Hey gang,
Will putting the bacon in the cardboard box create any cardboard "off" flavors?
Got a couple pastured Berkshire bellies headed my way in a few weeks. Plan to cure and cold smoke before I "age" them by hanging them in the kitchen. I've done a single belly before using an Amazen pellet smoker, by laying the belly flat inside my Big Green Egg - but with 2 bellies, I won't have the room (and I don't have additional racks).
Was thinking about using a wardrobe box from UHual with the bellies on bacon hangers. I'm not going to use any Cure 1 so it'll need to be well ventilated to keep from creating an anaerobic environment (lets not get into a food safety/ botulism debate) which will be easy to do by just cutting additional holes to let fresh air in. Will probably do 20hr smoke over three days or so, resting by hanging in the kitchen during the off-periods.
My concern is if the cardboard will leave any flavors or whatnot on the bacon. My gut says no, given the amount of smoke flavors and the inherent saltiness of the bacon. But, figured I'd ask in case anyone else had done it. I suppose I could cover the interior with aluminum foil to mitigate that. Eventually, I'd like to have a more permanent smoke-house but for now, I'm improvising.
Will putting the bacon in the cardboard box create any cardboard "off" flavors?
Got a couple pastured Berkshire bellies headed my way in a few weeks. Plan to cure and cold smoke before I "age" them by hanging them in the kitchen. I've done a single belly before using an Amazen pellet smoker, by laying the belly flat inside my Big Green Egg - but with 2 bellies, I won't have the room (and I don't have additional racks).
Was thinking about using a wardrobe box from UHual with the bellies on bacon hangers. I'm not going to use any Cure 1 so it'll need to be well ventilated to keep from creating an anaerobic environment (lets not get into a food safety/ botulism debate) which will be easy to do by just cutting additional holes to let fresh air in. Will probably do 20hr smoke over three days or so, resting by hanging in the kitchen during the off-periods.
My concern is if the cardboard will leave any flavors or whatnot on the bacon. My gut says no, given the amount of smoke flavors and the inherent saltiness of the bacon. But, figured I'd ask in case anyone else had done it. I suppose I could cover the interior with aluminum foil to mitigate that. Eventually, I'd like to have a more permanent smoke-house but for now, I'm improvising.