First cold smoke

[buzzy]

Doing the bacon from hogs we butchered 2 weeks ago. Also found out some hogs don’t make good bacon. Unless u want cured smoked strips of lard. 1 of them was like that. Cured for 10 days with TQ. Rinsed off then in frig for 3 days. Fired up the old Smoke Hollow to get things warmed up for a hour. Shutdown gas. Using smoke tube with cob pellets. Will fill it again today to get about 10 hours of smoke. Then again tomorrow. Found out the tube creates enough heat to keep temps from 61-65 between 2 racks at outside temp of 28. No wind today which is usually my struggle. Then going to put back in frig for a week before slicing. If this works out for me might have to invest in bacon hooks. Hope this sound good to all you experienced cold smoker. Sorry no pics but got a late start.

 

[SmokyMose]

Sounds good. Definitely pick up some hooks, but mind you, they're SHARP. I've poked myself a couple of times...

I haven't tried cobb pellets yet. Maybe on my next order I'll pick up some.

 

[JBPilot]

Only reason for the hooks is to maximize space correct?

 

[SmokyMose]

Only reason for the hooks is to maximize space correct?

I think it gives a better all over smoke than if it's on racks, but everything is debatable.

 

[buzzy]

I think it gives a better all over smoke than if it's on racks, but everything is debatable.

Agree. Bottom of bacon has much better color than top. Flipped them for another smoke today

 

[thirdeye]

If this works out for me might have to invest in bacon hooks.

For more years than I can count I've recommended Tender Quick as a starting point for home curing. No complicated measuring, and very satisfying results. If you find it's a little salty, that is solved with several hours of soaking after the initial rinse. Later on down the road..., check out mixing your own custom dry curing mixture using Cure #1 (aka Instacure #1, Pink cure #1, Prague powder #1) because you can pick your own salt and sugar amounts. The measuring of the Cure #1 requires a lot more accuracy since the amounts used are so small. In fact it's best to use a gram scale than fractional teaspoon measurements.

Bacon hooks are great, but consider using HD cooking twine threaded through two holes. I like the twine because it gives me a no-touch handle when moving my slabs to the smoker and back to the fridge, and also when turning during blooming or mellowing. I don't cut the string until I'm ready to slice.


You can also use string to hang cured chicken breasts or chops

A rib rack also works depending on your smoker.

 

[SmokinAl]

Looking forward to the sliced shot!
Al

 

[buzzy]

Good idea with twine. Buy a lot of twine for price of 1 bacon hook. I do have a gram scale to use now. After doing a bunch of searching this is going to be the cure I plan on using. Haven’t tried yet though.
1000 grams meat
1.13 grams cure #1
1.5% salt
1% sugar
Cure for 1 day every 1/4” thickness plus add a few for safety reasons.
Does this look right?

Here’s a rack I built for drying or mellowing in frig. Plus I have a OLD frig that has no fan just stays cold. Great for storing meats & garden produce.

 

[thirdeye]

Good idea with twine. Buy a lot of twine for price of 1 bacon hook. I do have a gram scale to use now. After doing a bunch of searching this is going to be the cure I plan on using. Haven’t tried yet though.
1000 grams meat
1.13 grams cure #1
1.5% salt
1% sugar
Cure for 1 day every 1/4” thickness plus add a few for safety reasons.
Does this look right?

NO. The 1.13 grams of Cure #1 is the multiplier you use per pound of meat. So, a Kg is 2.2 pounds and you would need 2.5 grams. (2.2 X 1.13) = 2.5 grams

Using 1000 grams (Kg) (instead of pounds) you want 0.25% of Cure #1. This means that for every 1000 grams of meat, you need 2.5 grams of Cure #1. It also means 15 grams of salt, and 10 grams of sugar is needed for your percentages above.

Your curing time will get the job done, but a longer time will improve the overall quality of the bacon. Try 12 to 14 days, turning daily.

 

[thirdeye]

Oh, nice rack system. I bought a rechargeable fan for air circulation in my fridge.

 

[DougE]

thirdeye got you covered. Weigh your meat in grams and multiply the weight by .0025 to get your cure#1 amount.

 

[motocrash]

Or just use this as I do.
No mistakes, print it, write notes on it and have for future reference. Done.

https://www.smoking-meat.com/image-files/smoking-meat-log.pdf

 

[thirdeye]

thirdeye got you covered. Weigh your meat in grams and multiply the weight by .0025 to get your cure#1 amount.

