Another 1st time Bacon thread w/ Q View: Cold Smoked with AMNPS; smoke question!

[mneeley490]

Ok, all in all, a decent 1st attempt I think. However I have a question for the seasoned pros.

I sliced and fried a few pieces 3 days after smoking. Pretty good overall, but it has a very pronounced smokiness, almost overpowering. My question is: Will this smokiness mellow with time, like it does with cheese?

Ok, here's the pics:

12.5 pounds, cut into thirds and soaking in the brine. I wet cured and used 1/2 gal. of water, and 1/2 gal. of apple juice for the liquid.

In the smoker with a few pieces of cheese, a couple brats, and I filled the empty apple juice container with water & froze it to keep the temps down. With just the AMNPS going and the ice, temps stayed in the 70's throughout the 11 hour smoke.

Shot of the AMNPS about 3 or so hours in. I used the new Pitmaster's blend.

Sliced 3 days later. It was too long for my slicer, so I had to do it by hand. Nice color to it, even the fat was a little pink.

Normally I can get 5-6 pieces of store-bought bacon in this pan...

Fried up. I think the apple juice, along with the sugars in my brine, make it carmelize a little faster than normal.

 

[diggingdogfarm]

Yes, it should continue to mellow with time.
We have a tiny manual slicer, i fold over long pieces for slicing.


~Martin

 

[tjohnson]

Your Bacon Looks Great!!!

The test fry was probably with one of the outside pieces

Slices from the middle should have less smoke penetration

I separate ends and pieces, and use in beans and other cooking that call for bacon.

Cold Smoking with pellets produce more smoke than cold smoking with sawdust

Next time, fill your rows 3/4 full for less smoke, or cut the smoke time back to 8 hours and check for color

Todd

 

[pops6927]

Great job on your first bacon!  That is REAL honest-to-goodness smoked bacon, not something that's been pump-injected and sprayed with liquid smoke and beat in a drum and packaged as pork mush!  It will mellow a bit, but you will un-mellow and, once exposed to real smoked foods, begin a craving for it as you will know what real smoked flavor is!  NOW you know why we do this!  If it is too overpowering, just end the smoking part sooner, you can over-smoke meat, it is everyone's personal preference; also, switch to a milder fruitwood pellet too, try a few of them until you find the right one you like; work with Todd, he's a great guy!  Also, you can cut your bellies in half lengthwise to make them fit on your slicer too, and try what I do, bake it in the oven instead on a cookie sheet, about 12-14 minutes at 375°, if possible with a ¼" mesh rack on the cookie sheet to keep the bacon out of the grease!  It shouldn't caramelize much and you can control the doneness much easier by just pulling the whole sheet at once from the oven.  Not quite done enough?  Slide it back in for another minute or two!  Spray the rack lightly first so the bacon won't stick to it.  Remove the bacon to a serving plate, then drain the grease into a grease can and lay the pan and grate crossways across the sink and fill with water and a little dish soap.  While you're eating your meal, the grease and any buildup will easily lift and wash off, cleanup is a snap!

 

[smokinhusker]

That's some great looking bacon! 

 

[mneeley490]

Thanks! Yeah, 11 hours may have been too long. But I've read about people smoking their bacon for up to 2 days? So I thought I was somewhere in the middle ground already.

And the pieces I fried were from the middle of the chunk. I did save the ends for beans.

Next time I will use apple pellets and smoke for less time.