General questions about bacon

[tallbm]

I have been working on detailing out the process that I want to use to dry cure/hot smoke bacon. I've got a few (random) questions, after reading numerous threads in this forum and looking at a bunch of web articles on smoking bacon.

Would love input from folks...

Q1: For the dry cure, which (non-iodine) salt should I use? Kosher? Sea Salt? I've got both.

Q2: Will there be a fat cap on the belly? If so, do I score it (read that on one site)? Do I smoke it with the cap up/down?

I'm going to make sure that I don't get a pork belly with rind.

For hot smoking I've seen these suggestions:

• 200˚F until IT 150˚F (3 mentions) - 2-3 hours
• 175-185˚F until IT 150˚F - 3+ hours
• 110˚F ramping up to 165˚F (at what rate per hour?) until IT 140-145˚F - ? hours
• 180˚F until IT 145˚F - 6-8 hours
• 225˚F until IT 145˚F - 2-4 hours (pellet smoker)
• 122˚F for 1-2 hours to dry, 130˚F for 3 hours (book) - ? hours

As you can see, there is quite a variation in duration, though I'm not sure if all were referencing using a pellet smoker. I see some mention of really long smoking times (6+ hours)causing a more bitter flavor.

My Traeger pellet smoker minimum is 170˚F. I'm wondering about the difficulty in modulating lower temps (by leaving it open some).

Q3: Which temp should I use, and roughly, how long would it be running?

Q4: Would 145˚F be the best IT to shoot for?

I did pick up a Chef's Choice 7" slicer (small tooth blade).
Q5: Will that blade be OK, so should I seek out a smooth blade? If so, pointers to where I can get the blade?

Q6: Whats the general consensus, when the blade gets dull? Replace? Try to find a sharpening service that can handle this type of blade? Will it be possible with a toothed blade?

Once I get my proposed process detailed out better, I'll start a new thread and post it for some feedback. then. I'll get some pork and give it a whirl.

A1: Either salt will work but kosher seems to be preferred and dissolves easily

A2: There should be a fat cap on the belly. I would not score it and I would smoke it fat cap up. Really you shouldn't getting the smoker so hot that it melts the belly fat too much at all.

A3: As for hot smoking (the method I use), I would suggest you do the option of 110F ramping up to 165F and taking the IT to 140-145F. Every hour raise the smoker temp about 15F degrees and I've never had 20F increases be a problem but just go nice and easy for your 1st attempt here. This is also the same process you use for doing sausage so it is nice to get a practice run at it with less picky bacon.

If you can put a wooden dowel or stick or something in the door of the traeger that would help. This will be a maiden voyage to figure out how your system can/will perform so time to dive in and learn what it does for future bacon smokes :D

A4: An IT of 145F should be fine should you want to stick to USDA minimum safe temp for whole meat pork.

A5: That blade should be fine though consensus is that the smooth blade does better. I believe Chef's Choice has a sharpening attachment and that it "may" work with that blade but not sure. In any case you should be good for the maiden voyage and be able to pick up a smooth blade at any point should this one not work well or it dulls out over time.

A6: I think the blades are $25-$30 so it comes down to whether that is easier than finding a sharpening mechanism. I think there used to be an attachable sharpener that you would attach to the slicer and when you turn on the blade and it rotates it would sharpen itself but I didn't seem to find it. There seems to be this concept though on other sharpeners so I'm sure there is a way to make this happen but if not, a new blade it is :D

 

[paleoman]

A1: Either salt will work but kosher seems to be preferred and dissolves easily

A2: There should be a fat cap on the belly. I would not score it and I would smoke it fat cap up. Really you shouldn't getting the smoker so hot that it melts the belly fat too much at all.

A3: As for hot smoking (the method I use), I would suggest you do the option of 110F ramping up to 165F and taking the IT to 140-145F. Every hour raise the smoker temp about 15F degrees and I've never had 20F increases be a problem but just go nice and easy for your 1st attempt here. This is also the same process you use for doing sausage so it is nice to get a practice run at it with less picky bacon.

If you can put a wooden dowel or stick or something in the door of the traeger that would help. This will be a maiden voyage to figure out how your system can/will perform so time to dive in and learn what it does for future bacon smokes :D

A4: An IT of 145F should be fine should you want to stick to USDA minimum safe temp for whole meat pork.

A5: That blade should be fine though consensus is that the smooth blade does better. I believe Chef's Choice has a sharpening attachment and that it "may" work with that blade but not sure. In any case you should be good for the maiden voyage and be able to pick up a smooth blade at any point should this one not work well or it dulls out over time.

