It's been HOT. Average 100, or more. Have not really been inclined to fire up a smoker.
But I've had Buckboard Bacon curing. It says to cure it a minimum of 10 days. Mine went 16 days because of the heat and me not wanting to fire up.
Anyhow, I decided to do a night smoke and gitRdone. Fired up the GOSM 3005C charcoal smoker because I like the added flavor of lump charcoal, time was 8:00 PM.
The GOSM 3005C amazed me. I started with about a third of a chimney of Best Choice lump because the instructions say to put the bacon on and heat the smoker to 150°, go 45 minutes with no smoke, then bring the smoker up to 200° and smoke on. I closed the lower vents to about 3/8" and opened the top to about 1 1/2" and it was perfect. Put the bacon in and did the 45 minutes, then added 2 chunks of hickory and another full chimney of lit lump. Opened the bottom vents to 3/4". It came up to 205°, then settled at 194° and stayed there. Nice thin blue. It cruised right along and the GrillAlert remote thermometer told me it was done (140° internal temp.) at 1:15 AM.
I pulled the fire pan out and left the bacon in the smoker to cool down for an hour per instructions. Ambient temp. was still 88°! Got it off the smoker at 2:45 AM. I put it in the fridge and crashed. Not a kid anymore!
Next afternoon I sliced it and divided the slices into portions, vac sealed all except one pile with the FoodSaver. As an experiment I put 2 tablespoons of pure maple syrup in one of the bags. We'll see how that is.
The pile I didn't seal I fried up with some eggs and toast with our homemade applebutter - MOST FINE!
I highly recommend the Buckboard Bacon Cure and will be making more. I'm thinking some of the bacon in BBQ beans would work. I have a package of ends left from slicing, chop them up and, mmmmmmmmmmm.
But I've had Buckboard Bacon curing. It says to cure it a minimum of 10 days. Mine went 16 days because of the heat and me not wanting to fire up.
Anyhow, I decided to do a night smoke and gitRdone. Fired up the GOSM 3005C charcoal smoker because I like the added flavor of lump charcoal, time was 8:00 PM.
The GOSM 3005C amazed me. I started with about a third of a chimney of Best Choice lump because the instructions say to put the bacon on and heat the smoker to 150°, go 45 minutes with no smoke, then bring the smoker up to 200° and smoke on. I closed the lower vents to about 3/8" and opened the top to about 1 1/2" and it was perfect. Put the bacon in and did the 45 minutes, then added 2 chunks of hickory and another full chimney of lit lump. Opened the bottom vents to 3/4". It came up to 205°, then settled at 194° and stayed there. Nice thin blue. It cruised right along and the GrillAlert remote thermometer told me it was done (140° internal temp.) at 1:15 AM.
I pulled the fire pan out and left the bacon in the smoker to cool down for an hour per instructions. Ambient temp. was still 88°! Got it off the smoker at 2:45 AM. I put it in the fridge and crashed. Not a kid anymore!
Next afternoon I sliced it and divided the slices into portions, vac sealed all except one pile with the FoodSaver. As an experiment I put 2 tablespoons of pure maple syrup in one of the bags. We'll see how that is.
The pile I didn't seal I fried up with some eggs and toast with our homemade applebutter - MOST FINE!
I highly recommend the Buckboard Bacon Cure and will be making more. I'm thinking some of the bacon in BBQ beans would work. I have a package of ends left from slicing, chop them up and, mmmmmmmmmmm.
