Pork Belly
- Thread starter f14flyboy
- Start date
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dannylang
Master of the Pit
Now we got it & it looks real good!!
What stage was this picture??
It looks different, but I can't put my finger on it.
How much smoke (hours), or what IT did you take it to?
Bear
Last edited:
- Sep 9, 2013
- 26
- 10
Bear,
That was the finished product, it was on the smoker for a couple of hours, I got the internal temp to 150. I didn't want to leave in the smoker to much longer as I'm going to fry it as well for breakfast. I'm sure there's more tweaking that will come when I make it again. I'd like to smoke it a lower temp for about 5 hours or so to get a more smokey flavor. But over all i'm pleased with the flavor. I fried up a few pieces and it was really good.
That was the finished product, it was on the smoker for a couple of hours, I got the internal temp to 150. I didn't want to leave in the smoker to much longer as I'm going to fry it as well for breakfast. I'm sure there's more tweaking that will come when I make it again. I'd like to smoke it a lower temp for about 5 hours or so to get a more smokey flavor. But over all i'm pleased with the flavor. I fried up a few pieces and it was really good.
I think the reason it looks different to me is most Bacons, including mine are dry on the surface when they come out of the smoker, but yours is all wet.
You should avoid cooking your Bacon twice. If you took it to 150,° or even 145° you should just warm it up before eating it, because it's already safe to eat. That's what I do with my BBB and CB.
If you want to fry it before eating it you really should either cold smoke it or warm smoke it at 100° to 130° smoker temp until you have nice color. Then Fry it just before eating. That way it only gets cooked once.
These are just suggestions.
It looks Tasty though!!!
Bear
I know why it's dry, but I don't know why yours is wet.
Mine is dry because I put a good pellicle on it before smoking, and by the time it's done smoking the surface is good & dry. I don't use any water in the water pan.
Yours is all wet & the pan it's sitting in has puddles on it. I have no idea why. Is it Maple Syrup??
Bear
Last edited:
- Sep 9, 2013
- 26
- 10
I'm not sure why it's wet either, I followed the recipe to the letter so i'll have to look further in to it...
rgautheir20420
Master of the Pit
Billy, what temps did you smoked at? The smearing on the pan looks sort of like grease and the puddles that are on the belly liquid juices. You may have rendered some of the belly fat, but I can't tell you unless we know what temps you actually smoked at. Also, what type of smoker are you using? What was the rest of your process? In short, I cure for 10 days, remove from fridge and pat dry (fry test also), put back in fridge for 24 hours, ready smoker temp at 100 and putting in belly with smoke rolling. Smoke until I feel like. That's the general process and will result in a dry and smoky bacon product.
A bit more information will go a long way in us helping you with your process.
A bit more information will go a long way in us helping you with your process.
- Sep 9, 2013
- 26
- 10
Yeh I used pure maple syrup, just one teaspoon, but I just noticed you said you don't use water in the pan, and you let it air dry. I think I will try that next time. I always air dry my salmon but didn't think about for pork belly...
You might have hit on it. If he took it to 150° IT, it must have been a pretty high smoker temp. I never let my Belly Bacon get a higher smoker temp than 130° steady.
That wetness could be melted fat oils.
FlyBoy: Here is my Bacon Step by Step, and it includes my smoking temp schedule:
Bacon (Extra Smoky)
Bear
Last edited:
rgautheir20420
Master of the Pit
Seeing as he says he smoked for a couple hours (2?) and got it to 150 IT, I'm gonna say smoker temps were about 200 at least.
- Sep 9, 2013
- 26
- 10
I cured it for 7 days using salt, pepper, sugar, pure maple syrup and curing salt. i flpped the meat and massaged it every day, rinced it off and then pat dry, " 1st mistake " i didn't air dry it as I see you guys mentioning " 2nd mistake the temp hit 250 and I backed it off " i have an electric smoker so i can regulate the temp " i obviously got it to hot " all a learning process and I'm greatful for all the help and tips. 3rd mistake I put the water in the pan. The recipe never mentioned air drying and it didn't mention not using water...
Flyboy,
I gotta tell you----We're not talking about you to be rude.
We're just trying to help get to the bottom of how we can help you get even better.
It seems the most important thing is to get your smoking temps down.
Many guys cold smoke (below 100°) smoker temp.
However I prefer the smoke flavor I get from smoking with Smoker temps between 100° and 130°.
Either of these ways would be better than smoking Bacon at a high smoker temp to a high internal temp.
You can see what I'm talking about at that link I posted above.
I think that can help a lot.
Bear
I gotta tell you----We're not talking about you to be rude.
We're just trying to help get to the bottom of how we can help you get even better.
It seems the most important thing is to get your smoking temps down.
Many guys cold smoke (below 100°) smoker temp.
However I prefer the smoke flavor I get from smoking with Smoker temps between 100° and 130°.
Either of these ways would be better than smoking Bacon at a high smoker temp to a high internal temp.
You can see what I'm talking about at that link I posted above.
I think that can help a lot.
Bear
rgautheir20420
Master of the Pit
Good news!!! We've gotten to the bottom of the issues. Flyboy...what Bear said. We're definitely trying to help here and I sincerely hope we have. I know that most electric smoker (I've got an MES30) have a 10-20 degree swing, so I just simply turn it on and go. That way I know that sometime it'll be 120 and sometimes maybe 90 in there. There's no need to be exact, but you surely want to stay below the rendering fat temps.
For your curing process it sounds good to go. Just add in the extra 24 hours in the fridge uncovered, remove the water pan, and adjust your temps and you'll be set for greatness.
Now, do you need help disposing of that bacon so you can make more? I'm just that kinda guy
For your curing process it sounds good to go. Just add in the extra 24 hours in the fridge uncovered, remove the water pan, and adjust your temps and you'll be set for greatness.
Now, do you need help disposing of that bacon so you can make more? I'm just that kinda guy
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