Love Bacon-Can't MakeIt.

[kendec65]

Good Morning

I'm new to this forum and have only been smoking for about a month now.

My family and I love bacon and I have tried a few different recipes out there

on the internet now and every time I  make it no matter how thin or thick I 

slice it it gets chewy. If I cook it longer it just burns. Would anyone have an idea

what I might be doing wrong and a good recipe to start with? Thanks, Ken

 

[SmokinAl]

First thought is are you slicing it across the grain?

How about a little more info. Belly or Butt bacon? Recipe? wet or dry cure? etc.

Al

 

[worktogthr]

A lot of recipes on the internet for smoking bacon have you cook them until they are fully cooked maybe 145-160 internal temperature.  They also have you cook them at higher cooking temps (maybe 225).  Therefore when you recook them whether in a frying pan or the oven, there isn't all that much fat to render out which might explain the chewy or dry texture.  Think about grilling a chicken breast to 165 IT and then trying to reheat it in a frying pan or the oven.  You are almost always going to get a chewier or dryer piece of meat.  If you cold or warm smoke your bacon, you will basically be left with a "raw" product with most of the fat intact.  When you go to fry or bake it, it can then have the fat render and be the crispy goodness you are looking for.

 

[kendec65]

It is pork belly. I have tried both wet and dry cures. I smoke it the at 180 degrees

till it hits 150 internally. 

 

[daveomak]

Write a step by step of what you are doing including ingredients and quantities...   Then we can help you adjust your method....

Dave

 

[kendec65]

As of now I have a Rec-Tec without the cold smoker attachment however

I do have 2 A-MAZE-N (sp) 12" cold smoking tubes. Can I cold smoke with

these, and would anyone recommend a good cure and cold smoking recipe?

Thank you so much for helping.

Ken

 

[kendec65]

Dave

This last batch I made was wet cured using the following:

4 quarts of water

2 quarts apple cider

1 1/4 cups pickling salt

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup regular sugar

6 tsp. curing salt 6.25% sodium nitrite

I placed the skinned belly in the brine for 7 days, pulled it, patted it dry, set it

on a rack uncovered in fridge for a day.

Smoked it at a temp of 180 till internally reached 150. Pulled, let cool and

then placed in zip lock bag and put in fridge for a day. Sliced some off, had good

flavor but fat was chewy and meat stringy. 

I do not know if it was cut against or with the grain as someone else cut it for me and

I honestly would not know how to tell. I just know I wasted 25 dollars on a piece of meat.

Ken

 

[worktogthr]

 
It is pork belly. I have tried both wet and dry cures. I smoke it the at 180 degrees

till it hits 150 internally. 

I am by no means a bacon expert but in my limited experience, I think that 180 is a little high of a cooking temp and taking it to 150 is basically making it a fully cooked product.  So you are cooking it again and possibly drying it out.

 
As of now I have a Rec-Tec without the cold smoker attachment however

I do have 2 A-MAZE-N (sp) 12" cold smoking tubes. Can I cold smoke with

these, and would anyone recommend a good cure and cold smoking recipe?

Thank you so much for helping.

Ken

You could definitely use the A-MAZE-N  tubes to cold smoke right in the coking chamber of your Rec Tec.  Just make sure the meat is properly cured because a complete cold smoke could last a very long time depending on how smokey you want your bacon. 

I recommend you check out these three posts:

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/110799/pops6927s-wet-curing-brine

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/124885/bacon-made-the-easy-way

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/96761/smoked-bacon-step-by-step-with-qview

Hope this helps!

-Chris

 

[mowin]

Depending on outside temps you can definitely cold smoke with your amnts in your pellet grill. I do it all the time. Outside temps can't be below freezing though. Frozen meats won't take the smoke.

Edit: worktogthr types fast than me...

 

[kendec65]

So as long as it is above freezing I should be good?

 

[mowin]

Here's a link for the proper amounts of salt, sugar and cure you will need. weight your belly your going to cure, and convert that to grams with this calculator. . http://www.diggingdogfarm.com/page2.html.
This is for a dry cure. Its the method I use. Your going to need to get a gram scale.http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/...-etc-be-safe-weigh-your-stuff-and-be-accurate.

And, yes as long as its above freezing you will be good to go.

 

[kendec65]

Chris

Using this recipe, http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/124885/bacon-made-the-easy-way, what would

the suggestion be on how long to cold smoke using the tubes and how long will that bacon last?

Ken

 

[daveomak]

Ken, morning.....   Start out by trying a basic very good mix for bacon....

I gallon of water add:

1 cup sea salt or Kosher salt

1 cup granulated white sugar

1 Tbs.(heaping) cure no. 1 pink salt

Let it sit in the refer for 14 days....   

