Skin on or off???

[pecanwood]

Should I remove the skin off of the pork belly before I cure it or leave it on and just take the skin off after smoking? Let me know what ya'll think I have seen some very nice bacon on here. Thanks

 

[tjohnson]

I skin mine before I cure it.

Todd

 

[Bearcarver]

This is a matter of preference.
I prefer removing the skin before brining & smoking.
I like to put my smoke on the part I'm going to eat, not the part I'm not going to eat.

I do the same thing with my Smoked Salmon.


Bearcarver

 

[pineywoods]

It seems a matter of taste and opinion. Some people take the skin off before curing. Some take the skin off after curing and smoking. Yet others will leave the skin on even after slicing and eat it that way.

 

[pecanwood]

Starting a batch today.I do not like the skin to eat so I am going to remove the skin before I cure it. Thanks for the input. I will try and post some pic of the process later.

 

[pineywoods]

Some people say its easier to take it off after smoking I think its a pain either way

 

[mballi3011]

It is a personal preference I would say. But mine is to take the skin off before you cure or smoke it. To me the cure wouldn't penetrate thu the skin and the smoke sure won't either.

 

[macbillybob]

It is a pain but I have a really, really sharp Japanese Petty Knife and it makes it fairly easy.

 

[pops6927]

We always cured and smoked it with the rind on, and sold it both ways, removing the rind after it was done smoking when the slabs were hot. In many cases you could go around the edge with your knife about and inch in and then just pull off the rind. If given a full smoke, there would be more than enough on all the other sides to impart a great smoke flavor. If you had to knife it all off it wasn't that hard to do, skinning and pulling to get it off quickly. We'd de-rind 15-20 slabs per batch, leaving 10-15 with it on. and sold it both with the rind and without. Made it in 330lb. batches, just enough to fill one smokehouse and would do 2 or 3 batches a week, manually slicing every pound for customers, laying it out shingle-style on either bacon boards or deli paper. You got pretty good judging how much would be a pound at any thickness, too after slicing a few thousand pounds or so!