Buckboard Bacon Cold or Hot Smoke?

[BrianGSDTexoma]

I am on the fence about this one. I am pulling my half butt out of cure today. Going for a soak than air dry for few days. Was wondering how most smoke it? I have done several of these for ham but wanting bacon for this one.

 

[smokerjim]

I cold smoke for 4 or 5 hours then gradually raise temp until I get an internal of 140.

 

[BrianGSDTexoma]

Guess I will try cold smoke let sit couple days. Than give it a try. Can always go back at hot smoke after that.

 

[SmokinAl]

Dry cure & a cold smoke gives the best texture bacon, IMHO. After a 14 day cure, I dry uncovered for 4 days in the fridge after a soak in fresh water, then cold smoke for 10-12 hours. Then another 4 days in the fridge uncovered. Finally about 3 hours in the freezer and slice with a meat slicer. We actually like BBB better than belly bacon.
Al

 

[mr_whipple]

I've been doing some reading on the bacon cold smoking topic. What I was wondering about is the fridge time. Seems to be a consensus just about everywhere I read that you're looking for 20-25% weight loss between smoking and drying but noone seemed to have a point of reference for that.

 

[Bearcarver]

I always Smoked my Buckboard Bacon & Canadian Bacon for lower Temps to get a good amount of Smoke, then upped the heat to get it to 145° IT, so you can either eat it cold safely, or heat it up, without having to worry about taking it to 145°, like you would have to do with Raw Smoked Bacon.

Bear

 

[zwiller]

I've been doing some reading on the bacon cold smoking topic. What I was wondering about is the fridge time. Seems to be a consensus just about everywhere I read that you're looking for 20-25% weight loss between smoking and drying but noone seemed to have a point of reference for that.

I am no expert but consider myself well read and do not recall seeing much info either. Learned the drying thing here. Also, my trials with bacon were tasty but not better than bacon from the store. I can see some guys like it but not me. A few others here put much more smoke (cold) on theirs and I need to try that like 24-36hrs over a few days. I too prefer BBB over bellies for more meat and lower cost. I also plan to experiment with bring the meat up to edible temps like Bearcarver as my favorite bacons are labeled "partially cooked". Might actually help with flavor.

 

[mr_whipple]

I just started doing buckboard bacon this year. Canadian, belly and that have all been hot smoked at 225 or a bit lower on the pellet pooper and they were all way better than store bought with the exception of my first go at dry curing. I did a batch of buckboard with cure #1, salt and brown sugar. It was just so so. I normally use coarse black pepper and maple syrup in a wet cure. Now that I think ammo can mod is working well I want to try a cold smoke, but first I'm going to do a hot smoke up to 145, just at lower temps like Bear does. In fact, I'll stop jacking this thread and start another in the electric smoker section, as I have some questions that are more suited to that.

 

[SmokinAl]

Here is what dry cure, cold smoked BBB looks like. And when fried, it’s crispy & meaty.

BUCKBOARD BACON

Well with the price of bellies so high , I decided to make a batch of BB bacon. Actually I think I like the flavor better than belly bacon. Anyhow I used 1/2 of an 8lb butt, & dry rubbed it using the bacon calculator http://diggingdogfarm.com/page2.html. Also added about 1/4 cup of black...

www.smokingmeatforums.com

Al

 

[smokerjim]

I've been doing some reading on the bacon cold smoking topic. What I was wondering about is the fridge time. Seems to be a consensus just about everywhere I read that you're looking for 20-25% weight loss between smoking and drying but noone seemed to have a point of reference for that.

i would say most people don't talk about the weight loss here because and this is my opinion that we just make sure it's cured properly and smoked to our liking and not worried about weight loss but i'm sure there are some people here who do follow the weight loss maybe they will chime in.

 

[indaswamp]

I've been doing some reading on the bacon cold smoking topic. What I was wondering about is the fridge time. Seems to be a consensus just about everywhere I read that you're looking for 20-25% weight loss between smoking and drying but noone seemed to have a point of reference for that.

