Gonna do bacon for the first time

[msabino]

Pink curing salt just arrived yesterday, and as soon as we're in the clear for weather (getting some bad storms here in Northern VA) I'm going to go to get a pork belly. I have never done my own bacon, so I was wondering if there were any good lessons learned from people who have done this. I use a Big Green Egg. Thank you.

 

[tx smoker]

I use a Big Green Egg. Thank you.

You cannot really use a BGE to smoke bacon if you're looking to do a long smoke to get a good flavor. The Eggs will not maintain a low enough temp and the fat in the belly will melt / render and it makes your bacon an undesirable gooey mess. A friend of mine tried that against my recommendation and was very disappointed. When it came time to slice and package the bacon, it was like trying to slice 90 weight gear oil. You can put an AMNPS inside the Egg and cold smoke the bacon for 10 to 12 hours and have an Eggcellent product though.

Robert

 

[msabino]

You cannot really use a BGE to smoke bacon if you're looking to do a long smoke to get a good flavor. The Eggs will not maintain a low enough temp and the fat in the belly will melt / render and it makes your bacon an undesirable gooey mess. A friend of mine tried that against my recommendation and was very disappointed. When it came time to slice and package the bacon, it was like trying to slice 90 weight gear oil. You can put an AMNPS inside the Egg and cold smoke the bacon for 10 to 12 hours and have an Eggcellent product though.

Robert

Thanks for the info, Robert - much appreciated. In my BGE I have a set up to where I use a spider to hold a pizza stone; this set up allows me to deflect fire and heat so that I can maintain a constant temp. I've gone as low as 210* for briskets and pork shoulders over long periods of time. To your knowledge, would that setup suffice in getting the proper cooker temperature?

 

[Buttah Butts]

This is the method I use. I have done all 3 recipes but like the simple one the best. I have a Rec Tec and have used maple, cherry and apple pellets. I will never buy bacon again after making my own

 

[msabino]

Funny - that is the EXACT recipe I was going to use!!

 

[Brokenhandle]

If you're wanting to cold smoke bacon you want to keep temps under 80 degrees is ideal, but under 90 still works. Others hot smoke their bacon and take it to 145 ish. 210 degrees would be too hot.

Ryan

 

[SmokinAl]

Cold smoked, dry cured bacon is the best IMHO. The texture & flavor are hard to beat. Just get an AMNPS & use that in your egg. 10-12 hours of smoke is what I do, but some do 6 hours, then rest in fridge overnight & do that for 3 or four days. There are tons of bacon recipes on here just type bacon in the search box, or check out my signature line for, belly bacon, or Berkshire bacon.
Al

 

[tx smoker]

I've gone as low as 210* for briskets and pork shoulders over long periods of time. To your knowledge, would that setup suffice in getting the proper cooker temperature?

210 is still too high. You want to be in the 160 to 170 range but NOT over 180. At that temp, whether it be bacon or sausage the fat will melt and it'll get gooey. The casings on sausage will actually start to blow up at that point. As long as your temp, regardless of whether you call it "cold smoking" or "hot smoking" stays less than 170 or so you'll be fine. I just did my first batch of cold smoked recently. I'd always hot smoked it in the 160 to 170 range and the cold smoked was the best by far I've ever done. Ambient air temps were probably in the mid 90's so the smoker temp was probably in the 110 range. Did 6 hours one day, let rest in the fridge uncovered over night, then smoked 6 more hours the next day. One more night in the fridge, then sliced. Amazing stuff!!

I will never buy bacon again after making my own

He hit the nail squarely on the head right here. You're about to delve into territory from which there's no return. There are no self-help books and no 12-step program to aid you in getting over your addiction. You're going to be addicted for life. Rest assured though, your support group lies right here within SMF.

We have two flavors that are kept on hand at all times. Those being pepper crusted and maple & brown sugar. I've done a ton of different variations though. Italian, Mexican, Cajun, hot pepper, just to name a few. There are no limits to flavors you can use to create your own style of bacon. The only mandatory aspect is the proper cure. When you say you got "pink curing salt" I hope you're referring to Cure #1 (Prague Powder) as opposed to Cure #2, which is a totally different entity all together. I've also seen folks confuse Pink Himalayan Sea Salt for "pink curing salt".

Best of luck and please keep us posted on your endeavors,
Robert

 

[sprky]

Cold smoking is the way to go. When I do my bacon I cold smoke for 12 hours 2x over 2 days using the AMPS tray. after its been smoked the 24 hours I vac seal and let it rest in fridge for about how ever long it cured. I usually do a basic cure of 1.75% salt, 0.25% cure #1, 1% sugar(usually dark brown). Cure for 1 day per 1/4 inch thickness plus 2 days, at a minimum.