There are so many ways to get there (including online calculators) it's best to pick your preference.

Once upon a time I read a forum post where a guy bought a 2# jar of pure sodium nitrite online (yes it's for sale). He went into great detail on how he calculated 0.25% of the meat weight and he did that correctly. But instead of 6.25% in Cure #1 he was using 100%.

I also saw a cookbook that listed 'sodium nitrite' as an ingredient and even said it was available for purchase at drug stores. A letter and call to the publisher were never followed up on.

 

[buzzy]

NO. The 1.13 grams of Cure #1 is the multiplier you use per pound of meat. So, a Kg is 2.2 pounds and you would need 2.5 grams. (2.2 X 1.13) = 2.5 grams

Using 1000 grams (Kg) (instead of pounds) you want 0.25% of Cure #1. This means that for every 1000 grams of meat, you need 2.5 grams of Cure #1. It also means 15 grams of salt, and 10 grams of sugar is needed for your percentages above.

Your curing time will get the job done, but a longer time will improve the overall quality of the bacon. Try 12 to 14 days, turning daily.

WOW! Glad u caught that
Thank you!
I cure my bacon for 10 days using TQ. Longer an it is to salty For my liking. Prefer not to soak in water just rinse.
Here is pic of old classic frig. The no walk in cooler. Holds a steady 34.

Have a batch of dry beef & dry venison going now. Do soak this in water for awhile though before moving on.

 

[buzzy]

Or just use this as I do.
No mistakes, print it, write notes on it and have for future reference. Done.

https://www.smoking-meat.com/image-files/smoking-meat-log.pdf

Motocrash
Thanks!
I run a book binder so I can copy a bunch of these to make a book out of them. Will come in handy. Glad to get this cure #1 understood. Never used it. Always used TQ. Appreciate the help from all.

 

[thirdeye]

WOW! Glad u caught that
Thank you!
I cure my bacon for 10 days using TQ. Longer an it is to salty For my liking. Prefer not to soak in water just rinse.
Here is pic of old classic frig. The no walk in cooler. Holds a steady 34.
Have a batch of dry beef & dry venison going now. Do soak this in water for awhile though before moving on.

You're welcome, someone would have picked up on the wrong number. Did you come across a site or recipe link that used the 1.13 incorrectly, or did you look at so many recipes you jotted down the wrong multiplier?

That Hot Point is a classic! It looks it still has the Underwriters Lab sticker on the back wall.

 

[buzzy]

You're welcome, someone would have picked up on the wrong number. Did you come across a site or recipe link that used the 1.13 incorrectly, or did you look at so many recipes you jotted down the wrong multiplier?

That Hot Point is a classic! It looks it still has the Underwriters Lab sticker on the back wall.

All my fault. Looked at so much info forgot I was dealing with 1000 grams & not a lb. Brain fart!
World Wide Web is a bad thing at times.

 

[shea1973]

Doing the bacon from hogs we butchered 2 weeks ago. Also found out some hogs don’t make good bacon. Unless u want cured smoked strips of lard. 1 of them was like that. Cured for 10 days with TQ. Rinsed off then in frig for 3 days. Fired up the old Smoke Hollow to get things warmed up for a hour. Shutdown gas. Using smoke tube with cob pellets. Will fill it again today to get about 10 hours of smoke. Then again tomorrow. Found out the tube creates enough heat to keep temps from 61-65 between 2 racks at outside temp of 28. No wind today which is usually my struggle. Then going to put back in frig for a week before slicing. If this works out for me might have to invest in bacon hooks. Hope this sound good to all you experienced cold smoker. Sorry no pics but got a late start.

What is a TQ you said you used for curing bacon?

 

[Fueling Around]

Morton Tender Quick

as thirdeye tutored it is much better to make your own to control the sodium nitrite, salt and sugar content. TQ also contains sodium nitrate which is not generally recommend for short cures.

 

[DougE]

Morton Tender Quick
View attachment 628786
as thirdeye tutored it is much better to make your own to control the sodium nitrite, salt and sugar content. TQ also contains sodium nitrate which is not generally recommend for short cures.

Yes, you're way better off using cure#1 to make your own rub with the amount of salt and sugar you want in the finished product. No need to soak to remove salt after curing when you only put in the amount you want in the finished product in the first place (within reason, salt drives the cure, so there is a minimum amount required to cure the meat properly).