- Jan 26, 2017
- 11
- 15
I've been making pork belly bacon for a number of years now and basically learned how by following the posts on SMF and experimenting. Here's what I've gleaned and current process developed from the various posts:
1. I dry cure and always use the "diggingdogfarms" calculator to calculate cure #1, sugar and salt. Always works well. Sometimes I add extra flavors, but bacon comes out great with just the basic ingredients, The bellies are vac-packed, placed in the fridge and try to turn them every day.
2. I always give the belly two weeks to cure in the fridge using the calculator above. Could be pulled earlier with thin bellies, but have never had an issue with uncured meat before smoking. (Never prepared a belly more than 3 inches thick.)
3. After two weeks of curing, I wash it thoroughly, pat dry and sit on racks in the fridge for 2-3 days and the surface dries and gets nice and tacky (pellicle).
4. I start the smoking process with cold smoking the slabs first using an A-MAZ-N tube with pellets using either hickory or apple pellets. I use a Weber Kamado grill and it works very well by placing the smoking tube on the bottom charcoal rack and the slabs on the top rack with the dampers open on both the top and bottom. It takes about 4 hours to burn all the pellets and the temp stays near ambient temp in the smoking chamber. I usually repeat this process for a total of 8 hours of cold smoke.
5. I then hot smoke the slabs using the "snake" method of charcoal and wood chunk placement in the grill using the heat deflector and recommended smoke configuration. I wait until the smoking wood chunks have heated and the smoke is "blue" before closing the lid and dampers. I try to keep the temp about 250-275F.
6. I use a thermometer and hot smoke the bellies until the internal temp is 150F. I then pull the slabs and sit on the counter for about an hour.
7. The slabs are then placed in the fridge for at least 72 hours to chill thoroughly.
8. When ready to slice, I put the slabs in the freezer for about 30 minutes. They are then cold enough to slice easily with a small home slicer and make uniform thin cuts.
The results are always delicious and very consistent. Thanks for reading! --Terry
1. I dry cure and always use the "diggingdogfarms" calculator to calculate cure #1, sugar and salt. Always works well. Sometimes I add extra flavors, but bacon comes out great with just the basic ingredients, The bellies are vac-packed, placed in the fridge and try to turn them every day.
2. I always give the belly two weeks to cure in the fridge using the calculator above. Could be pulled earlier with thin bellies, but have never had an issue with uncured meat before smoking. (Never prepared a belly more than 3 inches thick.)
3. After two weeks of curing, I wash it thoroughly, pat dry and sit on racks in the fridge for 2-3 days and the surface dries and gets nice and tacky (pellicle).
4. I start the smoking process with cold smoking the slabs first using an A-MAZ-N tube with pellets using either hickory or apple pellets. I use a Weber Kamado grill and it works very well by placing the smoking tube on the bottom charcoal rack and the slabs on the top rack with the dampers open on both the top and bottom. It takes about 4 hours to burn all the pellets and the temp stays near ambient temp in the smoking chamber. I usually repeat this process for a total of 8 hours of cold smoke.
5. I then hot smoke the slabs using the "snake" method of charcoal and wood chunk placement in the grill using the heat deflector and recommended smoke configuration. I wait until the smoking wood chunks have heated and the smoke is "blue" before closing the lid and dampers. I try to keep the temp about 250-275F.
6. I use a thermometer and hot smoke the bellies until the internal temp is 150F. I then pull the slabs and sit on the counter for about an hour.
7. The slabs are then placed in the fridge for at least 72 hours to chill thoroughly.
8. When ready to slice, I put the slabs in the freezer for about 30 minutes. They are then cold enough to slice easily with a small home slicer and make uniform thin cuts.
The results are always delicious and very consistent. Thanks for reading! --Terry