Bacon Batch #2

[Brewdiver82]

My second attempt at making bacon. My first batch came out outstanding thanks to bearcarver. Maybe a little too good since I wound up giving away most of it after people tried it, leaving me with nothing lol.

Costco was out of bellies for the xmas season, so when I found some I jumped on it and grabbed a couple that were both around 11lbs each.

For the cure I used:

1/2oz TQ per pound
1tbs pure maple sugar per pound (rounded up)
1tbs coarse ground black pepper per bag

Curing for 10 days flipping and massaging every day. Hefty 2.5 gal bags double bagged work great for my fridge.

I think I'll do two smokes on this batch, half with hickory (what I used last time) and half with cherry which is normally my go to wood for smoking pork of any kind.

Also picked up some pure maple concentrate that I'll lightly brush on the tops of the bellies after smoking before I package.

 

[SmokinAl]

Looks like a great start!
Al

 

[daveomak]

Cool.... Hey, trying to burn cherry pellets alone is a bitch.. they don't like to burn ... You might have to mix them with oak or alder or maple.... something that burns well... Just so you know when stuff don't go right...

 

[PerazziMx14]

Please remove

 

[Brewdiver82]

I don't think I have the patience for a 40 hour smoke for 2 batches haha. Last batch I smoked at 90 degrees for 12 hours and it came out fantastic.

 

[Brewdiver82]

 

[Brewdiver82]

 

[Brewdiver82]

I love this batch, everything came out amazing. The cherry wood smoked is really good, but hickory is still my favorite. I did a little bit of experimenting with some pure maple extract brushed on before packaging and loading on the black pepper on others. The verdict on the maple is that it gives it a good maple smell before cooking, anything maple is destroyed in the cooking process. The black pepper carries over very well though and may just be the way I go in the future.

All in all, I got 17lbs of packaged bacon and about 3lbs of trimmings for bacon bits for omelets and whatnot.

 

[smokin pop-pop]

That bacon looks awesome.i have 2 slabs in the smoker now going on it’s second tube of hickory pellets

 

[mneeley490]

Awesome! Yeah, black pepper is great on bacon. I remember trying some years ago from the grocery store meat dept, and deciding I didn't like it. Turned out, it was just not very good bacon. Nothing like making your own!