Maple Bacon 2.0

[bena]

So the Maple bacon was a success.

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/244390/maple-bacon-from-start-to-finish-with-qview

Brother wanted more...so he said he would get some ... he came to the house with 2 cases ;-) 

57.4 pounds.

572lbs of maple bacon.jpg

• bena
• Apr 20, 2016

Those are 2 gallon bags with about 5 pound chucks in them.   They are now resting in the fridge and will be flipping them daily.

Took about 2 hours to measure out cure / salt/ brown sugar/ 100% maple syrup.   The wife was kind enough to run the cure calculator while I ran the scales and applied the ingredients.

Going to let them cure for 2 weeks.

The SI3D is going to be tested.

Might try apple and hickory on this batch or split batch it up with corn cob / hickory  and apple / hickory.

I am up for suggestions.

 

[ndkoze]

Pretty impressive. That should hold ya guys for a couple of weeks ;)

 

[bena]

He is thinking it should last him 2 weeks...I said I have other things to do than make bacon constantly.   So I will take some and give him the majority and move on to some jerky and cheese after this batch is over.

 

[ndkoze]

You are running out of cold weather to get the cheese done, so try to pick a cool evening. I have my summer's worth of cheese all stocked up already. Hopefully it'll make it through until I can smoke more next fall. :)

 

[SmokinAl]

That's a mess of bacon!

Your brother must eat it all day long!

Al

 

[bena]

He is going to possibly use it as an appetizer in his restaurant.   Think he is going to deep fry them or run through the pizza oven conveyor to make bacon stix with several dipping sauces or something

 

[mfreel]

BACON STIX!?!?!?!

WTF are BACON STIX!?!?!?!   I think I need a recipe for this one!!!!

 

[bena]

From what I understood he is going to slice 1/2" x 1/2" strips... deep fry or bake them and serve them in a cone so the end's can be picked up and served with several dipping sauces to try.     If it happens I will post the pics but that is a few weeks away.

 

[ndkoze]

I may have to head out there to try these. I am looking forward to the pics if he does them.

 

[driedstick]

Looks great,,, Nice batch of bacon,,, Did you use pure maple syrup?? I have about 32lbs of bellies but I just took out 2 slabs to defrost to do my own,, not a big maple fan but might try on a slab for the kids 

A full smoker is a happy smoker 

DS

 

[bena]

I did - I used about  1/2 cup for the 5lb slab in each bag.  

 

[dave17a]

Have read in other posts that maple syrup don't really give maple flavor, just sweetness. Not saying it won"t happen. I bought pure maple sugar, (pricey), and used it instead of brown sugar, 1 tbls. per pound. Still only maybe slight hint of maple. Now sprinkle that same sugar on after cooking while bacon is still wet, different story. Enjoy your efforts.

 

[bena]

Thanks for the idea Dave.  Sounds good ..love candied bacon.  I get a hint of maple, but I don't have the palette to say that it isn't there or is just residual sweetness.   I liken it to the pro's and con's of adding spices / flavoring during brining.  So say they don't get a lot or any and some say they do and adds depth of flavor that wouldn't be there otherwise.   So I went for why not and try to get as much in there during curing as possible.  Flavor that is.

 

[mfreel]

SHUT UP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[bena]

Have some progress on the big batch.... the pellicle formation has started.   

I soaked for an hour and test fried and the wife said it was better than the last batch...same recipe but had the gram scale over tsp. measurements.

57 lb bacon in fridge3.jpg

• bena
• May 10, 2016

There is two slabs on each rack but the one...which makes me hopeful that I will get this done in one shot on the smoking it 3D.

...and I agree..need to make a poly system for my racks.

 

[bena]

The smoker was full...  Seemed as if the smoke wasn't getting contact with all the pieces being as full as it was. So there was moving pieces going on and ended up smoking for 18 hours to get all the pieces even color.   Used Apple and hickory.   This pic was at light up.   So it can happen.. 6 bellies in the SI 3D.

full 57 smoker.jpg

• bena
• May 17, 2016

 

[b-one]

Looks great,maybe use maple extract in place of syrup my thinking is it maybe more concentrated that way. Why not smoke maple bacon with maple?

 

[bena]

Great idea,   I tried maple on pork and just prefer apple wood, personal preference thing.  

I dropped off the slabs at the restaurant last night and sliced some up for myself and he decided to cube up some chunks and put them in the fryer and then sprinkle some brown sugar on them and send them through the pizza conveyor as an appetizer... holy moly was that awesome.   Will post some pics as it was a little busy in that kitchen to stop and appreciate it properly.

 

[mfreel]

I'm going to save some belly to do some "bacon sticks" next time.  That just sounds really good!!!!

 

[bena]

Vac Master 350 in action with Lisa's bags -still impressed everytime I use that thing.  SWMBO decided she wanted smaller pieces that fit toast and enough for two breakfast's.    So I said great, that will save me on bags and freezer space since they are little bricks of bacon

  =  the bacon bites are going on the menu today my brother said so I will have a money shot here soon.

bacon batch 2 cutting board.jpg

• bena
• May 19, 2016

bacon batch 2 vac pack.jpg

• bena
• May 19, 2016