26 hour , 10 lb slab of side bacon smoke

[t-bone tim]

Well I decided to try Hi Mountain's buckbord bacon cure on a belly , cut it in 1/2 and cured for 7 days . At the end of the curing time I found myself with no time to do the smoke , so I washed off the cure and froze the belly till the time was right !

Last week I had a 2 day stretch off work and into the smoker it went ... I went for as long as I possibly could and managed to keep it in the cold smoker on the mes for a 26 hour spell with a mixture of hickory and apple .

I had it chillin in the fridge since then and since I had the slicer going for the bologna , I got it sliced and packed too !

I have 2 more bellies curing with that same cure right now , except this time I added a bottle of honey to 1 and a bottle of maple syrup to the other ... will post results of them when done also ....man oh man I love homemade bacon .

here's a couple pics of the finished product , click on them they get bigger

 

[bwsmith_2000]

Tim,
Now that's some fine looking bacon! I have a GOSM and can't cold smoke. Especially here in Florida. Buckboard Bacon isn't bad at all but I sure wish I could slow smoke pork bellies. Thanks for sharing the pix. Points coming.

 

[jtribout]

Nice T-bone!!!!!!!
I have never done homemade bacon. Do you have a recipe? What cut of meat, what temp, how long????? It's killing me, I'm licking the screen.

 

[pineywoods]

That looks great I'm in the same boat as BW GOSM and in Fl don't work at least not in the summer but that sure makes my mouth water

 

[mulepackin]

Where are you gettin your bellies. That looks fantastic!

 

[bb53chevpro]

That belly bacon looks awesome. Great job.

 

[t-bone tim]

jtribout ... on this bacon I only used the Hi Moutain buckboard bacon cure as per their directions ...1 tbls and 1 1/4 tsp of cure per lb of meat ... I cure it for 7 days ( for a belly bacon ) and 10 days if using the boneless pork butt for the buckboard bacon .. you can change it up though by adding what you like such as honey , maple syrup , brown sugar , garlic , pepper etc etc ... whatever suits ya ...

as for the cut it was a whole fresh pork belly ...and I cold smoked it at a temp between 70 for the lowest and 95 at the highest for a total smoke time of 26 hours .... the first pic is of my mes with coldsmoke box added to the the top ....the smoke is generated by the smoker and rises thru the top vent into the box , works great ....

mulepackin ... I got this and 2 other whole bellies from a buddy of mine who manages a small meat shop near me and I've know for and worked with for years ... both of us being meat cutters and in the business sure helps when obtaining nice bellies

 

[justsmoke2]

GOSM users if ya play a little bit you may come up with something. Like a electric hot pad, or try a 6 to 8 chunks of charcoal. If you haven't put a mod on try turning your flame down to just past of the high mark. Watch your flame until its gets smaller close up and mark the spot you desire. Then use a foil pan and cover with foil insert some small holes an lay it on the bottom of the smoker. I think the mod ya wanna look for is the needle valve. I don't use my turkey deep fryer so I am going to cut the needle valve from that out and use it.

 

[erain]

great lookin bacon, great pix. great job!!!!

 

[desertlites]

Tim thats some lean looking bacon-I too have about 12#s in buckboard now-will be smoking soon-and Ya I with u I love homeade bacon.

 

[fritz]

Looks Great Tim!!! That's a long time in the smoker....never have done it that long.....I'm sure you put smoke to it for all 26 hours? Do you do it that long every time? and is there a big difference in taste.

 

[jtribout]

How critical is that temp? I can only get my GOSM to 150-165. That's without the needle valve.

 

[rodbuilder]

I use a 1000 watt hot plate I got for $15. Remove the rack for the chip pan and place the hot plate on top of the burner. I wrap the wood in tin foil and place on top of the hot plate which is turned on high and maintains a temperature of 75.

 

[jtribout]

Gary, How do run the cord into the smoker? Have a pixs?

What is the best temp to smoke bacon?

 

[t-bone tim]

Fritz , that's the longest I've done ... 16 hrs previous to this , and yes there is definitely a stronger smoke flavour ... stronger the better for bacon , IMHO.


Jt ... for cold smoking bacon you want your temps to stay between 75 and 100 ...anything above 100 starts to cook the bacon and thus the fat will start to melt and seal off any further smoke penetration ... as for your power cord , run it thru the air vent in the bottom of your smoker if it has one ... should do the trick .

 

[seboke]

mmmmmmmmmmmm....... Bacon!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I think my heart stopped for a couple seconds! Man that looks GOOD!

 

[rivet]

That's it. You are the King of Bacon.