- Feb 12, 2017
- 701
- 309
Hello
After seeing the delicious looking bacon that many were making, I had to try my hand at my own homemade bacon.
It was a success! I’m excited to fry up more tomorrow to try more of it. I can see how making your own bacon can get addicting.
First off - thanks for all of the guidance and input on my many questions leading up to this process in the following thread:
https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/threads/plan-for-first-time-bacon-sound-right.284278/
Prep Recap:
- 3 lbs of Costco pork belly
- Wet brine of kosher salt, brown sugar, black pepper, maple syrup, distilled water, and Prague powder #1
- Brined/cured in the fridge for 5 days, flipping each day
- Dryed off this morning and then air dried in the fridge for a couple of hours
Total cook time was a little under 4 hours.
Cook recap:
- Signature Blend Traeger pellets
- Smoke setting on the Traeger for 2.5 hours
- Bumped up to 225* for about an hour, and IT hit 140* at 3.5 hours into the smoke
- Weather was turning bad, so I got antsy and cranked up the temp to 250* and then pulled it off about 30 minutes later when the IT hit 153*
I plan to slice it up tomorrow with a meat slicer.
Before rinsing off and air drying today:
On the Traeger, ready for smoke, after during out for a couple of hours in the fridge:
IT had hit 153* and getting pulled off:
After cooling:
First slices:
Had to fry up a couple of samples:
After seeing the delicious looking bacon that many were making, I had to try my hand at my own homemade bacon.
It was a success! I’m excited to fry up more tomorrow to try more of it. I can see how making your own bacon can get addicting.
First off - thanks for all of the guidance and input on my many questions leading up to this process in the following thread:
https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/threads/plan-for-first-time-bacon-sound-right.284278/
Prep Recap:
- 3 lbs of Costco pork belly
- Wet brine of kosher salt, brown sugar, black pepper, maple syrup, distilled water, and Prague powder #1
- Brined/cured in the fridge for 5 days, flipping each day
- Dryed off this morning and then air dried in the fridge for a couple of hours
Total cook time was a little under 4 hours.
Cook recap:
- Signature Blend Traeger pellets
- Smoke setting on the Traeger for 2.5 hours
- Bumped up to 225* for about an hour, and IT hit 140* at 3.5 hours into the smoke
- Weather was turning bad, so I got antsy and cranked up the temp to 250* and then pulled it off about 30 minutes later when the IT hit 153*
I plan to slice it up tomorrow with a meat slicer.
Before rinsing off and air drying today:
On the Traeger, ready for smoke, after during out for a couple of hours in the fridge:
IT had hit 153* and getting pulled off:
After cooling:
First slices:
Had to fry up a couple of samples: