Hey everyone
Well after too many hours of reading on this site to count I decided it was time to give bacon a shot. I have brined pork belly in the past and hot smoked it with some really good results.
I ordered some Cure #1 and felt like I was counting the minutes until it arrived!
After what seemed like months ( 5 days) it came yippie
I decided to go with Pops wet brine (awesome and thanks Pops)
So I used the following
2 gal of water
just under 2 cups of sea salt
1 cup light brown sugar
1cup dark
just under 2 cups of white sugar
2 generous TBSP of Cure #1
After 11 days rotating the slabs every other day I rinsed in cool water and soaked in water for 1 1/4 hours
Test fry was really good ( a little on the thick side) but all in all good flavour and not too much salt
put back in the fridge on racks for 2 days to get a good pellicle
After 2 days the slabs were nice and dry and felt really tacky (good good)
So today being Dads day off they have been on the smoker for 2.5 hours and the temp is sitting at about 70 -75 F
I have lots of Q views and will post as soon as I figure how
Any input on what I've done so far would be great thanks for looking
Q views to follow
Hey what do you know I figured it out
Took a moment to enjoy the start of Dad's day off
This is the side before I cut it up into 3 (some what equal pieces)
Someone wants to help Ouch
Everyone into the pool
So I had to figure out how I was going to do my set up for the cold smoke.
I used two of my canister smokers stacked. Placed a row of apple chips with coals on the top, used some hot coals from the fireplace to get it started it ran for about 3.5 hours and held a temp of about 45F. She wasn't the nicest looking set up but it worked
I hate running an empty smoker it seems like such a waste So I decided I would try and smoke some cheese, 2 pieces of extra old cheddar and 1 piece of old. It was on for about 2 and 3/4 hours and turned out good, not a lot of colour change but the temp was fairly low about 45F I will let you know how it turned out on the 23rd when it's ready
After the 2 day pellicle rest and almost ready for the smoker, I left 1 slab in the fridge that I will slice up later for pasta and other stuff ( the bride asked if I would leave one not smoked I know booo) I coated the two small slabs with some homemade steak spice that has no salt
After 2.5 hours at 70- 75 F
Fire pan set up, I am using apple wood
I went with more coals this time to get a little more heat it seemed to work and is holding a temp of 75 F
After 2.5 hours
I will post more as the day goes on
Thanks for looking
Well after too many hours of reading on this site to count I decided it was time to give bacon a shot. I have brined pork belly in the past and hot smoked it with some really good results.
I ordered some Cure #1 and felt like I was counting the minutes until it arrived!
After what seemed like months ( 5 days) it came yippie
I decided to go with Pops wet brine (awesome and thanks Pops)
So I used the following
2 gal of water
just under 2 cups of sea salt
1 cup light brown sugar
1cup dark
just under 2 cups of white sugar
2 generous TBSP of Cure #1
After 11 days rotating the slabs every other day I rinsed in cool water and soaked in water for 1 1/4 hours
Test fry was really good ( a little on the thick side) but all in all good flavour and not too much salt
put back in the fridge on racks for 2 days to get a good pellicle
After 2 days the slabs were nice and dry and felt really tacky (good good)
So today being Dads day off they have been on the smoker for 2.5 hours and the temp is sitting at about 70 -75 F
I have lots of Q views and will post as soon as I figure how
Any input on what I've done so far would be great thanks for looking
Q views to follow
Hey what do you know I figured it out
Took a moment to enjoy the start of Dad's day off
This is the side before I cut it up into 3 (some what equal pieces)
Someone wants to help Ouch
Everyone into the pool
So I had to figure out how I was going to do my set up for the cold smoke.
I used two of my canister smokers stacked. Placed a row of apple chips with coals on the top, used some hot coals from the fireplace to get it started it ran for about 3.5 hours and held a temp of about 45F. She wasn't the nicest looking set up but it worked
I hate running an empty smoker it seems like such a waste So I decided I would try and smoke some cheese, 2 pieces of extra old cheddar and 1 piece of old. It was on for about 2 and 3/4 hours and turned out good, not a lot of colour change but the temp was fairly low about 45F I will let you know how it turned out on the 23rd when it's ready
After the 2 day pellicle rest and almost ready for the smoker, I left 1 slab in the fridge that I will slice up later for pasta and other stuff ( the bride asked if I would leave one not smoked I know booo) I coated the two small slabs with some homemade steak spice that has no salt
After 2.5 hours at 70- 75 F
Fire pan set up, I am using apple wood
I went with more coals this time to get a little more heat it seemed to work and is holding a temp of 75 F
After 2.5 hours
I will post more as the day goes on
Thanks for looking
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