A6: I think the blades are $25-$30 so it comes down to whether that is easier than finding a sharpening mechanism. I think there used to be an attachable sharpener that you would attach to the slicer and when you turn on the blade and it rotates it would sharpen itself but I didn't seem to find it. There seems to be this concept though on other sharpeners so I'm sure there is a way to make this happen but if not, a new blade it is :D

Thanks for all the tips/recommendations. I'll work on my process instructions and will post in a new thread for any comments, and then will work on getting some pork to try it out an post results.

 

[paleoman]

I had a few more questions for you tallbm ...

I'm going to try the 110˚F to 165˚F ramp up on smoking for the first try. I think I read about you mentioning in one post, not to smoke for over 6 hours, as it may get too much smoke and be bitter.

What should I do, if I find that it hasn't reached IT within that time?

Should I finish in oven? If so, what temp should the oven be at?

With the Chef's Choice 615 the thickness knob has arbitrary hash marks from 1-20 (no specific measurement, AFAICT).

I know it's a personal preference thing, but for just a normal (not thick cut) bacon, any pointers on roughly where you set the knob? I'm sure it'll be a trial and error thing, figuring out the setting, given it's the first time I've tried a slicer.

Thanks!

 

[tallbm]

I had a few more questions for you tallbm ...

I'm going to try the 110˚F to 165˚F ramp up on smoking for the first try. I think I read about you mentioning in one post, not to smoke for over 6 hours, as it may get too much smoke and be bitter.

What should I do, if I find that it hasn't reached IT within that time?

Should I finish in oven? If so, what temp should the oven be at?

With the Chef's Choice 615 the thickness knob has arbitrary hash marks from 1-20 (no specific measurement, AFAICT).

I know it's a personal preference thing, but for just a normal (not thick cut) bacon, any pointers on roughly where you set the knob? I'm sure it'll be a trial and error thing, figuring out the setting, given it's the first time I've tried a slicer.

Thanks!

I'm going to try the 110˚F to 165˚F ramp up on smoking for the first try. I think I read about you mentioning in one post, not to smoke for over 6 hours, as it may get too much smoke and be bitter.

What should I do, if I find that it hasn't reached IT within that time?

Should I finish in oven? If so, what temp should the oven be at?

In my case I use the AMNPS tray with my MES and I found that 100% hickory at 5-6+ hours was too strong.
You may not have the problem depending on the pellets and the blend you are using and how much smoke may get produced.

If it is a lot of smoke and a stronger wood (like 100% Hickory) then you could always transfer to the oven to finish. Something that may help things cook up faster would be to take your pork belly halves and cut them in half again (quarters at this point) and have them spaced apart a bit and now you have smaller pieces that may come up to temp faster. You will have a few extra bacon end slices but that is just more for you to snack on while slicing hahaha.

If doing it in the oven you will likely have the same problem where it won't go below 170F. You can roll with that or again crack the door open if it is too high of an oven temp at it's lowest setting.

With the Chef's Choice 615 the thickness knob has arbitrary hash marks from 1-20 (no specific measurement, AFAICT).

I know it's a personal preference thing, but for just a normal (not thick cut) bacon, any pointers on roughly where you set the knob? I'm sure it'll be a trial and error thing, figuring out the setting, given it's the first time I've tried a slicer.

It will all be trial and error but 1-3 slices and you will likely find a setting you like.
Now that knob does not "lock" down and will slip and the slices can start to get a little thicker as you are working, pressing, and slicing meat. You just dial it back to the notch you like OR you hold the dial with one hand as you work the slicing with your other hand and that will keep it from slipping.

This will all make more sense when you are using it. No matter what though you will likely have to just have to slightly adjust the thickness back to what you want as it starts to slip every X amount of slices.
It won't be a big deal once you get going. You will also run into minor quirks with the slicer like a "tail" on the meat where the bottom of your meat hunk doesn't get sliced square off and a tail kind of forms.
The easiest thing to do is to just flip the hunk of meat so the tail is at the top and boom it gets cut off with the next slice.
Another thing that works to avoid a tail will be to have the hunk of meat "elevated" on the sliding slicing tray. This means the meat is never at the bottom of the blade so you get a more square cut.

How do I do this "elevat the meat" thing? I usually cut and square up the hunk of meat I'm slicing on my slicer (bacon, sandwich meat, ham, etc.). This means I cut off an odd shaped end so my bacon is square or my cut off the end of my giant sandwich meat chubs do I'm not slicing a rounded hunk of meat, and I then take the cut off hunk and place it flat on the sliding meat tray of the slicer.
I then put the meat I am slicing on top of it so now it is elevated.
I just keep moving things so the the meat stays elevated and no tail forms AND when I get to where I'm almost to the end of slicing, it does not matter that the little hunk of meat elevating things also starts to get sliced up. It's all edible :D

This is hard to visualize without pictures and without having used the slicer yet but it may start to make sense once you get going :D