I like the slicing technique. I hope those around here without slicers take note. Your low-tech solution produced some great slices, and is much cheaper than the $100 slicer I see a lot of people resort to.
 
Nice work on the bacon. Once I get some pink salt that will go on my list too.

Great idea in working around the slicing challenge!
 
Originally posted by r benash:
Nice work on the bacon. Once I get some pink salt that will go on my list too.

Great idea in working around the slicing challenge!
Click to expand...

Ray,

You don't have to have the pink salt. Regular works just fine.

Jim
 
Originally posted by Brian Lee:
Hello,

I bought the belly (2 pieces, total weight=4.5 lbs) for $2.39 /lb at an Asian supermarket in Cherry Hill, NJ.
Click to expand...

Brian, Is it possible that you could share the name and location of the place. I have been searching with no luck for quite some time now. Thanks in advance.
Graz
 
Hi Graz,

Sure, its called Asian Food Markets of Cherry Hill. The address is 100 Barclay Center, which is on Route 70. Take exit 34 off I-295.

They are part of a chain as there are 5 locations in NJ and 1 in NY. Here's the link to the store locations so hopefully one of these is close to you in NJ: http://www.asianfoodmarkets.com/stores.html

I am heading down to Cherry Hill this weekend to visit the in-laws, so I will be buying more belly to smoke the following weekend!
 
Thanks Brian. Found one in plainsboro, nj about 20 min drive. Went, and left with a 12 lb piece. Got it in the dry cure as we speak. Went with salt, brown sugar, b. pepper. Now all I have to do is fashion some hangers and I'll be all set to smoke next weekend
 
Graz, glad to hear you found another store location closer to your home. Would you mind sharing your dry brine recipe? I'd like to try that on my next attempt. Unfortunately I may not be able to buy some belly this weekend in Cherry Hill. My wife came down with a cold so we may be staying at home.
 
Originally posted by Brian Lee:
Would you mind sharing your dry brine recipe? /QUOTE]

Sorry I meant dry cure, don't know why I typed brine. Anyway, since this is my first attempt at bacon I wanted to keep it simple. The mix is equal parts kosher salt and brown sugar with a healthy dose of black pepper. My biggest concern was I was not sure how much to use to coat the belly. So I just rubbed heavy as if I was doing butts or brisket. we'll see how it goes.
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