Bacon Rookie Mistake

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smokinsteve

Fire Starter
Original poster
Jun 23, 2009
32
10
Cleveland, OH
I am cold smoking some bellies.  I just took them out of the cure last night, rinsed well with cold water, patted dry, wrapped in paper towels and newspaper and let sit overnight.

This morning I got my cold smoking setup all together, unwrapped the bellies, stuck them in my MES and let fly!

I just now realized that I didn't let them dry for the hour before starting the smoke!  HELP!  Hopefully you smokers who are wise in the ways of belly bacon can put my mind at ease.

How will this affect the finished product?  The bellies have been smoking (hickory) for a little over 2 hours.
 
#1   I don't know how much smoke you put on them already.

If it isn't much, I'd put about 130˚ worth of heat on them for an hour (without smoke) to dry them.

Then if you still want to basically "cold-smoke" them, kill the heat & proceed.

#2   If you already put a lot of smoke on, I would remove the bellies from the smoker, rinse them, pat them dry, and put them back in. Then I would do what I told you in #1.

#3   You could just continue, and hope for the best. Good chance it didn't hurt anything.

I'm sure somebody will have other ideas, if you don't like mine.

Bear
 
I have forgotten the dry off once..not a big deal.

Should be dry after sitting in the fridge all nite.

The last cold smoke I did on bacon I used no heat at all,just the AMAZEN...best bacon yet.

I didn't see the part where you did a test fry.

And most of all:::: WHERE"S THE PICTURES??????????

Have a great day!!!

  Craig
 
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LOL...I knew I was going to get banged for that....

I have a few of the cold smoking setup.  I will post more when the bacon finished smoking :-)
 
I use the same set up except i just set the can inside the MES. Or at least i did . I am the proud owner of an AMNS now.
 
I've only ever done cold smoking, so I wouldn't have worried about that...I use zero heat so I don't have the hour to dry...
Shell,

I would guess you air dry over night, or for an hour or two with a fan before smoking?

Steve forgot to do either before his "Cold-Smoke".

It's not that you only have to worry about having a pellicle with a hot smoke. It's just easier to get it quickly with heat, which is why I told Steve to fix it that way.

I don't think he would have wanted to take it out of the smoker, and put it back in the fridge overnight, or take it out & put it in front of a fan for a couple hours.

I just gave him a "quick-fix" with a little heat.

Bear
 
Bear,

Very true!  I was, in fact, looking for a "quick fix" and you came through.  I will post some pictures of the finished product on Tuesday.  it cam out fantastic!
 
Bear,

Very true!  I was, in fact, looking for a "quick fix" and you came through.  I will post some pictures of the finished product on Tuesday.  it cam out fantastic!


That's Great----Nothing like making your own Bacon!

I have yet to hear anyone who just made his/her own Bacon, say "I'm never making Bacon again!"

You'll be "hooked" like the rest of us!--------Repeat after me------>>>"Hello, My name is Steve, and I have a problem".   
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Bear
 
Ok...here is the rest of the Q-view, as promised :-)

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Fresh off the smoker.  Total time....6 Hours "Cold smoke" (plus 1 hour of dry time in the middle) and another 2.5 hours of smoke at 140 F (Hickory)

8ffc3942_DSCF6746.jpg


After an overnight in the fridge...starting to slice (using my new Chef's Choice 610)

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All sliced and stacked (stacking courtesy of Mrs.)  The little stack in the bottom left got fried up right after the picture (YUM!), half of the bag was used for baked beans on Easter, and the rest was vacuum-packed and frozen.

"My name is Steve...and I have a problem."   
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Great job and Nice looking bacon.............. next on my list...............
 
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