Preparing for first bacon smoke

[pc farmer]

14 days shouldn't have caused the off flavor unless something in the brine was messed up.

When I use pops brine I cut the salt and sugar in half.

 

[rgautheir20420]

I agree with c farmer that the brine wouldn't have created an off flavor like that. It had to have been the smoke. The most I've ever smoked with the soldering iron was 3 hrs and I didn't have any off flavors. It's likely the extended smoke time with the soldering iron is what caused the issue. 

 

[Bearcarver]

I agree with the brine not causing bad flavor. And 14 days instead of 10 days wouldn't do a thing.

I think it could be from when you said the internals of the soldering iron burned out. That could have put out some nasty chemical stink & taste!!

Bear

 

[donr]

Was the inside of your can white or galvanized?  You shouldn't really heat these cans up.  The white is plastic, the galvanized, is galvanized.  Not two things you're supposed to have around cooking.  

If you still have the bacon, you may want to  seal it up and let it mellow for a week or two.  It works with cheese, it may work with bacon.

For future use:

Does the heat dial on your smoker start at off, then go to high, med, then low?  I have used one like this.  To get lower temperatures, you need to put the dial between off & High.  It's a fine line to walk as wind can blow the flame out.  Water in the water pan should help reduce the temperature in the smoker.  The water will absorb the heat it needs to evaporate, essentially cooling the flame.

 

[thehat]

I opened up a couple cans actually. First one had the white interior so I threw it out and found another that didn't. I started trying to burn any remaining residue left after washing out by setting the can on a hot grill (~700 degrees). Got impatient and started hitting the can with a propane blowtorch to really burn anything out. Stopped that for fear of melting the can.

I split the bacon into two portions. Both got vacuum sealed. One went in the fridge and is what I already cooked off. Got another 1lb in the freezer still. You think it might mellow out? Will that happen in the freezer or even while vacuum sealed?

The dial goes off -> high -> med -> low. I've now got a separate needle valve for the future and still plan to get an AMNPS.