First time doing Bacon.

link · May 24, 2015

I have watched so many people do this and have wanted to try it for a while but bellies have been pretty expensive around here (4.99 per pound).

While shopping this weekend CostCo had bellies for 1.99 a pound so I picked up two, About 25 pound in total.

I followed Pops Brine and have them all in the fridge for 12 to 15 days.

I cannot wait for them to be done.

So now the waiting game begins.

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May 24, 2015

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May 24, 2015

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May 24, 2015

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May 24, 2015

stickyfingers · May 24, 2015

Are those skin on or skin off?

wazzuqer · May 24, 2015

Wish the costcos around here carried those, they look like nice bellys..

link · May 24, 2015

They were skin on. Should I have removed them?

link · May 25, 2015

Doing some reading today and I noticed some use bacon hangers. I have the MES 30 is it better to hang the bacon or is it ok to just put on the shelves?

Link

tropics · May 25, 2015

link I have the MES 40 I made a sausage rack and used BBQ Sticks to make a hanger.

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/176077/bacon-1st-timer-pops-brine-finished-w-pics

kihler · May 25, 2015

Leave the skin on. Remove it after they are smoked. Don't cut it off, use your fingers and rip it off. Save the belly skin for soups, they add nice smoky bacon flavor to your soup. I always use a dry rub when I make bacon. Let us know how they turn out.

Bearcarver · May 25, 2015

Hi Link!!

I like to remove the skin if I get one with the skin on. That way the cure & smoke doesn't have to go through something I'm not planning on eating. If you're going to eat the skin, that's different.

All I've ever done in my old MES 30 and my MES 40 is lay the pieces of belly slabs right flat on the top 3 grill racks.

Be Back for Pics!!

Bear

GaryHibbert · May 25, 2015

Hey Link

I'll be watching this one.

Gary

link · Jun 6, 2015

Ok, so today I Smoke. I have to do some things this morning so I have to wait til this afternoon to start but that is ok.

Here it is out of the fridge:

All Cured.jpg

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Jun 6, 2015

Here is a nice slice to see how it looks and to fry up to taste.

Sliced.jpg

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Jun 6, 2015

Here it is fried up.

Fry Test.jpg

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Jun 6, 2015

My wife and son loved this. My son said it is the best he has tasted and my wife already said she will not buy bacon anymore and I it wasn't even smoked yet.

More pics to follow as I start the smoking process now.

Thanks for looking.

Link

Bearcarver · Jun 6, 2015

link said:
Ok, so today I Smoke. I have to do some things this morning so I have to wait til this afternoon to start but that is ok.

My wife and son loved this. My son said it is the best he has tasted and my wife already said she will not buy bacon anymore and I it wasn't even smoked yet.

Thanks for looking.

Link

OMG----Wait until you see & hear their reaction after it's Smoked!!!

They'll go Nuts!!!

Be Back.

Bear

link · Jun 6, 2015

Ok, the smoker is loaded up and at about 70° my A-MAZE-N Smoker is loaded with half Maple and Half Oak. I will let this go until the smoke stops.

Smoker loaded up.jpg

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Jun 6, 2015

tropics · Jun 6, 2015

Looking good now,they are some nice cuts.I started another one yesterday

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/201572/5-belly-in-pops-brine

link · Jun 7, 2015

Ok all, so here is the final output of my first try at bacon.

This went very well and apparently I will be making this again my wife says.

So to recap I followed Pops Brine mixture and then let this sit for twelve days.

After twelve days I removed one of the pieces and sliced a bit off to taste ad see if the flavor was right (it was).

Initially I just put the bellies in my MES 30 and used my A-MAZE-N smoker. the temp held at about 83°. After about 5 hours I did turn on the smoker and set it to 100° and left it this way for the remainder of the time in the smoker.

I started at 12:00 PM and let this smoke with Maple and Oak until 10:30 PM when the smoke stopped (so 10 1/2 hours).

Here it is out of the smoker:

Out of the smoker.jpg

link
Jun 7, 2015

Here it is the following morning after sitting in the fridge all night, sliced and ready to make breakfast.

Sliced for cooking.jpg

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Jun 7, 2015

Here it is frying up:

Frying up.jpg

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Jun 7, 2015

Here is is cooked up and on the plate. I had breakfast with my wife and son on the back deck as it was a beautiful morning.

Breakfast.jpg

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Jun 7, 2015

This came out fantastic and I will be watching for more bellies. My only issue is I now have 25lbs of bacon to slice up by hand. Maybe a slicer is in my future.

Thanks for looking

Link

tropics · Jun 7, 2015

Nice job on the Bacon my family loves the one I made.

kihler · Jun 7, 2015

You need to get a slicer. Get a good one, the cheap ones just don't hold up to cutting 25 pounds of bacon.

Your bacon looks great.

Bearcarver · Jun 7, 2015

Nice looking Bacon, Link!!!

Now you're set for some Awesome BLTs !!!

Shame you're so far away---You could borrow our Slicer!!

Nice Job!-------------------

Bear

First time doing Bacon.

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