Wood for Bacon

[ternan]

Second time making bacon, Ive read through many of the threads here and learned a lot of the pitfall to watch out for, specifically letting the belly dry after curing before smoking. I have 10 lbs of belly cut into 3 manageable chunks in the fridge, I coated it in honey and covered it in a mixture of kosher salt brown sugar and a little nitrite salt for safety, its been 3 days and while I don't have a ton of liquid drawn out it is firming up nicely. My plan is let it go another 8 days, rinse it, put it on the smoker racks to let it dry, cold smoke it for 6 hours at 90 to 110, I am considering using hickory for a more traditional flavor, but am considering apple or cherry, any suggestions or comments?

 

[SmokinAl]

First of all when you say you used a little nitrite salt to be safe.

How much did you use?

Here is a calculator so you can get the amounts right.

http://diggingdogfarm.com/page2.html

Not enough, you kill yourself!

Too much, you kill yourself!

Hope you got it right!

As for the wood I like apple for bacon.

Al

 

[dirtsailor2003]

Like Al said, make sure you got the cure correct. The calculator Al posted is a great tool to use.

For wood I like apple or cherry on Bacon. They will give you a subtle smoke flavor, not as strong as hickory. My current favorite for bacon is cob. Very unique old school flavor.

 

[ternan]

First of all when you say you used a little nitrite salt to be safe.
How much did you use?
Here is a calculator so you can get the amounts right.
http://diggingdogfarm.com/page2.html
Not enough, you kill yourself!
Too much, you kill yourself!
Hope you got it right!

As for the wood I like apple for bacon.

Al

I used

First of all when you say you used a little nitrite salt to be safe.
How much did you use?
Here is a calculator so you can get the amounts right.
http://diggingdogfarm.com/page2.html
Not enough, you kill yourself!
Too much, you kill yourself!
Hope you got it right!

As for the wood I like apple for bacon.

Al

I used half of teaspoon of pink salt per 3-pound package

 

[cdn offroader]

I almost always do a 50/50 mix of either pecan or hickory with a fruit wood like apple or cherry. Cherry adds a nice rich color. 

 

[ternan]

Oh that sounds nice thank you

 

[ternan]

Ok 7 days did a test fry, nice caramelized bits in the pan, slightly salty but it was the end. I starting drying process.

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• ternan
• Dec 15, 2016