First time bacon

kingfishcam · Feb 16, 2013

Hi all,
This forum has defiantly sparked a new hobby for me. So my next venture was decided to be bacon

I started with a nie 12.5 pound bellie.

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kingfishcam
Feb 16, 2013

15 days ago I mixed up 3 gallons of POPS brine, cut the bellie so it would fit, and started the wait in the fridge at 36 degrees.

kingfishcam · Feb 16, 2013

Bucket full..

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kingfishcam
Feb 16, 2013

I had one end that was over 2 inches, so I bribed for 14 days.

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kingfishcam
Feb 16, 2013

kingfishcam · Feb 16, 2013

After a good pat dry, test fry and one night in the fridge, the first batch of apple went in the Amazin smoker with the bacon.

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kingfishcam
Feb 16, 2013

handymanstan · Feb 16, 2013

Looking good KFC

I can almost smell the apple smoke from here

I will be watching

.

Stan

kingfishcam · Feb 17, 2013

Had a hard time with smoke color yesterday. So I am running a test fry this am.

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kingfishcam
Feb 17, 2013

matthews131 · Feb 17, 2013

ok so when you smoke tthis type of bacon you just smoke in a low low heat with lots of smoke just so it penitrates. cause i seen bacon in the butchers and it looked hard and cooked and a bit dryed out?? so it did not look like the bacon you buy in a package ?? so when i try to smoke bacon i dont know if its suposed to look like the stuff at the butcher or the stuff at the grocerie store?

mr t 59874 · Feb 17, 2013

kingfishcam said:
Had a hard time with smoke color yesterday. So I am running a test fry this am.

Two things that may have given you the results you had. Two days equalizing and forming a good pellicle will help as a good pellicle will help with smoke retention. Try smoking untill you get the desired color you want. I smoke mine from 48 to 72 hours. Keep good notes as experience will be your best teacher.

The bacon you saw in the store may have been hot smoked or pre-cooked.

Tom

kingfishcam · Feb 17, 2013

The problem I had was using pellets. I am not having any luck getting TBS out of them with cold temps. Next time I will stick with dust only.

mr t 59874 · Feb 17, 2013

kingfishcam said:
The problem I had was using pellets. I am not having any luck getting TBS out of them with cold temps. Next time I will stick with dust only.

What was your ambient temp? What kind of smoke were you getting? Do you have any idea of the humidity?

I am currently smoking two bellies and a country ham using Amazin Hickory pellets, one end lit. Ambient temp 36 degrees, smoker IT 56 deg and perking right along. Of course different pellets burn differently. When a longer, cooler smoke is desired, I put the pellets in a blender and make my own dust. The dust tends to burn much longer and cooler than the pellets.

kingfishcam · Feb 17, 2013

I had 25 ambient, and any where from 45-57 in the smoker. I get thick white smoke from pellets, and thin blue from dust.
Oh well, I think I will try again!

mr t 59874 · Feb 17, 2013

kingfishcam said:
I had 25 ambient, and any where from 45-57 in the smoker. I get thick white smoke from pellets, and thin blue from dust.
Oh well, I think I will try again!

It would be my guess that the humidity is a factor on the color of smoke. The fact that the dust is burning hotter in a more confined area and at a slower rate, it will produce the blue smoke, while the pellets may produce the gray looking smoke. Take a bright flashlight and hold it near the gray smoke and it will probably look blue. To me, it's no big deal, just keep your eye on the color of the meat.

kingfishcam · Feb 17, 2013

No, definite white, and definite campfire taste. I just need to stick with dust in cold smokes. Could be humidity, not sure. Thanks for all the suggestions, it does have me thinking!

mr t 59874 · Feb 17, 2013

kingfishcam said:

Nothing wrong with having a BLT around a campfire. Your welcome.

kingfishcam · Feb 17, 2013

You are correct Mr T.
I will call this a learning experience, and the next batch can only get better...

dirtsailor2003 · Feb 18, 2013

Kingfish, I have found that I need to microwave the pellets for a minute or so when It's really cold out. I use the Amazin tube smokers for my smoke generation. If I don't microwave them I get white smoke. Once microwaved no problem. I should mention that prior to buying the tube smokers I had a homemade smoke generator and that is when I tried the microwave trick on the pellets.

kingfishcam · Feb 18, 2013

Thanks dirt! But how long and how much pellets?

kingfishcam · Feb 19, 2013

I am assuming the more deep red colored bacon needed more time in the brine? It appears like the brine did not get all the way through. Piece second from the top looked like most of the bacon, the other three I threw away fearing bad meat.

Opinions?

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kingfishcam
Feb 19, 2013

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