Remove and rinse and dry and sit on wire rack in refer for 1 week to "bloom and homogenize"....

Form a pellicle on the bacon slab in front of a fan on a wire rack for approx. 1-2 hours...   A pellicle is soluble proteins that "coagulate" to form a sticky "crust"...  that allows for great smoke penetration..

Smoke at 70 deg. F until a nice color has developed...   If you don't have the ability to cold smoke, smoke as cold as you can then up the heat to 150-160 until the bacon is 138 deg. F....

Place back in the refer for 7 more days on a wire rack for full flavor development...   

Slice across grain and cook or wrap and freeze for future eats...    we cook our bacon in the oven at 350 on a wire rack that's on a sheet pan until crisp...

This is the basic recipe I use and Bride says it's the best bacon she has ever eaten...   I've made bacon many, many ways and this is the best I've found..

The long soak time in the cure is necessary due to sugar penetrating up to 10 times slower than salt....   The rest times in the refer are for aging and flavor development...

Temperature Time Temperature Time
°F (°C) (Minutes) °F (°C) (Seconds)

130 (54.4) 112 min... 146 (63.3) 169 sec
131 (55.0) 89 min.... 147 (63.9) 134 sec
132 (55.6) 71 min.... 148 (64.4) 107 sec
133 (56.1) 56 min.... 149 (65.0) 85 sec
134 (56.7) 45 min.... 150 (65.6) 67 sec
135 (57.2) 36 min.... 151 (66.1) 54 sec
136 (57.8) 28 min.... 152 (66.7) 43 sec
137 (58.4) 23 min.... 153 (67.2) 34 sec
138 (58.9) 18 min.... 154 (67.8) 27 sec
139 (59.5) 15 min.... 155 (68.3) 22 sec
140 (60.0) 12 min.... 156 (68.9) 17 sec
141 (60.6) 9 min...... 157 (69.4) 14 sec
142 (61.1) 8 min...... 158 (70.0) 0 sec
143 (61.7) 6 min.......
144 (62.2) 5 min.......
145 (62.8) 4 min.......

Table C.1: Pasteurization times for beef, corned beef, lamb, pork and cured pork (FDA, 2009, 3-401.11.B.2).

 

[dirtsailor2003]

I can say that yes you can cold smoke with your AmazeN tubes. That's what I do. Heck you could use the tubes and a cardboard box if you wanted too. I prefer to cold smoke bacon as I do not like the texture of bacon that is hot smoked and then cooked again to reheat. If you have a good scale I would recommend using a dry rub cure. If not then going with Pop's brine works too.  My last batch was my best ever and I attribute it to the longer rest I gave the meat after smoking.

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/236348/rubbed-the-belly-its-bacon-time

 

[wade]

Hi Ken. You may find this helpful

 
Using this recipe, http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/124885/bacon-made-the-easy-way, what would

the suggestion be on how long to cold smoke using the tubes and how long will that bacon last?

Ken

Once cured the bacon will last for several weeks in the fridge, longer if frozen. The length of time to smoke is really down to personal taste. I usually smoke mine over hickory for 48 hours, which gives a nice smoke flavour without it being overpowering. I usually use the AMNPS (rather than the AMNTS) as they last longer between filling and I can give a full 48 hours smoke around my day job. Alternatively you can do shorter smoke times with the tubes to suit your schedule (building up to your total smoke time), placing it back in the fridge between smokes.

 

[kendec65]

Thank you all for this great information!

I do not want to start an argument, but is there a benefit

between a wet or dry cure?

Ken

 

[wade]

They are both different methods. Some prefer to immersion cure (wet) and others to dry cure. I have tried both and I prefer the dry cure however people like Dave and Pops seem to prefer to immersion cure. The end result is similar - you are trying to remove moisture from the pork and get the correct amount of salt and Nitrite inside. The reason I prefer the dry cure is that I find the end result is less salty - but it really is down to personal taste. I also like it because the bacon as it cures is in sealed plastic bags and can be stacked in the fridge. If you have plenty of space for the brine buckets then that is good too.

The only way to really check your preference is to try a batch of each and then taste them both.

 

 

[dirtsailor2003]

 
Thank you all for this great information!

I do not want to start an argument, but is there a benefit

between a wet or dry cure?

Ken

The textures are different. I prefer the dry rub cure better than the wet brine. Once again this is a personal preference.

One benefit of dry curing is you don't have a large bucket taking up most of a fridge.

 

[kendec65]

I have a fresh 12 pound belly in the fridge now. I will try both cures 

and cold smoking. I can't thank you all enough for helping!

Ken

 

[wade]

Don't forget to let us know how you get on - We do like photos on here