Ready to eat Bacon.

[meateater]

Looks great, I could go for a plate of bacon and eggs.

 

[ak1]

Another week or two or even a good month wouldnt hurt at all, that puppy looks like its ready to right now though.....great job, very well done, have You tried a piece yet????  

AHHHHHHHHHH, now that's a thing of beauty. Let it age a bit more and you have the best bacon you will ever eat!

I tried a bit when I cut a slice off, and although it is tasty, one can tell it's still a bit young.

I'll leave it hanging for at least a few more weeks to let the meat firm up some more before I start eating it.

 

[ak1]

Tried some tonight! WooHoo, it's good to go.

 

[chefrob]

ak, did you use any heat at all?

 

[virginiasmokesignal]

AK, that is some fine looking Bacon, that, my friend you can be proud of.  I hope you enjoy every last drop of that pork bellie, should take you a while to eat that much though!  LOL  Great job my friend!

Your SMF Friend,

Barry 

 

[ak1]

No heat was used. Just cold smoke in my BIL's smokehouse.

Thanks for the compliments everyone.

 

[chefrob]

No heat was used. Just cold smoke in my BIL's smokehouse.

 

[skully]

Quote:

Originally Posted by AK1  


No heat was used. Just cold smoke in my BIL's smokehouse.

do you cook it in the pan or are you eating it raw. maybe i'm missing something when you said "ready to eat". did you make an RTE product or are you saying it is READY to eat. i'm not the brightest bulb in the pack. what i'm looking for is the mechanism to gard against trich............thx AK!

His is ready to go, the longer it drys, the better it is, its fully cured and now smoked, no cookin req'd, xcellent job AK1 

 

[ak1]

What Skully said, Chefrob.

After curing, the bacon recieve at least 7 days of continuous smoke at no more than 45 deg air temp in the smokehouse. At that point it is ready to eat without further processing, but letting it hang and dry for a while in a cold cellar enhances the flavour even more. 

 

[skully]

What Skully said, Chefrob.

After curing, the bacon recieve at least 7 days of continuous smoke at no more than 45 deg air temp in the smokehouse. At that point it is ready to eat without further processing, but letting it hang and dry for a while in a cold cellar enhances the flavour even more. 

 

[chefrob]

i still don't see the mechanism to prevent trichinosis.........
[*]

Curing (salting), drying, smoking, or microwaving meat alone does not consistently kill infective worms; homemade jerky and sausage were the cause of many cases of trichinellosis reported to CDC in recent years.

[*]Freeze pork less than 6 inches thick for 20 days at 5°F (-15°C) to kill any worms.[*]Freezing wild game meats, unlike freezing pork products, may not effectively kill all worms because some worm species that infect wild game animals are freeze-resistant.[*]Clean meat grinders thoroughly after each use.
To help prevent Trichinella infection in animal populations, do not allow pigs or wild animals to eat uncooked meat, scraps, or carcasses of any animals, including rats, which may be infected with Trichinella.

http://www.cdc.gov/parasites/trichinellosis/prevent.html

i'm just trying to understand how this as well as other products are made safe to eat if heat or freezing is not involved. i thought Aw might be a factor but i guess jerky can cause illness as well.

 

[malisaw]

You could hang that on the wall in the den and invite the neighbors over for a viewing!!

 

[ak1]

It's not something I worry about.

From Agriculture Canada;

"  Trichinosis is virtually nonexistent in Canada due to improved production methods. In Canada, there has not been a case of trichinosis related to pork in over 15 years. According to Agriculture Canada, trichinosis is destroyed in any meat if cooked to an internal temperature of 137°F (58°C), well below the recommended 160°F (70°C) for a medium doneness."

