cold smoke (pork belly)

[cocoa&e]

This conversation happened almost 8 years ago when I was trying to recreate something from Eastern European smoking tradition. Mixing and misusing terminology and wording.
While American bacon needs to be cooked before consuming, in Eastern Europe we prepare same cut until internal T reaches 154.4F.
After proper breathing period and cooling down in refrigerator you can simple cut a piece and eat as it is.
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Hello, I love the Eastern European smoked meat as well. Do you have details for this process?

 

[ahakohda]

There is not much to it.
Classic recipes are more detailed in what to use as spice mix or cured method. You will need a book for those. My guide book was and is Great Sausage Recipes and Meat Curing by Rytek Kutas.

I am not sure if you are familiar with general meat curing methods. If yes, follow your favorite way of curing meat either dry or wet method. If you novice, search around this forums - many many great posts here on that topic.

Lets say I want ready to eat bacon or what called grudinka or podcherevok.

Cure slab of bacon the way you like it.
Rinse. Vacuum seal in bag. Submerging into sous vide for 4 hours at temperature 149F. Thicker slab takes longer 5 or 6 hours.
Next take it out of vacuum bag and hang to dry at a room temp for 24 hours or for as long as needed to dry it.

Next step is smoking. As with spices its up to you to choose level of smoke. I generally go with 6-8 hours of pellet smoke. No heat.
Its important to understand that as hotter it is outside, the hotter it is inside your smoker. I'd say outside temperature 50-70F is optimal for that kind of smoking. Obviously any kind of cold smoke generators eliminate heat factor but smoke is too heavy for my taste.

After you happy with level of smoke, remove your bacon from smoker, let it rest for few hours. Wrap in plastic and let it sit in refrigerator for 2-3 days to even out smoke.

Ready to eat.