- Nov 15, 2012
- 1,025
- 105
Hi folks,
I've completed my first run at cold smoking bacon. I'm really pleased with the flavor and texture. Slightly too salty, but I'll try Pop's brine next time and see how it compares.
I used a 6 1/2 lb skin-on belly section from a local Red Wattle hog (from Heritage Farms NW in Dallas, OR). Great hogs. I used 2.5% kosher salt, 1.25% sugar + additional 1/4 cup brown sugar, 156 ppm Instacure #1 (7 grams -- slightly over 1 tsp), and .35% black pepper. Cured for 2 weeks, overhauling about every other day. Rinsed the cure off after 2 weeks, then soaked in cool water for 1 hour. I dried the belly in the refrigerator for 2 days to get a nice pellicle. Here is the belly after 2 days in the refrigerator.
I used the AMNS inside my SmokinTex 1400 to generate cold smoke. I smoked using hickory sawdust for about 8 hours. The temperature in the smoker stayed between 60 - 72 deg F. Outside temp was in the 40's to low 50's.
Here is the bacon after 8 hours of cold smoking.
I popped it into my project refrigerator to let it mellow. The project refrigerator runs about 50 deg F and 60 % humidity. The belly is on the top shelf. The item hanging below it is a cured pork jowl which has been air-drying for 2 weeks now and has a few more weeks to go.
I let the bacon rest in the project frig for 2 days and then sliced off a few slices tonight to see how it came out. Here it is.
After cooking....
Very nice smoke taste. I'm glad I just did the 8 hours of cold smoking, as my husband is pretty gun-shy of my smoking endeavors at the moment. So we are taking it slow and easy on the smoke right now.
I definitely prefer the cold smoke taste to hot smoking. Even with 1 hour of soaking after the cure, the bacon was still slightly too salty. A couple of thoughts on this. First, I do intend to try Pop's brine and see how that compares. Also, until Martin at Digging Dog Farm discussed this in a different thread, it never occured to me that the Instacure #1 is ~94% salt, and I didn't take that into account when I calculated out my salt weight. That would have reduced my kosher salt weight by 5 or 6 grams, which isn't insignificant.
I've got another couple of belly sections in the freezer, so I'll probably thaw another one out this week and get it soaking in Pop's brine this weekend. I'm looking forward to seeing how it comes out.
Thanks for looking!
Clarissa
I've completed my first run at cold smoking bacon. I'm really pleased with the flavor and texture. Slightly too salty, but I'll try Pop's brine next time and see how it compares.
I used a 6 1/2 lb skin-on belly section from a local Red Wattle hog (from Heritage Farms NW in Dallas, OR). Great hogs. I used 2.5% kosher salt, 1.25% sugar + additional 1/4 cup brown sugar, 156 ppm Instacure #1 (7 grams -- slightly over 1 tsp), and .35% black pepper. Cured for 2 weeks, overhauling about every other day. Rinsed the cure off after 2 weeks, then soaked in cool water for 1 hour. I dried the belly in the refrigerator for 2 days to get a nice pellicle. Here is the belly after 2 days in the refrigerator.
I used the AMNS inside my SmokinTex 1400 to generate cold smoke. I smoked using hickory sawdust for about 8 hours. The temperature in the smoker stayed between 60 - 72 deg F. Outside temp was in the 40's to low 50's.
Here is the bacon after 8 hours of cold smoking.
I popped it into my project refrigerator to let it mellow. The project refrigerator runs about 50 deg F and 60 % humidity. The belly is on the top shelf. The item hanging below it is a cured pork jowl which has been air-drying for 2 weeks now and has a few more weeks to go.
I let the bacon rest in the project frig for 2 days and then sliced off a few slices tonight to see how it came out. Here it is.
After cooking....
Very nice smoke taste. I'm glad I just did the 8 hours of cold smoking, as my husband is pretty gun-shy of my smoking endeavors at the moment. So we are taking it slow and easy on the smoke right now.
I definitely prefer the cold smoke taste to hot smoking. Even with 1 hour of soaking after the cure, the bacon was still slightly too salty. A couple of thoughts on this. First, I do intend to try Pop's brine and see how that compares. Also, until Martin at Digging Dog Farm discussed this in a different thread, it never occured to me that the Instacure #1 is ~94% salt, and I didn't take that into account when I calculated out my salt weight. That would have reduced my kosher salt weight by 5 or 6 grams, which isn't insignificant.
I've got another couple of belly sections in the freezer, so I'll probably thaw another one out this week and get it soaking in Pop's brine this weekend. I'm looking forward to seeing how it comes out.
Thanks for looking!
Clarissa
