My First Attempt at Bacon - Updated 01/01/12 with QView

kevin13 · Dec 21, 2011

There will be alot of "My First" threads from me over the next 2 weeks as I took vacation from work til the first of the year and this is allowing me to catch up on all the things I wanted to smoke, but didn't have time.

Anyways, I picked up a 13.5 lb pork belly from a local butcher on Friday and it's been thawing out in the fridge for the last few days. Going to wet brine it in Pop's brine for 10 days (unless one of you more knowledgeable then me says otherwise) and then cold smoke in the MES for 12 hours using Todd's AMNPS and his Perfect Mix. I'll be updating this thread during the entire process.

I cut the belly into 3 pieces and now have a couple of questions:

When done, which side am I going to slice? The narrow side or the long side?
If the long side, should I cut in half now prior to brining or after the smoke to make them more manageable? Right now they are 8" wide and 13.50" long.
Any other suggestions?

mballi3011 · Dec 21, 2011

Now you do have to get ready to keep doing this cause once you try this bacon you will never buy store bought bacon again. Except for like fatties and other stuff that you wouldn't want to mess up good bacon on. Now the way that you have them laying in the 2nd photo you will want to slice them top to bottom. I have never used the brining method but Pop's one of the best here so if he says it do it. I do the dry cure. I can't see it from the pictures but you do want to remove the skin ( I do) before you smoke it at least if not remove it before you brine it too. then jut cold smoke it for along time maybe 8-10 hours. Then leave it in the frig overnight and then slice it to your liking thick, thin which ever. So enjoy and keep the Q-View coming.

kevin13 · Dec 21, 2011

Thanks. I figured I'd be slicing them from top to bottom, which is 13.5" long. I'll probably cut them in half after smoking to make the pieces more manageable for the slicer.

The rind is still on and I'll remove it once smoking is done. I've read where Pop's says it doesn't effect the cure time or ability to take on smoke, so no point in fighting it as it's much easier to remove after smoking.

fpnmf · Dec 21, 2011

I follow Pops recipe to the letter... He has said several times to leave the skin on until after the smoke.

Comes off much easier and it has no effect on brining or smoking.

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/forum/thread/109368/more-easy-made-bacon-with-q-view#post_666451

Craig

venture · Dec 21, 2011

X2 on Craig's post. I have followed Pops recipes and his advice many times. You will never go wrong there.

Good luck and good smoking.

SmokinAl · Dec 21, 2011

Yep Pops is the man! It's just too easy!

pops6927 · Dec 21, 2011

fpnmf said:
I follow Pops recipe to the letter... He has said several times to leave the skin on until after the smoke.

Comes off much easier and it has no effect on brining or smoking.

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/forum/thread/109368/more-easy-made-bacon-with-q-view#post_666451

Craig

Venture said:
X2 on Craig's post. I have followed Pops recipes and his advice many times. You will never go wrong there.

Good luck and good smoking.

SmokinAl said:
Yep Pops is the man! It's just too easy!

Thank you all so much! Just doing it the way my dad taught me, he was the real master and he standardized the process! Thank Carl E. Fassett! I am just so happy to be here to be able to pass it on to others; he'd probably shoot me for 'giving away the family secrets' but 'tis so much better to share and have everyone enjoy the goodness, and discover what good old fashioned hams and bacons taste like! Thank you so much for trying it!

kevin13 · Dec 21, 2011

I mixed up 2 gallons of Pop's brine and threw in a 5 gal. bucket along with the 3 slabs of pork belly. Placed a gallon ziplock bag of water on top to keep them babies submerged. One thing I didn't do was rinse them off prior to throwing in the brine, that's why there's some fat pieces floating around. Is this going to cause a problem? If so...should I pull them out, do a quick rinse, and make new brine?

I'll brine for 10 days..until 12/31. I'll pull it out of the brine and place in the fridge for 24 hours to dry out.

Question....I want to coat with black pepper. Should I do this before or after I let it dry out?

fpnmf · Dec 21, 2011

You an put the pepper in now and after you take them out....

Craig

kevin13 · Dec 21, 2011

Thanks. Any issue with not rinsing the bellies off prior to throwing in the brine? I can make new brine if there's an issue...I'd rather waste a few dollars in salt, sugar, etc. than screw up $30 in meat.

fpnmf · Dec 21, 2011

No problem...

Say goodbye to it and go have dinner...

hahahahahah

Craig

kevin13 · Dec 21, 2011

Sweet....I'll forget about it...guess I'm just thinking too much about the whole thing.

tjohnson · Dec 21, 2011

I pepper my bacon, after it's formed the perllicle.

I spread on a light coat of honey or maple syrup on first, and then pour on the Cracked Black Pepper(CBP)

This seems to work for me, but other guys may had a different way to do it

Todd

kevin13 · Jan 1, 2012

Last night, after 10 days in Pop's wet cure, I pulled the bellies out, gave them a quick rinse, patted them dry and put them in the fridge overnight to dry out.

Pulled them out this morning, coated with a light coat of EVOO and then with CBP while the AMNPS was starting up.

They are now in the MES for a 12 hour cold smoke or so, depending on color, with Todd's Perfect Mix burning in the AMNPS. It's a bit windy here so the draw is good but may burn the pellets a little bit faster but I have enough to keep it going for awhile.

smokeamotive · Jan 1, 2012

Kevin, does Pops method call for rinsing or soaking the bacon after you take it out of the brine? If so you may end up with bacon that is too salty. You can also cut a slice or two off before smoking and do a "Fry Test" to check this. And I thought I liked CBP !! You'll have some good stuff there!!!

kevin13 · Jan 1, 2012

Smokeamotive said:
Kevin, does Pops method call for rinsing or soaking the bacon after you take it out of the brine? If so you may end up with bacon that is too salty. You can also cut a slice or two off before smoking and do a "Fry Test" to check this. And I thought I liked CBP !! You'll have some good stuff there!!!

For Pops, it's just a rinse and then pat dry....no need to soak. I got ahead of myself when typing above and left out the rinsing part and spelled "dry" as "try." I've done an edit to reflect that. Good catch, thanks.

SmokinAl · Jan 1, 2012

They look great so far, can't wait to see the final pics!

kevin13 · Jan 1, 2012

After 6 hours in, they don't appear to be changing color much. It's about 45 degrees outside and the smoker doesn't get above 80 degrees inside.

Should I have lit both ends of the AMNPS to give a heavier smoke? Should I just continue to smoke with just one end of the AMNPS lit for however long it takes to get a nice mahogany color? Any suggestions are appreciated.

SmokinAl · Jan 1, 2012

How far has the AMNPS burned so far? I'm not familiar with cold weather smoking, but if it's too cold for the AMNPS to burn well then maybe you should light the other end. Since it's so cold up there you may also want to turn the MES on for a few minutes set at 100 to warm the cabinet up a little. I'm sure Todd will see this & give you better answers.

big casino · Jan 1, 2012

looks good so far, can't wait to see it finished!

My First Attempt at Bacon - Updated 01/01/12 with QView

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