Last week I went to Costco and found they had pork belly. I dug thru them all and found the biggest, thickest one.
When I got it home I cut the belly in half, knew then I'd picked a winner.
Made a mix of 18grams Cure#1, 4.6 ounces canning salt, two ounces maple sugar, 1 cup pure 100% maple syrup. Stirred the mixture up to make a nice goo and applied a even amount to each half belly, rubbing it in all over, making sure to use it all, then double bagged the bellys in 2 gallon Ziplocs for a week in the fridge.
I took the bellys out twice a day to massage and rotate them, after a week it was time for a warm water rinse and get fitted on some hooks
I had my Pro 100 pre-heated to 100º with vents wide open, let them dry hanging for 2&1/2 hours. Added a pan of applewood chips and raise the smoker temp to 110º for the next five hours vents closed down to 1/3 open, then added another fresh pan and raised the temp to 135º for another five hours.
After smoking for another five hours I took out the chip pan, closed the vents, and raised the temp on the Pro 100 to 170º. I had the alarm set on my TP-20 for 135º, poured a glass of Evan and fell asleep in front of the TV until the alarm went off, it had been a darned long day. After a couple hours on the kitchen counter I tossed the bellys in the fridge and called it a day. Up early this morning to set up the slicer and get to work, there's a lot to do today.
This had the look of the best bacon of my smoking career, test fry verified that, ate it and forgot to take a pic.
Got everything vac-sealed and in the freezer
With one project wrapped up there's a slight break for Bob's vet appointment to get a couple vaccinations, we're all set for some sausage making after that.
More to come soon, thanks for looking. RAY
When I got it home I cut the belly in half, knew then I'd picked a winner.
Made a mix of 18grams Cure#1, 4.6 ounces canning salt, two ounces maple sugar, 1 cup pure 100% maple syrup. Stirred the mixture up to make a nice goo and applied a even amount to each half belly, rubbing it in all over, making sure to use it all, then double bagged the bellys in 2 gallon Ziplocs for a week in the fridge.
I took the bellys out twice a day to massage and rotate them, after a week it was time for a warm water rinse and get fitted on some hooks
I had my Pro 100 pre-heated to 100º with vents wide open, let them dry hanging for 2&1/2 hours. Added a pan of applewood chips and raise the smoker temp to 110º for the next five hours vents closed down to 1/3 open, then added another fresh pan and raised the temp to 135º for another five hours.
After smoking for another five hours I took out the chip pan, closed the vents, and raised the temp on the Pro 100 to 170º. I had the alarm set on my TP-20 for 135º, poured a glass of Evan and fell asleep in front of the TV until the alarm went off, it had been a darned long day. After a couple hours on the kitchen counter I tossed the bellys in the fridge and called it a day. Up early this morning to set up the slicer and get to work, there's a lot to do today.
This had the look of the best bacon of my smoking career, test fry verified that, ate it and forgot to take a pic.
Got everything vac-sealed and in the freezer
With one project wrapped up there's a slight break for Bob's vet appointment to get a couple vaccinations, we're all set for some sausage making after that.
More to come soon, thanks for looking. RAY
