New here, first post help

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dawgfan13

Newbie
Original poster
Jan 22, 2010
3
10
Hey ya'll. This is my first post, but I have read many of ya'lls. I was wondering if anyone has ever made jowl bacon before. I have a jowl sitting in my freezer and wanted to know if anyone had any recipes. Also I am interested in not using and pink salt/nitrates. I know that they are used for safety reasons and I know the risks, but I am not big on them and I know they are not absolutely necessary. Thanks very much for your help!

Chris
 
Dawg,
I don't see why jowls wouldn't work. Regarding what to use to cure - you're opening a can of worms there! Check out some of the past posts by searching "Cure" and see what you find.

I think the general concensus is - you need a proper cure to ensure your meat is safe, and I agree with that. There are a lot of experience Baconeer's here who can answer questions and offer their advice.

In the end, I think a guy has to research all of the available info and then make his own decision.
Tracey
 
Stop off by roll call and introduce yourself and let us know hat kind of smoker your using...

And I too believe your opening a can of worms with this one. Most here will agree that proper curing when cold smoking bacon is a must. Do some searches here and make sure this is what you wat to do.

Jowl works fine for bacon by the way....
 
LOL----That took me a minute.
I had to look up "Jowls", because the only time I ever heard it before was from Granny & Jethro. According to my searching, you can smoke "Hog Jowls", but I would not do it without using a cure.


Bearcarver
 
Yes please stop into Roll Call first. But as far as your jwls I cann't see why they wouldn't work for bacon. Just rub it with TQ and you should be fine.
 
I will be curing for sure (has to become bacon somehow
icon_smile.gif
), but I am trying to shy away from nitrates if possible. I know it opens up a can of worms, and I am aware of the dangers. More likely than not I will play the safe route and use em, but I just wanted to see if anyone else tried not using them.

I will hit the roll call section, but my smoker (once built) is going to be a DIY cold smoker. I forget where I saw the plans but a metal garbage can becomes the smoke chamber with a vent cut into the top and dryer tubing connecting the smoker to my Weber 22 1/2 in kettle.
 
If you use the cure you choose to use at the proper rate it should be pretty safe and much safer than not using it and cold smoking thus keeping it in the danger zone far too long
 
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