Cold Smoking bacon, some turning grey?

bigboysmokehous

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Original poster

Mar 1, 2013

67

11

La Crosse, WI

• Jan 30, 2015

• #1

So I cured 9 bellies using the same pops recipe I always have. Started smoking them 22 hours ago in the smoker and a while I know some of my unit gets more smoke then others I have some that have that great color I look for and some of them have a grey color to the top. It mostly happened if there was any moisture that came to it. It was pretty cold and windy last night and average temp was between 60-100 degrees and these all came on the side that tends to have less heat in the wind.

Is the bacon still good? I moved them around to get them in a warmer, smokier area. Any ideas?

 

rgautheir20420

Master of the Pit

Jun 11, 2014

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Crest Hill, IL (Chicagoland)

• Jan 30, 2015

• #2

BigBoySmokehous said:

 
So I cured 9 bellies using the same pops recipe I always have. Started smoking them 22 hours ago in the smoker and a while I know some of my unit gets more smoke then others I have some that have that great color I look for and some of them have a grey color to the top. It mostly happened if there was any moisture that came to it. It was pretty cold and windy last night and average temp was between 60-100 degrees and these all came on the side that tends to have less heat in the wind.

Is the bacon still good? I moved them around to get them in a warmer, smokier area. Any ideas?

Click to expand...

Can you get a picture of the coloring? When I did my first batch of bacon I smoked around 100 and got some gray/black spots on a few of them. Basically isn't little drops of creosote from the smoker that was dripping from the ceiling. My bacon is still good. A picture would help us tell you. Here's what mine looked like, incase yours looks similar.

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• rgautheir20420
• Jan 3, 2015

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• rgautheir20420
• Jan 3, 2015

 

bigboysmokehous

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Mar 1, 2013

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La Crosse, WI

• Jan 30, 2015

• #3

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• bigboysmokehous
• Jan 30, 2015

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• bigboysmokehous
• Jan 30, 2015

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• bigboysmokehous
• Jan 30, 2015

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• bigboysmokehous
• Jan 30, 2015

I do add pepper on these so while there is some black pieces on these it happened when I slammed the rack in when it got stuck.

 

rgautheir20420

Master of the Pit

Jun 11, 2014

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Crest Hill, IL (Chicagoland)

• Jan 30, 2015

• #4

So the black bits are from when you slammed the door that fell from the ceiling then? I can see the gray parts that you're talking about and it's definitely covering a larger surface area than the spots that were on mine. You mentioned moisture, so I'm still thinking it's dripped black creosote from the top of the smoker. If the curing was done right then that's what I think it and you're fine.

 

bigboysmokehous

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Mar 1, 2013

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La Crosse, WI

• Jan 30, 2015

• #5

The black spots are from the rack above it and yes there some moisture which must have dripped from the ceiling. Maybe I should take a knife and trim it off before slicing and packaging?

 

rgautheir20420

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Jun 11, 2014

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Crest Hill, IL (Chicagoland)

• Jan 30, 2015

• #6

I guess that would be up to you if you wanted to remove it. I didn't and it didn't change the taste....but mine were much smaller. Maybe someone else can chime in for some additional ideas or advice?

 

Bearcarver

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Sep 12, 2009

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Macungie, PA

• Jan 30, 2015

• #7

I never saw anything like that. Were they tight together in the curing brine, so that the cure didn't get to all places???

Kinda looks like mold, other than all the flakes that fell off your ceiling & walls.

I would check with Pops. He might know what that is. He knows about that wet brining. I only do Dry curing.

Bear

 

bigboysmokehous

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Mar 1, 2013

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La Crosse, WI

• Jan 30, 2015

• #8

They were in five gallon buckets, laid on top of each other, filled and then shaking each day. Most of the ones with color were on one side of the smoker and when I wiped it with a paper towel it did have a brownish, almost dirty color on the towel.

 

Last edited: Jan 30, 2015

dave17a

Smoking Fanatic

Dec 23, 2012

903

92

west central Mo

• Jan 30, 2015

• #9

BigBoySmokehous said:

 
The black spots are from the rack above it and yes there some moisture which must have dripped from the ceiling. Maybe I should take a knife and trim it off before slicing and packaging?

Click to expand...

Shot with 00buck. Clean grates. Got a dedicated cold smoker myself. Dedicated smoker for peppers. Dedicated smoker for cheese and bacon. Uhhm bacon.

 

pops6927

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• Jan 31, 2015

• #10

It appears to me like ash from the side box that got blown about when your tray got stuck; nothing to do with the curing at all.  I'd wipe it off and re-smoke it again to restore smoke color to the pieces.

 

diggingdogfarm

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Jun 23, 2011

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Southern Tier of New York State

• Jan 31, 2015

• #11

rgautheir20420 said:

Basically it's little drops of creosote from the smoker that was dripping from the ceiling.

Click to expand...

Exactly!