Makin Bacon

[ronp]

Very nice.

Wish I had some.

 

[shooterrick]

Jerry ya never cease to amaze me! LOL Hogs gone Wild!!

 

[dasgrinch]

A) Holy crap, look at all that bacon.
B) Holy crap, look at the size of that smoker!

I am totally jealous.

 

[lcruzen]

Nice job on the bacon. Nice to be able to do that kind of quantity.

 

[isutroutbum]

Amazing! Great post - this really makes me want to try it! Thanks!!!

 

[okie joe]

Good post jerry heck of a job.....
thanks Pop for the explation for the question how ya make bacon,,,, bacon=bellys buckboard=sholder and Canadian bacon = pork loin,,,all Smoked if not smoked its salt meat where i come from...Thanks

 

[downstatesmoker]

I just read a blog (different board) about making bacon. The gentleman that wrote the blog uses a salt only (no nitrates/nitrites) to cure the meat. Has anyone on this board tried this before?

http://www.imafoodblog.com/index.php...nd-smoke-bacon

 

[pineywoods]

Check this out for some curing info

http://www.wedlinydomowe.com/curing-meat.htm

 

[downstatesmoker]

So it will work but there is a higher chance of spoiling and bacteria growth than if you use nitrates, if I am reading this correctly.

 

[ronp]

Very interesting Jerry, thanks.

 

[pineywoods]

The way I understand it nitrates make it much safer. I know many of our grandparents cured with just salt but then again most of them were butchering their own hogs

 

[downstatesmoker]

well, being on Long Island on a 50'x80' plot of land in the heart of the "burbs" I doubt my neighbors (or the town) would allow me to slaughter my own hogs :)

 

[pineywoods]

I know very few people still butcher their own compared to days gone by. I also know that the USDA is supposed to keep our meat safe. That being said I'll still use the nitrates and be as safe as possible

 

[melonhead3215]

So what would be the right temp if you was going to hot smoke the bacon? Great Looking Bacon by the way!

 

[pineywoods]

Honestly I would not hot smoke belly bacon. At temps over about 100 degrees your gonna render fat and affect the final product

 

[mballi3011]

I'm with Jerry and I would recommend smoking bacon at a high temp unless your doing Canadian bacon so yo can eat it right out of the package. I always smoke my bellie bacon at low as I can go temp maybe 70°-75° after all you are just looking for the flavor of the wood in the bacon. Not to cook the bacon. This way you will still need to fry the bacon as normal bacon goes. 

 

[polarlys]

I have the book from the Sausage Maker.  I usually combine techniques that I get from several directions.   This year I tried something new.   Not my idea,  I simply ran out of propane in the middle of the hot smoking process.   In the book he advised hot smoking until you get an internal temp. of 115 deg. F.   I usually try to keep the smoking temp around 200 deg. F.   That has worked nicely for me over several bacon making times.   This time, and I started with #60 of fresh bellies, things worked out differently but came out very well in the end.   My propane burner that I use inside the smoker was acting up and I was only able to get the temp up to 100 deg.   So that was issue #1.   Second issue was that during the night I ran out of propane so it turned into not only a low temp smoke but then a No temp smoke.   I was going to put a fresh tank on and warm it up again but I took a look at it and took a piece to do a taste test and I liked it better so left it as it was.    Things worked out in the end nicely.