Costco bellies.... THANKS for the lead on that..... Dry brined bacon Aug. 2015... 8/23 money update

[oregon smoker]

Just think individual Flash Frozen concept

Tom

 

[mfreel]

Costco in Omaha has bellies - $2.85 lb.

 

[oregon smoker]

Gosh you being closer to Pork Central if you will than us way up here you would have better pricing, I am picking up some bone out pork shoulders for 1.27lb in the next few days

keep on smoking,

Tom

 

[wobblehd]

Thank you for the great thread Dave. Great looking bacon. "Cooking" your pellets before smoking is a great idea. I had my pellets in the same room as the swamp cooler. LOL. At least I figured out why my amazn pellet smoker "didn't work" recently. Baking them is now a must I think. I finally found a butcher that I can get pork belly from. I hope my bacon turns out half that good. And thanks for the cold smoking link too.

 

[daveomak]

Thank you for the great thread Dave. Great looking bacon. "Cooking" your pellets before smoking is a great idea. I had my pellets in the same room as the swamp cooler. LOL. At least I figured out why my amazn pellet smoker "didn't work" recently. Baking them is now a must I think. I finally found a butcher that I can get pork belly from. I hope my bacon turns out half that good. And thanks for the cold smoking link too.

Some folks need to dry them..... others find it not necessary... I dry them because they light easier and stay lit every time I use them.... Saves on the hassle of relighting on the frequent occasion.....

 

[mr t 59874]

Dave, as usual, nice looking bacon.

  As you well know, you and I prepare our bacon the same other than using different dry cures and smoke times.  After reading this thread, I purchased a side at Costco and was very pleased with what I brought home.  Dry cured it for 19 days (normally 14) my how time flies, oh well.  It is drying in the cooler now for two days and then it will go in the smoker for approximately 72 hours tomorrow using my pulverized pellet method.

 Thinking this Costco bacon will be the way to go in the future.

Thanks for the fine thread.

Tom

 

[daveomak]

The Costco bacon is nice stuff.... they sure do skin it nicely... a lot better than I can do... I pulverized some pellets... do you use them in any particular smoke generator....

 

[mr t 59874]

The Costco bacon is nice stuff.... they sure do skin it nicely... a lot better than I can do... I pulverized some pellets... do you use them in any particular smoke generator....

I agree, they sure do a nice job.

I pulverize mine to a talc powder consistency and place it in an AMNPS. By lighting one end, I can get a 15 - 17-hour burn with a very light smoke in color and consistency, give it a break and do it again until the sides are the color I want.  It normally takes around 72 hours of smoke to obtain this.

 As you know the time involved allows for further equalization which produces the old time flavor we enjoy so much.

Tom

 

[vegas flyingcub]

Guys, went to costco 2day and saw some sliced pork belly for 3.99@pound. asked the guys in the meat dept if they had any in the cryo pack. He brought out 2 bellies in cryo packs. Paid  2.75 a pound but they sure look nice..

 

[daveomak]

The Costco bacon is nice stuff.... they sure do skin it nicely... a lot better than I can do... I pulverized some pellets... do you use them in any particular smoke generator....

I agree, they sure do a nice job.

I pulverize mine to a talc powder consistency and place it in an AMNPS. By lighting one end, I can get a 15 - 17-hour burn with a very light smoke in color and consistency, give it a break and do it again until the sides are the color I want.  It normally takes around 72 hours of smoke to obtain this.

 As you know the time involved allows for further equalization which produces the old time flavor we enjoy so much.

Tom

How full do you fill the channel... 1/2...3/4......near the top.... I've gotta try that... I didn't grind my pellets that fine... back to the grinding machine.......

Dave

 

[daveomak]

Guys, went to costco 2day and saw some sliced pork belly for 3.99@pound. asked the guys in the meat dept if they had any in the cryo pack. He brought out 2 bellies in cryo packs. Paid  2.75 a pound but they sure look nice..:drool:

You'll enjoy them bellies.... I garontee.....

 

[mr t 59874]

How full do you fill the channel... 1/2...3/4......near the top.... I've gotta try that... I didn't grind my pellets that fine... back to the grinding machine.......

Dave

I top it right off with maybe a little extra.  It will hold approx 12 oz.  

Tom

 

[oregon smoker]

 
I top it right off with maybe a little extra.  It will hold approx 12 oz.  

Tom

Guys

are you putting the pelleted in a Cuisinart? or just pulverizing? (seems like crushing them) and they would be too dense to burn?

Keep On Smokin,

Tom

 

[daveomak]

Blender..... whip them up to a dust..... might have to blend 1/4 cup at one time..... When in dust form, they smolder, if they are dry.... drying the pellets and dust is important for a good smolder....

 

[mr t 59874]

Blender..... whip them up to a dust..... might have to blend 1/4 cup at one time..... When in dust form, they smolder, if they are dry.... drying the pellets and dust is important for a good smolder....

Ditto Dave,  I use AMAZN pellets only, they burn better than some of the box store pellets.  You can figure 5 hours per row.  Suggest using a garage sale blender, it makes things go better in the kitchen if you know what I mean. 

Tom

 

[nosuchreality]

Leaves room to re-seal.... you have to be cheap to think of that..... LOL.....

My kind of cheap. I tried sealing down the middle and then putting a stack in each side but that's hassle. I like the idea of wrapping pulling a wrap out and reseal. Okay, I'm probably deluding myself, I'll just use it as an excuse to eat all three packs.

Passed this past week on another run of belly, looked like they just had the dregs left from a shipment. My belly looks to have been a bit fattier than yours. My bride likes it commercial thin cut. I'm hoping since she likes the lardones that she'll come around.

Next up is carving the coppa out of one of the Costco boneless shoulder butt cryopaks. Hoping I picked well, as my Southern California shopping neighbors were given me weird looks as I fondled and peered closely at every pack trying to determine where and quality of the coppa in there. So, tomorrow , harvesting, curing and then eventually into an UMAi dry bag. The rest will be trussed and prepped into crockpot carnitas packs and mini butts for the smoker.

 

[daveomak]

NSR, morning..... Start a thread on selecting and removing the coppa.... it's time for another thread on that process......

 

[dirtsailor2003]

Great looking bacon Dave! I have four bellies in the freezer waiting for it to cool off long enough for me to cold smoke!

 

[daveomak]

Morning Dirt.... I'm totally convinced that long time curing, 2 weeks or longer, makes for a better product.... and the week in the refer for more equilibrium and drying concentrates the flavor... Next batch I will try the "pellet dust" in the AMNPS and a longer "smoke on-off-on-off" like the old timers did, for a deeper smoke flavor in the meat... not necessarily a stronger smoke flavor but deeper into the meat.....
I can still remember the flavor bacon had back in the 60's.... maybe I can get there...

meat-smoking-cold.gif

• daveomak
• Sep 9, 2015

.. ..

meat-smoking-hot.gif

• daveomak
• Sep 9, 2015

 

[dirtsailor2003]

I'm going to experiment a bit with this batch. I used to dry cute all my bacon, until my scale broke. Now that I have a new scale, I can go back to it again. I have always used the smoke on off method. I typically do 18-24 hours total smoke over 3-4 days with a rest in the fridge in between. Then a rest in the fridge for 4-5 days before slicing a packing. I like your trick for vac packing I use that trick for sausage and will give it a whirl for the bacon.