1st time using and Smoking Bacon

[Cookin_Grillin_Smokin]

So I just threw on my first 2 slabs of bacon on my pellet smoker. I let them cure for 9 days.

I attached a couple of pictures. One slab has really nice looking color, the other one looks a little off, almost a little green? (I’m color blind so it’s hard to tell)

does this look normal? I’m just nervous because it is my first time and I want to be sure the bacon is safe to eat. Thank you!

 

[TNJAKE]

What are the ingredients in your cure? And was it a wet or a dry cure?

 

[Cookin_Grillin_Smokin]

I used this low sodium recipe: https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/threads/low-sodium-bacon-recipe.284429/

However, I used a little bit more curing salt. I believe it was about 4 grams of curing salt and 20 grams kosherwhich I was told may be too much.
I put it in a vacuum sealer bag and sucked about 95% of the air out of it. Put it in the fridge for 9 days.
Could it be just maybe the juices that were in the bag stained the meat? It didn’t smell bad when I took it out of the bag,

 

[TNJAKE]

Was the bacon stacked on top of each other while it cured?

 

[Cookin_Grillin_Smokin]

Each slab was in its own bag, but they were stacked on top of each other to save space in the fridge. I would flip them once a day, but forgot to do that the last couple days

 

[SmokinEdge]

Looks like oxidation to me.
What were the weights of each slab?

 

[TNJAKE]

Could be them being stacked caused the color difference. I'd say if you followed that recipe and there is no smell you should be good to go. Wait on other opinions though

 

[Cookin_Grillin_Smokin]

Looks like oxidation to me.
What were the weights of each slab?

It was one large slab, about 2.5 kg total and I cut it as close to half as I could with my eyeballs.

 

[SmokinEdge]

It was one large slab, about 2.5 kg total and I cut it as close to half as I could with my eyeballs.

Good enough.
If it’s oxidation, it’s only on the surface. You can slice or trim that top 1/8” off at the off color spots and it should be red underneath.

 

[pc farmer]

Looks good to me. The off color in spots are normal. I wouldnt cut it off and never have.

 

[Cookin_Grillin_Smokin]

Awesome, thank you for your help guys!
My first slab is done, only smoked for about 2 hours as my pellet smoker only goes down to 200. Now gonna let it sit in the fridge for a couple days before digging in

I let it hit 145 internally by accident so hopefully it’s not overcooked :)

 

[pc farmer]

Looks good. 145 wont hurt it

 

[SmokinEdge]

Looks good. 145 wont hurt it

Yup 145* is fine. Nice looking bacon.

 

[SmokinEdge]

Awesome, thank you for your help guys!
My first slab is done, only smoked for about 2 hours as my pellet smoker only goes down to 200. Now gonna let it sit in the fridge for a couple days before digging in

I let it hit 145 internally by accident so hopefully it’s not overcooked :)

That’s the piece that looked funny out of cure. Just look at her now! Pretty bacon and uniform color.

 

[Cookin_Grillin_Smokin]

They did come out very nice looking, thanks Edge!

Thank you again everyone for you help and input! I can’t wait to fry some up in a couple days

 

[daveomak]

That green color is normal... It's the light refracting off the fat... Like you see on water when there is gasoline or oil floating on it...

Google green bacon...