I had half a belly, a little over 3.5 pounds, off a hog from a ranch down the coast. I believe it was a cross between Gloucestershire Old Spot and American Guinea hog. This was the first part of the pig I've cured so far.
I followed Disco's recipe with some small exceptions. It cured slightly longer than his calculations (camping trip screwed up my schedule) and I skipped the cold smoke because I was using hickory (forgot to order apple) and didn't want double smoked hickory. I also didn't take my smoker to 180F because I've seen it shoot up to 220 at times when it's set to that. Instead, per Bear's recipe, I kept it around 130F, with it occassionally getting up to 150.
I took it to 130F internal, and was happy to see that I didn't have any fat drips and it was pretty dry to the touch.
Rested the slab for a day and then sliced with a 12 inch knife my friend recently gave me. It was sooo helpful to have a longer blade. I wish I had that knife when I was removing the skin prior to curing!
Anywho, this bacon is OUTSTANDING. I cooked up a few little off cuts this morning with scrambled eggs and toast. Perfectly salty and ever so slightly sweet. I can't pinpoint why it tastes different than store-bought, but it does, and it's better.
Big thanks to Disco, Bear, Dave and anyone else who helped me out with this process!
I followed Disco's recipe with some small exceptions. It cured slightly longer than his calculations (camping trip screwed up my schedule) and I skipped the cold smoke because I was using hickory (forgot to order apple) and didn't want double smoked hickory. I also didn't take my smoker to 180F because I've seen it shoot up to 220 at times when it's set to that. Instead, per Bear's recipe, I kept it around 130F, with it occassionally getting up to 150.
I took it to 130F internal, and was happy to see that I didn't have any fat drips and it was pretty dry to the touch.
Rested the slab for a day and then sliced with a 12 inch knife my friend recently gave me. It was sooo helpful to have a longer blade. I wish I had that knife when I was removing the skin prior to curing!
Anywho, this bacon is OUTSTANDING. I cooked up a few little off cuts this morning with scrambled eggs and toast. Perfectly salty and ever so slightly sweet. I can't pinpoint why it tastes different than store-bought, but it does, and it's better.
Big thanks to Disco, Bear, Dave and anyone else who helped me out with this process!