From the Canadian Journal of Veterinary Medicine;

"Evidence of the status of trichinellosis in Canada's national swine herd is provided from data acquired through national surveillance programs and from a prevalence study of Trichinella in wild boar and domestic swine. More than 500,000 swine tested at abattoirs in ongoing animal health surveys since 1980 and 2 national swine serological surveys (1985 and 1990) showed no evidence of Trichinella infection, except for 3 occurrences in a small infected zone in Nova Scotia. The prevalence study of domestic swine and wild boar was conducted for the prevalence of Trichinella after an epidemiological investigation of a 1993 outbreak of human trichinellosis in Ontario showed that the disease was linked to the consumption of wild boar meat originating from 2 farms in the province. Sera and tissues were collected from 391 wild boar and 216 domestic swine originating from 228 farms in Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba and Saskatchewan. The survey examined approximately 37% of the wild boar slaughtered in Canada in 1994. A pepsin-HCl digestion test of the tissues and an ELISA performed on the sera did not yield any positive results. These findings and the lack of human cases of Trichinella from the consumption of Canadian pork for nearly 2 decades suggest that the parasite has been rare in domestic swine and wild boar raised in Canada. Trichinella spiralis has only been found sporadically in swine in a small region within Nova Scotia."

From what I can see, the risk of getting trichinellosis from domestically raised pork is statistically "0". 

i still don't see the mechanism to prevent trichinosis.........

[*] 

[*]

Freeze pork less than 6 inches thick for 20 days at 5°F (-15°C) to kill any worms.

[*]Freezing wild game meats, unlike freezing pork products, may not effectively kill all worms because some worm species that infect wild game animals are freeze-resistant.[*]Clean meat grinders thoroughly after each use.
To help prevent Trichinella infection in animal populations, do not allow pigs or wild animals to eat uncooked meat, scraps, or carcasses of any animals, including rats, which may be infected with Trichinella.

http://www.cdc.gov/parasites/trichinellosis/prevent.html

i'm just trying to understand how this as well as other products are made safe to eat if heat or freezing is not involved. i thought Aw might be a factor but i guess jerky can cause illness as well.

 

[chefrob]

It's not something I worry about....................From what I can see, the risk of getting trichinellosis from domestically raised pork is statistically "0". 
 

[*]
from what i have found, the same is true for the U.S...........i was just looking for a mechanism if there was one in the steps, thx!

 

[ak1]

I'm guessing that if you wanted to be really sure, you could freeze the meat for a month before you used it.

 

[chefrob]

i kinda do that anyways since i buy most my meat when it goes on sale. what is the texture like on this bacon, specificly between the fat and the meaty part....do yo shave it thin like prosciutto or spanish ham?

 

[Bearcarver]

AK1,

If I'm reading this right, you eat your Bacon cold?

Safe or not safe, I don't think I would like cold Bacon as much as I like hot Bacon.

I smoke my CB to 160˚, and I want to try smoking my next BBB to 160˚, but I will still at least warm them up before eating, even though they are safe to eat, because they will have already been to 160˚.

Bear

 

[tjohnson]

Great looking Bacon AK!

Gotta ask...Why 1 week to smoke, and another week to dry/rest?  What's the advantage?

I freak out at too much smoke, and pull at 6 1/2 hours.

THX!

Todd

 

[ak1]

Bear, Todd,

Perhaps this will help explain.

This isn't the typical bacon that we are used to in North America. It is more like prosciutto or salami in method of preparation. It is basically a cured, smoked & air dried piece of pork belly that at least in myCroatian heritage was designed to be eaten as is. It's quite common in parts of Europe. Where I'm from originally bacon was not something that was eaten at breakfast, rather as a cold cut type of meat served when company came to visit, along with cheese, cured ham, and lots of beverages...

It's similar to Italian pancetta except that it's smoked.

 

[Bearcarver]

Bear, Todd,

Perhaps this will help explain.

This isn't the typical bacon that we are used to in North America. It is more like prosciutto or salami in method of preparation. It is basically a cured, smoked & air dried piece of pork belly that at least in myCroatian heritage was designed to be eaten as is. It's quite common in parts of Europe. Where I'm from originally bacon was not something that was eaten at breakfast, rather as a cold cut type of meat served when company came to visit, along with cheese, cured ham, and lots of beverages...

It's similar to Italian pancetta except that it's smoked.

OK---Good explanation. I can see that being like pancetta or prosciutto.

It just looks like a real good Bacon in the pic, and if that's what it was, I'd have to heat it up.

Thanks for the "Splainin",

Bear