Smoking bacon - skin on or skin off?


 
B

Bob W

New member
What's the best way to go folks. Smoke it with the skin and then cut it off or cut the skin off and then smoke it? I have only tried it one way but want to see what others think.
 
I'm with Martin, skin off for smoking.
I also prefer skin off for curing.

IMO, you lose much of the smoke flavor if it is removed after smoking.
 
I tried it both ways and I don't really care for it with the skin on after it's cooked. It's OK, just like it better without. So I just remove it at the start. It's pretty quick once you get the hang of it. I definitely can't see going to all the trouble of smoking it and removing half the smoke at that point!
 
Cooked properly, the skin can assume a chicharone soul and I love cracklins. You need to go visit a high end Mexican Super Mercardo that makes the stuff. I mean, it ain't just the fluffy cracklins you get. The stuff resembles some real thick bacon if you will. Heaven.

Oh and I smoke my belly with skin on as I like the 'chew'.
 
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tjkoko said:
But, does curing and smoking with the skin off intensify the flavor?
Click to expand...

Here's the thing. Smoke isn't really absorbed, it sticks on the surface (the fancy term is adsorbed - notice the d instead of the b). If you're cutting off half the surface area, you're cutting off half the smoke.

I don't know if it matters much in terms of the cure since the cure *does* penetrate.

Cutting it off to start versus just leaving the skin on the whole time it tastes the same to me, just a different texture. And I find when I cook it it's too easy to either have the skin end up too hard or rubbery. It's less of an issue if you slice your bacon thinner but I like it pretty thick.
 
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