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Bacon finally

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Smokin Monkey said:
Hi Mike, can I ask a question why you hot smoked the Bacon?

It looks to me that you where aiming more for Canadian Bacon.

I dry cure and cold smoke my Bacon and do not have a problem with it being dry.

I have done Canadian Bacon, http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/239463/first-attempt-at-canadian-bacon
Click to expand...

Yes sir, the Traeger I have is a pellet grill and the lowest setting runs about 130-150F.
Trying to use it to cold smoke only works in the dead of winter really. I tried to get the AMNPS inside the traeger to just use it for cold smoking and I can't get the airflow to work. So my options are a cardboard box smoker which im in the process of building and eventually a small smokehouse once I can figure out some blueprints to build it. I boought some dowel rods today that are 50mm in length so that will be the inside width. I just can't make it a permanent structure so no cement.

All the bacon I made previously was cured in an equilibrium brine and had been hot smoked to 152F. I wanted to try dry brining and cold smoking it to save pellets and electricity since my traeger is US spec I have to use a transformer to run it.
 
First recipe I ever made called for it to be smoked at 225F so I always stuck with that. It still tastes good like that and loses little of the fat. That was all I could ever do with the traeger since its pretty much hot smoke only.

my traeger is more of a grill than a smoker. I can't fine tune the temperature with it.

Hence the need for a smokehouse :D
 
Mike W said:
Wade do you have any tips or ideas that could help with dry brining the loin bacon and not having it so dry? The ends and outside were like jerky.
 
Click to expand...
Hi Mike. Steve beat me to the question. Why are you hot smoking it? Once it is cured then all you need to do is cold smoke it then it will not be dry. For a while I too was under the impression that our USA friends all hot smoked their bacon but after a few discussions with some of the regular bacon curers here I discovered that this was not actually the norm.
 
The first recipe when I first started learning how to cure was from amazing ribs website and that recipe called for it to be smoked at 225. For whatever reason that guy doesnt like cold smoking so I've always done it that way.

Now that I've learned ot more about curing, I'm confident in trying a cold smoke. I just couldn't get the traeger cold enough. I think that it dried out the loin too much. With an equilibrium brine, there was plenty of juice so the drying wasnt noticeable before I suppose.

So I should be ready to go with a cold smoke tomorrow. I built a cardboard smoker qnd I just have to get a mailbox or something similar tomorrow to put the AMNPS in and I can smoke those bellies in the original picture. That will be the first real cold smoke for me.

The salmon lox and cheese I did two years ago, I used ice to cool down the smoke enough.
So we'll see how it goes. Im going to get some more loin and give it another shot with the dry brine technique.


Wade said:
Hi Mike. Steve beat me to the question. Why are you hot smoking it? Once it is cured then all you need to do is cold smoke it then it will not be dry. For a while I too was under the impression that our USA friends all hot smoked their bacon but after a few discussions with some of the regular bacon curers here I discovered that this was not actually the norm.
Click to expand...
 
It is possible to cold smoke with a pellet smoker but it isn't easy. As you found the air flow is a problem and you first need to remove the pellets from the hopper. You could try smoking it with the AMNPS inside the smoking chamber and prop open the lid slightly to see if it lets in sufficient air then.

Personally I would go with the cardboard smoker next time
 
Yep, until I can get the smokehouse built I'll be using the cardboard box for cold smoking. Thanks!

Wade said:
It is possible to cold smoke with a pellet smoker but it isn't easy. As you found the air flow is a problem and you first need to remove the pellets from the hopper. You could try smoking it with the AMNPS inside the smoking chamber and prop open the lid slightly to see if it lets in sufficient air then.

Personally I would go with the cardboard smoker next time
Click to expand...
 
Hello Mike.Hello Mike.  I sent you some ideas.  We will sort you a smokehouse.  How ever you want to do it.  We will talk Monday.  Have tools will travel.  
icon_biggrin.gif
  Keep Smokin!

Danny
 
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