Last weekend Bacon

[dazdnaz]

Well I needed an excuse or motivation I guess to get my old SLICER into working order so I dry brined (sp) some bacon.
Almost 12 pound skin off belly from Costco, brined for 2 weeks in foodsaver bags, soaked for 2 hours in a water bath, into the fridge uncovered over night. The brine was a combo of different recipes I found on SMF also pink cure.
During this period I took to cleaning up my slicer.
And on the final day a 5 hour smoke to 145° at 180° I let it cool to room temp and firm up over night in the fridge before slicing.
Pretty darn tasty if I say so myself and it was fantastic frying it up for some BLT's and having an endless supply of bacon on a tray.
The Belly:

The Brine:

The Smoke (MES 40 with AMZNPS):

The sway on the MES is 20°:

Internal temp.:

The Final Product:

This is the tray O' bacon missing a few stacks for the BLT's (no shots of them had to eat). I did to some full length strips but listening to the wise advice provided on this forum I cut the slabs in half (much easier to package and cook).:

Thanks for lookin.

 

[thirdeye]

Fantastic! I wish I was there for the taste test. I use the same rigging with the cooking string and it's short work with my trussing needle. For many years I did a warm/hot smoke in one session. Now I do a 2-day cold smoke, but things change and it's all good.

 

[pc farmer]

Great looking bacon for sure. That Globe slicer I bet is a beast.

 

[dazdnaz]

Great looking bacon for sure. That Globe slicer I bet is a beast.

That is the reason it stayed on the top shelf, I don't know why I put it there and was fearful of dropping it bringing it back down.
Sliced through the bacon with ease.

 

[pc farmer]

Top shelf? I have a table that my Hobart sits on all the time. Too heavey to move.

 

[dazdnaz]

Top shelf? I have a table that my Hobart sits on all the time. Too heavey to move.

I thought it was smart to store it over head height until I could get around to messing with it, it is now counter hsight so as not to throw out my back moving it.

 

[pc farmer]

LOL. I replied to your slicer question also.

 

[flatbroke]

Looks beautiful. Congratulations on the ride

 

[jcam222]

Great looking bacon. Love that slicer too!!

 

[Brokenhandle]

That bacon is just beautiful! Very nice color on it. Nice job and congrats on the carousel ride!

Ryan

 

[Steve H]

You did a fantastic job on that bacon! Like! What was in the brine?

 

[Misplaced Nebraskan]

Looks Great! Ron Swanson would approve!

 

[dazdnaz]

You did a fantastic job on that bacon! Like! What was in the brine?

I kept the brine simple:
per slab:
1 TBS salt
1TBS pepper
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup maple syrup
and approx. 1/4 tsp cure #1 (pink cure) done by weight
2 bay leaves

 

[HalfSmoked]

Nice looking bacon. Recipe sounds interesting.

Warren

 

[HalfSmoked]

Thanks for the like flatbroke it is appreciated.

Warren

 

[sandyut]

WOW that looks killer! Nice work!

 

[robrpb]

Looks great, nice job. I have never made bacon, but you have perked my interest.

 

[Bearcarver]

Bacon looks Great, Daz!!!
Like!
Better get more going---That won't last long!
Got one question: Is it an optical illusion, or do you have 3 smoker racks together under the Drip Tray? Do you enjoy washing them?
I only ever put a rack in my MES if I have something to set on it.
Just curious.

Bear

 

[dazdnaz]

The stack of racks was pure laziness. Lol

 

[Bearcarver]

The stack of racks was pure laziness. Lol

OK---Laziness causes more work!!!
Mrs Bear washes my Racks. That's why if it's not going to have meat on it, I don't put it in.
I keep one old Dirty one on the bottom position, just for my AMNPS.
Then I put 1 clean one on #2 or #3 position, depending on how big the roast is.
Then only one rack needs washing, and I don't get any complaints. LOL

Bear