Steve_A (Tatoosh)
TVWBB Super Fan
I am new to making bacon and have made it three times, the last two included smoking it on my Weber and Smokenator setup.
My last purchase of pork bellies included three that had bones or cartilage in them. When we trimmed that out, the bellies were too thin for standard shaped bacon.
So after doing a dry honey/maple cure, I rolled them up, used toothpicks to hold them together (no string in the house) and smoked them for 2 hours with hickory shreds/chips. I then finished them by bringing the Weber temperature up and the bacon to 150F internal temperature.
I was very surprised after slicing them and cooking a bit that they held onto the honey/maple flavor much better than the traditionally shaped bacon. Next time I am buying bellies, I will not reject them because they are "too thin". That can actually be a good thing!
My last purchase of pork bellies included three that had bones or cartilage in them. When we trimmed that out, the bellies were too thin for standard shaped bacon.
So after doing a dry honey/maple cure, I rolled them up, used toothpicks to hold them together (no string in the house) and smoked them for 2 hours with hickory shreds/chips. I then finished them by bringing the Weber temperature up and the bacon to 150F internal temperature.
I was very surprised after slicing them and cooking a bit that they held onto the honey/maple flavor much better than the traditionally shaped bacon. Next time I am buying bellies, I will not reject them because they are "too thin". That can actually be a good thing!