This Week's Project:::: Now Bacon!

[chefrob]

i think you ment to say.........

Poor TASTEY Porkula,

Bear
 

 

[Bearcarver]

i think you ment to say.........

 

He was only partially tasty.

I'll say that after the Bacon & Jowls are done.

Then he'll be a "full tasty Porkula".

 

[chefrob]

i have faith.............

 

[twinfallsid]

The food processor was beyond repair. My Oster blender was maxed out, getting hot and and smelling of ozone by the time I finished the pate.  It may be awhile before I make it again.  I still have about 10 jars left.

I've been wanting to make bacon for at least 6 months, so I'm really looking forward to this batch.  Should I take it out of the fridge on the 9th day, rinse it off and let the pellecle form in the fridage on the 10th day?  Or is that one day too soon?  Thank you for sharing your recipe, Bearcarver.

Lament not for poor Porkula, for she is now in a far, far better place.....my freezer.

 

[brud]

Here is the finished head cheese.  I put a little balsamic vinegar to give a little twang.  It tastes great!  I cut the two loaves into 3 pieces each, vac-packed it and tossed most of it in the freezer.

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Looks good.  Did you use jellitin to make it jell? Or did you use boiled skin?

 

[twinfallsid]

I didn't get the skin, the butcher I used doesn't de-hair.

I reduced the liquid that the head was boiled in.  I got it down to about 1/5th of the original amount. then filtered it though a strainer.

The leftover after saturating the headcheese loaves was put in the fridge and it turned into a good solid gelatin. 

I drank a large cup of it that was heated to boiling, with some herbs added to it to tune it up a bit.  Very tasty on a chilly evening.

 

[Bearcarver]

The food processor was beyond repair. My Oster blender was maxed out, getting hot and and smelling of ozone by the time I finished the pate.  It may be awhile before I make it again.  I still have about 10 jars left.

I've been wanting to make bacon for at least 6 months, so I'm really looking forward to this batch.  Should I take it out of the fridge on the 9th day, rinse it off and let the pellecle form in the fridage on the 10th day?  Or is that one day too soon?  Thank you for sharing your recipe, Bearcarver.

Lament not for poor Porkula, for she is now in a far, far better place.....my freezer.

LOL on the far, far better place.

As for the 9 or 10 days to remove it from the cure bag:

It depends on how thick your thickest piece was.

The formula is (simplified) 1 day in cure for every 1/2" of thickness of the thickest piece, measured at the thickest point "PLUS" 2 days for safety.

9 days would be fine if the thickest point was 3 1/2" (7 plus 2).

10 days if the thickest point was 4" (8 plus 2).

If not sure, an extra day or 2 or 3 doesn't hurt, but not enough time could keep cure from getting into center of meat.

Bear

 

[2bears]

Here is the finished head cheese.  I put a little balsamic vinegar to give a little twang.  It tastes great!  I cut the two loaves into 3 pieces each, vac-packed it and tossed most of it in the freezer.

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Thats just sick. ( no offense )

Boy I can eat most anything but Id have to pass this one.

Sounds like you use every available part of your critters though.

 

[twinfallsid]

OK- Onward to BACON! 

Last night I took the cured side and jowls out of the bags, rinsed them off real good, and soaked them in ice water for a half hour.

Then  I cut a few slices of the thickest jowl and fried them up to test.  I thought they were real good, but not quite salty enough.  But then, I like salty, so they are probably just right for everyone else.

I dried off all the pieces and put them on racks over paper towels in the fridge overnight.  They firmed up and look great!

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I took them out to the pre-heated smoker, my Apex Apparatus Mark 1.  The smoker was up to about 90F to start, at 9am.

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I only have 5 hooks, so I hung the best pieces and put the other two on a rack.  They are in front of the intake fan of the smoke circulating plenum.  The fan does not blow directly on the meat.

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I put the hickory chips in the electric smoke box.

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Now I expect to leave them in there for 8 hours, after it reaches 125F. 

I disconnected the two main heater elements of the smoker.  It is heating only on the small element in the electric smoke chip-box. 

I thought with the main elements and the desired low temp of only 125F, it would cycle so quickly that it would not generate much smoke.

How much smoke is good?  Dense smoke all the time?  Or smoke it heavy in the beginning for a couple hours, then just keep it at 125F until a total of 8 hours has passed?

This is gonna be some awesome hickory-smoked bacon.

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[Bearcarver]

TF,

You got a good start on that Bacon!

As for smoke, I think I like more smoke than most people.

I don't use any smoke for first hour or so, until the outer surface is dry (tacky).

Then I light both ends of my AMNS to get as much smoke as I can going.

Before I had that, I gave it as much as I could, without getting any creosote.

I keep the exhaust vent open 100% to keep the smoke moving.

I keep the smoke going on my Bacon for the whole time it's in the smoker (8-9-10-12 hours or whatever).

In my book, aside from getting creosote (which I never got), there is no such thing as Bacon that is too smoky.

Bear

 

[twinfallsid]

The air and smoke in the Apex Apparatus Smoker is in constant circulation. 

I reset the exhaust fan cycle timer to exhaust for 30 seconds every hour.  But it sounds like I'll need to open the door every hour to replenish the hickory chips.  I just checked the temp, its up to 132F, so I turned back the thermostat a bit.

See this thread for details and photos of the smoker:

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/forum/thread/82795/apex-apparatus-mark-i-smoker

 

[twinfallsid]

Here is the bacon at the halfway mark.

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[tjohnson]

I'm gonna follow this one!!!

Great Job!

You'll love the Bacon, my Friend!!!

Todd

 

[twinfallsid]

And here they are just about an hour before they were puled out of the smoker:

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Resting and ready to wrap:

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Wrapped and ready for their nap in the 'fridge:

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This was a fun part of the Porkula Project!

How long do they stay in the refer before slicing, vac-bagging, and freezing?

 

[chefrob]

looks like some nice bacon!

 

[Bearcarver]

Lookin' Great! TF !

Over night should be fine.

Slice it up any time today.

And please don't forget the best pics of all ----SLICED BACON !

Bear

 

[twinfallsid]

Sliced Bacon pics ... I let the wrapped slabs sit in the refrigerator for 2 days and then sliced.  I chopped the end pieces into small chunks for bacon & beans.

I fried up a couple slices.  You have to be careful not to burn the sugar.  They tasted real smokey; almost not salty enough, but after a few slices the salty aftertaste was just right. 

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[meateater]

I just caught this post, that should look great next to some taters and eggs, or a mater sammy. I bet ya wont get the FJ stuff anymore. Nicejob!!

 

 

[Bearcarver]

Alright!!!!   That's what I'm talkin' about!!!!

BEAUTIFUL COLOR !!!

Great Stuff   !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Bear

 

[twinfallsid]

Final Bacon photos -  Here is Porkula's bacon and jowls all sealed and ready to freeze:

Bits, Bacon and Jowl.......

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BITS for beans:

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BACON!!!!

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and Jowl Bacon...

The big, unsliced piece is a Christmas present for my Mom. 

She prefers jowl bacon, it reminds her of her youth in the 1930s.

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