Cold smoke or hot smoke bacon?

[mrad]

I have a 9lb pork belly that has cured for three weeks and is now soaking in water for an hour.
Is there a preference of hot vs. cold smoking for bacon? I did one other pork belly that I made into bacon. I cold smoked that one for 15 hours cold smoking it 3-4 times in increments of 3-4 hours. It turned out fine but am wondering if I should try the hot smoking method, which the way I understand it is to smoke it to 130 degrees???

 

[thirdeye]

I do several cold smoking sessions like you do over a couple of days, then follow with a hot smoke which also takes 3 to 4 hours. A lot of storebought bacon is smoked (or smoke cooked) to 130° +/-, so it requires cooking. I take my home made bacon to the low to mid 140°'s and technically it is fully cooked, but I like to pan fry or bake to render the fat a little more.

 

[mrad]

What temp do you have your smoker set to when you hot smoke it?

 

[Brokenhandle]

I would say it's a matter of preference, we only cold smoke our bacon. Got some sitting in fridge that only got to a temp of 105 while in smoker. But others like it hot smoked, think it changes the texture a little bit. Most people fry or bake their belly bacon but buck board bacon some might like to eat without frying so would need to be fully cooked to 145 degrees to be safe.

Ryan

 

[atomicsmoke]

Dry cured cold smoked bacon is best.

 

[mrad]

okay. Do you guys slice the long or short way?

 

[Electric88]

Not an expert by any means, but I guess I "warm smoke", at about 130 degrees smoker temp. Turned out great in my opinion, but I've only done it once.

I slice short way, as it makes it the perfect size for BLTs and such. Just my .02

 

[hawgrider]

Cold smoked is how bacon was meant to be. If you are hot smoking it you may as well just make BBQ pork belly .

 

[SmokinAl]

Dry cured cold smoked bacon is best.

I totally agree with atomicsmoke.

okay. Do you guys slice the long or short way?

I slice mine against the grain, sometimes you have to switch directions half way thru.
Al

 

[mrad]

I am getting a sweet/bitter smell when I pulled the belly of my pellet grill last night. I was using my AMPS and did not have the pellet grill turned on.

Is this a smoke flow issue? I had the same issue the last time I cold smoked my bacon. I never get this smell/flavor when the grill is on??

 

[Bearcarver]

Nothing wrong with Hot Smoking, but I would clarify that to say "To a Point".

If you want to finish your Bacon or Buckboard Bacon (Butt) to the "Safe Temp", I would Warm Smoke it (100° to 130° smoker temp) for as many hours as you want, until it gets a nice color. Then I'd jack up the heat to about 200° or so, until the IT of your Bacon is at least 145°, which is the USDA "Safe Temp".

Bear

 

[zwiller]

Cold smoke is definitely different. There is less air flow and no cooking. I think you might be fine.

I don't see much of it discussed but I tend to think drying the meat is the real key to good bacon besides a LONG smoke. A few days in the fridge to develop color and texture. I've run (cold) 12hrs and not enough for me. Plan to try 24/36 hrs. If you go down the rabbit hole there is even discussions of folks smoking for weeks. Not constant of course but still way longer than the typical hobbiest. I know everyone says homemade is better but have had that experience yet. The bar is quite high here as local pork plant makes killer stuff.

 

[pops6927]

I have done belly and buckboard (shoulder) bacon both ways. But, I have had problems with cold smoking as the temps were not sufficient to thoroughly kill pathogens. Several people got sick eating cold-smoked bacon before frying it, nibbling as the aroma attracted them to it prior to completely frying it. I will never allow that to happen again! someone could have died! So I cook everything to a minimum of partially cooked (135°) but to fully cooked (145°) preferably!
It is scary seeing camp mates double over with intestinal cramps and driving like a madman out of deep woods to rush them to the nearest ER only to find out improperly cooked bacon was the culprit!

 

[tallbm]

I live in Texas so cold smoking bacon is not really an option with our ambient temps.
So I would encourage you to give hot smoking a try since you have already cold smoked once before and you can compare what you like about both methods and which method works best for you or best for your situations.

Also, I hot smoke my bacon to an internal temp of 145F BECAUSE I like to be able to try it out of the smoker. It is also nice to be able to snack on the oddball pieces and ends that you wind up with while slicing.

Honestly doing it this way about 90% of the bacon I smoke, I eat without it ever hitting a frying pan hahahha. It has the consistency of regular bacon but can be eaten without frying.
I just tell people to try my "bacon cold cuts" and after they eat like half a pound I tell them that its really just bacon smoked to a cooked internal temp of 145F hahaha.

If I tell them its bacon first they think it is raw but when I tell them bacon cold cuts they think its this magical thing and they have to try it and they love it! Then I let em know its just bacon and by that time they don't care what I call it because its so good hahaha.

