Smoked some fresh pork bellies... Qview

[motoman3b]

Worked out a deal this year, butchered a couple deer for a guy in trade for a pig so these bellies were probably the freshest you can get.  Smoked with a mix of hickory and apple.  Turned out great!

 

[sprky]

Looks like your links are broken I get page not found error. 

 

[motoman3b]

 

[pit 4 brains]

What cure did you use for those? Did you season at all or just go bare and let the smoke do all the flavoring?

 

[motoman3b]

Did a dry cure with mortons sugar cure, and yes they were bare in the smoker, I dont like to season things more then they need to be.  The one belly I did pour some pure maple syrup in while it was curing and it complemented the bacon very well added a hint of maple flavor!

 

[venture]

Looks good!

Good luck and good smoking.

 

[SmokinAl]

Looks real good from here!

 

[africanmeat]

It looks really good 

 

[jrod62]

Looks great :drool

 

[rbranstner]

Looking good. I'm smoking a few bellies this weekend for the first time. So what was your smoking process? Hot or cold smoked, what temps, how long, etc.???

 

[scarbelly]

They look good from here 

 

[motoman3b]

Cold smoked, kept the smoker around 100 degrees for about 10 hours using a mix of apple with a little hickory mixed in.  After it smoked I let it rest in the fridge overnight before slicing.  Going to be getting another pig in a month or two which is good cause this bacon sure isnt going to last.  I also make a ground and formed venison bacon so thats on my to do list sometime soon as well.

 

[mballi3011]

Nice bacon you have there.

 

[smokinhusker]

Nice!!!

 

[dave5440]

I'm doing my first pork belly in a couple of days , i'm going with 200f untill an iT of 150 , but I'm not sure if I should use water or not. Any ideas?

Thanks

Dave

 

[desertlites]

Are you going 200* because your not using a cure? and yes if your going to go that hot a water pan will keep the fat that will render from dripping into your heat source and causing a fire or flare ups.

 

[dave5440]

I did use a cure , I was following Michael Ruhlmans directions  http://ruhlman.com/2010/10/home-cured-bacon-2/

So I take it 200 is too hot , I can change that, I'm not doing it till thurs now as it seems I can't remember when I supposed to be at work.

 

[chef jimmyj]

That cooking at 200*F is probably an Insurance policy that Mr. Ruhlman added because he has no idea who is reading his info. It lets you eat the Bacon right out of the refer with no further cooking, like BBB or CB. If you Always cook your Bacon before eating it, cold smoke it at <100*F until it gets a nice color, may be 10+/- hours...JJ

 

[dave5440]

Thanks for the info, I didn't realize I was in the cold smoke forum, I did a search to avoid starting a new thread. I like to eat it both ways so I'll have to decide which way to go.

 

[alblancher]

I don't think the forum you are posting in is what prompted Chef JJ's response.   Dave I don't know how much experience you have with bacon but most of us cure with either a brine or dry cure and then cold smoke.  Some of us smoke for a couple of hours some of us smoke for a couple of days.    I've never hot smoked bacon but I know a bunch of members do and they seem to be pretty happy with their results.  

Good luck,   when you get it going post some Qview!