Finally have the opportunity to post about my first attempt with making bacon. I started the process at the beginning of October with 10.9 pounds of pork belly from Costco. I used the diggingdogfarm calculator to come up with the amount of cure #1, salt and brown sugar to use for the cure. Cut the belly in half, applied the cure and into the fridge. Cured for 10 days that worked out well for the weather to cool a bit before smoking.
I filled up my AMPTS with apple pellets and into the Smoke Hollow. Outside temp was mid 70’s, hoping to keep smoker temp below 100. After about 2 hours smoker was at 95*. After another 2 1/2 hours I pulled the belly’s (smoker @ 97*) lightly wrapped in butcher paper and put into the fridge. Next morning back into the smoker for about 2 hours. Back to the fridge for another day then sliced. The smoke smell from the fridge was almost overpowering.
Sampled a couple slices with some hamburgers I grilled, then vacuum sealed and into freezer until yesterday when I finally cooked up about a pound. Overall I’m pretty happy with the way it turned out. Definitely different (better) than store bought. Already have some things in mind to improve the next batch. I will probably spread out the smoke a little to maybe 3 hours at a time for 2 days. I also will need to place the smoke tube lower in my smoker as it was too close to the belly and charred one a little. Also I need to invest in a slicer, my knife skills are just a little subpar!
Thanks for looking!
I filled up my AMPTS with apple pellets and into the Smoke Hollow. Outside temp was mid 70’s, hoping to keep smoker temp below 100. After about 2 hours smoker was at 95*. After another 2 1/2 hours I pulled the belly’s (smoker @ 97*) lightly wrapped in butcher paper and put into the fridge. Next morning back into the smoker for about 2 hours. Back to the fridge for another day then sliced. The smoke smell from the fridge was almost overpowering.
Sampled a couple slices with some hamburgers I grilled, then vacuum sealed and into freezer until yesterday when I finally cooked up about a pound. Overall I’m pretty happy with the way it turned out. Definitely different (better) than store bought. Already have some things in mind to improve the next batch. I will probably spread out the smoke a little to maybe 3 hours at a time for 2 days. I also will need to place the smoke tube lower in my smoker as it was too close to the belly and charred one a little. Also I need to invest in a slicer, my knife skills are just a little subpar!
Thanks for looking!