Anyhow let us know what approach you land on and how it all comes out :)

 

[pineywoods]

Everybody has an opinion here's mine.
Hogs were traditionally processed right on the family farm so it was done in cool weather and smoked right there in a smokehouse. My grandfather raised hogs commercially for a long time. I can still remember going there when I was young and going into the smokehouse with him it was huge and had lots of hams in there and sometimes bellies hanging as well.
So while not doing it like they did back then I do still cold smoke bacon the only exception being Canadian bacon which I do hot smoke so it can be used for making cold ham sandwiches. We don't eat any other type of bacon cold so it always gets cooked before consuming and if serving Canadian bacon for breakfast it gets heated up before serving. We always end up giving away some of the bacon and the people are told it has to be cooked before being consumed unless it's the Canadian bacon.
I as well as other members have found that most of the time bacon starts to render fat at anything much over 100 degrees so I try to keep the smoker under that other than the Canadian bacon which doesn't have as much fat to start with.
I was also taught to leave the bacon in the fridge for several days after smoking before slicing to kind of let the smoke mellow or even out or whatever it does. Much like we do with cheese after smoking.
I smoke for 8-10 hours a couple days if I have the time usually with pecan or hickory. Once in awhile I do use apple just for a change of pace. I have had a couple different smokehouses and have used wood splits in a separate firebox piped into the smokehouse and currently use the amazen smokers to produce the smoke.
You didn't say how you were producing the smoke in your pellet grill nor did you say if you had the vent wide open.
Years ago I had a very good source of bellies and several of us SMF members got together and bought bellies that we cured and smoked at my place. It was like 200 lbs worth of bellies lol.
Sorry for the long post

 

[hondabbq]

This is what I was told when I was starting out.

"Do you cook your steak, cool it, then re fry it?" Me neither.

 

[benv909]

Do you still brine with curing salts if doing a warm smoke up to 145 IT?

I live in Texas so cold smoking bacon is not really an option with our ambient temps.
So I would encourage you to give hot smoking a try since you have already cold smoked once before and you can compare what you like about both methods and which method works best for you or best for your situations.

Also, I hot smoke my bacon to an internal temp of 145F BECAUSE I like to be able to try it out of the smoker. It is also nice to be able to snack on the oddball pieces and ends that you wind up with while slicing.

Honestly doing it this way about 90% of the bacon I smoke, I eat without it ever hitting a frying pan hahahha. It has the consistency of regular bacon but can be eaten without frying.
I just tell people to try my "bacon cold cuts" and after they eat like half a pound I tell them that its really just bacon smoked to a cooked internal temp of 145F hahaha.

If I tell them its bacon first they think it is raw but when I tell them bacon cold cuts they think its this magical thing and they have to try it and they love it! Then I let em know its just bacon and by that time they don't care what I call it because its so good hahaha.

Anyhow let us know what approach you land on and how it all comes out :)

 

[Bearcarver]

Do you still brine with curing salts if doing a warm smoke up to 145 IT?

That's up to you. I personally like the flavor of Bacon more than just plain Pork, so I cure it regardless.
And I have been smoking my Belly Bacon at 130° for many years, and have never had any fat render even one Drop. Just don't let it get over 135° to 140°.
Like This:
Bacon (Extra Smoky)

Bear

 

[tallbm]

Do you still brine with curing salts if doing a warm smoke up to 145 IT?

I absolutely cure the belly/bacon because it takes many hours for the bacon to hit 145F IT (Internal Temp) and you want the curing salt to protect the meat over that long cooking time. Also you don't get bacon flavor unless it is cured :)
Without curing salt u have to up your cooking temp to safely cook the pork belly and you end up with roasted smoked pork rather than bacon.

When I smoke my bacon I basically use the same process that is used for smoking sausage.
That process is to simply walk the smoker temperature up slowly so you don't render/melt the bacon fat. I walk up about 170F smoker temp and leave it there until my bacon's Internal Temp hits 145F.
This will usually be an 8-9hr+ cook on 8-10 pounds of belly. I think I don't apply smoke for more then about 5hrs but I'll have to double check my notes on that.

Bear has good info on his approach for a warm bacon smoke and notice he too uses cure but takes his bacon to a lower internal temp.

I'm sure you will enjoy the bacon from either approach. My approach simply allows you to eat a slice of bacon as it comes out of the smoke and while slicing it AND eliminates the worry of focusing in a "cold" environment for true bacon cold smoking.
The only thing I truly cold smoke is salmon lox and that is only 1 or 2 times a year in the coldest part of our Texas winter because I need actual cold temps to do so :D

I hope this info helps :)

 

[BobLon]

I absolutely cure the belly/bacon because it takes many hours for the bacon to hit 145F IT (Internal Temp) and you want the curing salt to protect the meat over that long cooking time. Also you don't get bacon flavor unless it is cured :)
Without curing salt u have to up your cooking temp to safely cook the pork belly and you end up with roasted smoked pork rather than bacon.

When I smoke my bacon I basically use the same process that is used for smoking sausage.
That process is to simply walk the smoker temperature up slowly so you don't render/melt the bacon fat. I walk up about 170F smoker temp and leave it there until my bacon's Internal Temp hits 145F.
This will usually be an 8-9hr+ cook on 8-10 pounds of belly. I think I don't apply smoke for more then about 5hrs but I'll have to double check my notes on that.

Bear has good info on his approach for a warm bacon smoke and notice he too uses cure but takes his bacon to a lower internal temp.

I'm sure you will enjoy the bacon from either approach. My approach simply allows you to eat a slice of bacon as it comes out of the smoke and while slicing it AND eliminates the worry of focusing in a "cold" environment for true bacon cold smoking.
The only thing I truly cold smoke is salmon lox and that is only 1 or 2 times a year in the coldest part of our Texas winter because I need actual cold temps to do so :D

I hope this info helps :)

I appreciate this topic and this post. I have always cold smoked, BUT, I live in Florida and had trouble finding pork belly when I needed it last Fall. So I am going to try some warm smoke as I have no other choice except store bought bacon, which is not an option anymore since I started making our own :)

So thanks,
hoping for the best to get by.
BobLon