*EDIT* Spaced off putting in "if you need more info/help just ask or shoot me a pm I'm always willing to help if I can."

 

[tx smoker]

*EDIT* Spaced off putting in "if you need more info/help just ask or shoot me a pm I'm always willing to help if I can."

Nice summary and make that two of us. Always plenty of help available here.

Robert

 

[tx smoker]

Just a little tease M msabino A couple pics from an earlier batch I did. These are after smoking and sitting in the fridge overnight, then sliced and packaged. total batch was about 30 pounds.

Pepper crusted

Maple & brown sugar

Probably not fair....
Robert

 

[msabino]

These are some great recommendations, and I can't wait to put them into practice. I will be sure to post my results, and thanks to all the members that are so willing to help!

 

[Winterrider]

tx smoker Those bacon look excellent . Friend just got half hog yesterday. Asked me if I have ever smoked bacon, which I haven't. Just BBB
He mentioned maple bacon. Said I would do some research here for recipe and technic.

 

[tx smoker]

He mentioned maple bacon. Said I would do some research here for recipe and technic.

I typically cut the bellies in half to make them more manageable. Weigh each one in grams and use the Diggin' Dog Farm's cure calculator to determine how much cure I need. Get all that mixed up then rub a few ounces of maple syrup on each side of the belly, apply cure and rub it in, then a few tablespoons of brown sugar to each side also rubbed in. After the cure time is done, rinse the slabs and dry with paper towels. Add another little bit of both the maple syrup (first) and brown sugar (second) and let sit in the fridge at least overnight. Several days is fine if you need to do that also before time is available to smoke. It's VERY easy to set the bellies up with this flavor profile and it makes an amazing breakfast meat. I much prefer the pepper crusted for BLT's and such though.

Lemme know if I can add anything else to help. You're gonna love this stuff!! At least everybody who's tried it has loved it

Robert

 

[Winterrider]

I typically cut the bellies in half to make them more manageable. Weigh each one in grams and use the Diggin' Dog Farm's cure calculator to determine how much cure I need. Get all that mixed up then rub a few ounces of maple syrup on each side of the belly, apply cure and rub it in, then a few tablespoons of brown sugar to each side also rubbed in. After the cure time is done, rinse the slabs and dry with paper towels. Add another little bit of both the maple syrup (first) and brown sugar (second) and let sit in the fridge at least overnight. Several days is fine if you need to do that also before time is available to smoke. It's VERY easy to set the bellies up with this flavor profile and it makes an amazing breakfast meat. I much prefer the pepper crusted for BLT's and such though.

Lemme know if I can add anything else to help. You're gonna love this stuff!! At least everybody who's tried it has loved it

Robert

Thank you very much Robert. Was just looking at the cure calculator. The pepper crusted peaks my interested a little more. May hit you up for your recipe.

 

[tx smoker]

May hit you up for your recipe.

Sure but it's not much of a recipe. After maxing the cure and rubbing it into the belly, coat the entire thing, both sides, with coarse ground black pepper. It's that easy. Once cure time is done, rinse well to get off as much of the pepper as you can (some is gonna stick), coat it again on both sides, and put in the fridge at least overnight.

Here is a pic of the pepper crusted and a Cajun flavored slab on the smoker. This is an older pic but you can see that I was quite generous with the pepper

Robert

 

[SmokyMose]

For what it's worth here is my 2 cents. I use a brine (Pop's) to cure with about a half of one of those little bottles of Maple Extract.
Cold smoke only. No heat with a mailbox setup and pellets for 8 to 10 hrs.
Works for me...

 

[smokin peachey]

Pink curing salt just arrived yesterday, and as soon as we're in the clear for weather (getting some bad storms here in Northern VA) I'm going to go to get a pork belly. I have never done my own bacon, so I was wondering if there were any good lessons learned from people who have done this. I use a Big Green Egg. Thank you.

Is the storm over yet? Got that belly cutting ? I’d suggest following the Diggingdogfarm calculator http://diggingdogfarm.com/page2.html for cure, salt and sugar amounts. You can add anything extra if you want but I’d maybe just try the 3 main ingredients first. In your egg I would suggest maybe using 2 pieces of charcoal and a few small pieces of wood or you could go the amazen tube pellet route. I’ve smoked cheese in 90 degrees with a small fire so it is possible. I actually just smoked 60lb of bacon last week in 90 degree heat. Just try to keep temp around 140-150 if you can but don’t worry it it bumps a little higher for a few minutes here and there. Temp swings are ok. If it gets to warm just pull it and put it in the refrigerator for awhile then back into the smoker. Good luck!