Been a long time since I Bacon'd

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xjcamaro

Smoking Fanatic
Original poster
Mar 16, 2009
313
13
Western PA
Its been over 2 years since I did some bacon. Finally got the time and belly to get some done. Haven't lost my touch thought. I started out with 2 nice chunks of belly from my local butcher. Cut them down to size. Put them in a TQ cure with brown sugar per BearCarvers instructions like I always do. Into the fridge for 9 days, turning and rubbing every day.

On day 9 I took them out rinsed them off and stuck them in the ice water for 30 mins


Laid them out and patted them dry


Cut a few slices off and test fried them up. They tasted just like they smelled............Delicious!



I took one large piece and one small piece and coated it in coarse black pepper for pepper bacon and into the smoker they went



9 hrs later we have some nice smoked bacon. Cold smoked with hickory using my tin can and soldiering iron. I tried a little something different, sort of like BearCarvers trick with adding heat. A few times during the smoke I fired up the propane burner and let the smoker build just a little heat for just about 3-5 minutes, not enough to start the cooking process just enough to let the meat take in the warm smoke. So we will see if it helped any. The color came out awesome!



So tonights project is slicing and vacuum sealing. I will post some pics of that tomorrow.
 
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Nice Job, Jason!!!
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Nice color you got there!!
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Can't wait to see the slices!!

Thanks,

Bear
 
Alright, got everything sliced and sealed up last night. I tried something for the slicing process that a lot of you probably already do, but I never did, and I don't know why I didn't because it made everything so much easier. I put the belly chunks in the freezer for about 9 hrs while I was at work then put them on the slicer. It sliced so easy and quick. Probably the fastest ive even been able to slice. Any way everything got sliced. I kept a couple of the thinner smaller pieces of the belly whole and sealed them up. I use this chopped up and cooked to put in baked beans or soups. Got 19 packs of bacon total. 13 of the regular and 6 of the pepper. These are approximately 1/2 lb packs, 15-16 pieces in each.




Another successful bacon smoke!
 
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Nice looking Bacon, Jason!!!
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Mighty tasty!!!
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I always freeze mine for 4 hours before slicing. It seemed like it needed to be frozen longer but I was afraid to freeze it too long.

Now that 9 hours was good for you, I'll be jacking my time up too!!-----------------
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Bear
 
Ya, 9 hrs didn't seem to be too long because by the time I got to the end of the chunk I was slicing it was already starting to warm up and get soft. They weren't a solid chunk either I could still cut them with a sharp knife and the slices were still malleable.
 
Looks Great!! I always love to see a pile of homemade bacon!! Bacon is getting so expensive in the store and making your own tastes better anyway! 
 
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