Belly Tying Up The Smoker As It Becomes Bacon

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smoking b

Smoking Guru
Original poster
OTBS Member
Sep 20, 2012
5,095
486
Middle of Nowhere, South Central PA
Yup as the title said I have belly that is becoming bacon tying up the smoker today so I won't be able to smoke any meals - just gonna have to make do the best I can... I realized today that despite making countless bellies into bacon I don't have a single picture of one on here so here we go...

Here is the belly that is currently smoking...


This was a dry brine done with cure #1, salt, pepper, sugar & just a tiny bit of garlic. It was on the rack to develop a pellicle & it has a very nice one...


Here are the bellies in the smoker. This is a cold smoke with hickory.


Since the smoker is tied up I figured I would have some smoked ham for breakfast. This is what's left of a dry cured ham I did - once it's gone I will only have one country ham left 
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Cooked up in a skillet with some red eye gravy...


And ready to eat 
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  with a piece of soda bread I made yesterday. I love country ham! 
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Edit: Typo
 
Last edited:
Bacon is a good reason to tie up the smoker.       
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My next curing lesson will be country ham if my butt turns out good this time .
 
I figured I might as well get some dried beef going too...


I started with this chunk of beef.


I trimmed the fat ruthlessly from it.


Injector sanitized & drying.


I injected both ends of the beef with beef curing brine.


Here they are in one of my small brining buckets.


Baggie to hold them under the brine.

This will go in my fridge for one week to cure then I will start the smoking/drying process.

The bellies are still doing fine in the smoker 
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Bacon is a good reason to tie up the smoker.       
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My next curing lesson will be country ham if my butt turns out good this time .
Sure is!

Make sure you pick good hams to cure for your country hams - nice full muscle bellies with no pockets around them etc... True dry curing such as country hams is a different beast & it's best to start with every advantage you can 
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Ok the bellies are out & will soon be wrapped to spend two or three days in the fridge. After that I will slice them up & enjoy some bacon! 
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The bellies were cold smoked for a total of 24 hours - 12 hours of smoke, rest in the fridge overnight, 12 hours of smoke.

I'll update again when I slice the bacon...
 
Looks great. I need to try cold smoking bacons again.
 
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