The thing about the fridge time does two things....one, it allows the bacon to lose moisture which concentrates the flavor. Two, it allows the smoke molecules to penetrate deep all the way through the bacon. The change in temp. from cold fridge temps. (32-40*F) to cold smoking temps. (60-71*F) accelerates the diffusion of the smoke molecules into the center. It also keeps the surface of the meat from forming a crust which stops the smoke absorption.

I dry in the fridge 2 days, then cold smoke 4 nights, 12 hours a night resting in the fridge during the day, then 2 days in the fridge, freeze and slice, vac pack. IMO-best bacon on the planet. Somewhere between 15-20% weight loss.

 

[forktender]

i would say most people don't talk about the weight loss here because and this is my opinion that we just make sure it's cured properly and smoked to our liking and not worried about weight loss but i'm sure there are some people here who do follow the weight loss maybe they will chime in.

You will have virtually zero weight loss with cold smoked bacon.
A lot of people don't like the homemade bacon because it's not soft like the store bought stuff. What they may not know is the store bought bacon is soft because they add acid to their curing process. I don't want to eat anything cured in an acid bath, but that's just me. LOL!!!

 

[SmokyMose]

I've never done buckboard, only belly, but I only cold smoke. Since I'm going to cook it anyway I never understood why I should hot smoke.

 

[indaswamp]

Matter of fact....I need to pull out the wild hog bacon I have curing in the fridge and hang it today. Suppose to get cold with temps. in the 40's Saturday night thru Wednesday so I will cold smoke it then.

 

[SmokyMose]

Matter of fact....I need to pull out the wild hog bacon I have curing in the fridge and hang it today. Suppose to get cold with temps. in the 40's Saturday night thru Wednesday so I will cold smoke it then.

Perfect cold smoke weather!

 

[BrianGSDTexoma]

Here is what dry cure, cold smoked BBB looks like. And when fried, it’s crispy & meaty.

BUCKBOARD BACON

Well with the price of bellies so high , I decided to make a batch of BB bacon. Actually I think I like the flavor better than belly bacon. Anyhow I used 1/2 of an 8lb butt, & dry rubbed it using the bacon calculator http://diggingdogfarm.com/page2.html. Also added about 1/4 cup of black...

www.smokingmeatforums.com

Al

This was my plan from the beginning. Going to follow through with it this time.

Also, my trials with bacon were tasty but not better than bacon from the store.

That why I quit making it but since Pork Butt's less than a dollar lb and bacon so high going for it.

I dry in the fridge 2 days, then cold smoke 4 nights, 12 hours a night resting in the fridge during the day, then 2 days in the fridge, freeze and slice, vac pack. IMO-best bacon on the planet. Somewhere between 15-20% weight loss.

That sounds good but I am not that committed. Does have me thinking though.

 

[BrianGSDTexoma]

Doing an experiment. Never had any luck with tray and whole pellets any tube puts out to much smoke for MES. I am out of dust. Took some LJ hickory pellets and some hickory stringy chips and put in my old Ninja Blender. Filled tray and got in mailbox. Burning perfect. I had to use flash to be able to even see smoke. Should get a long burn.

No Flash


With Flash

 

[BrianGSDTexoma]

Well it did not work. Back to the drawing board. Needs more O2 I think.

 

[DougE]

I did this one yesterday (my first). I tried doing a cold smoke with just a pellet tube in the Camp Chef, and temps were staying around 70ish until the tube burnt about half way down. The temp started pushing 80 and above, so I just fired the grill up to 160, and finished it up with a warm smoke. I used about a 50/50 blend of hickory and cherry in both the tube and grill hopper. It did get a few hours in with just the tube burning, but don't know how much smoke flavor I got as I haven't sliced it yet.

 

[BrianGSDTexoma]

Take 2.