Yet another bacon question..

[kevin13]

I have a slab of bacon that is already cured and just needs to be smoked. I've read numerous threads on here suggesting smoking at 135 until internal temp is around 128. I set my MES up for a trial run and while it will maintain 135 degrees, the heat barely cycles enough to keep the smoke going. I assume this is because the ambient temp is in the 80s.

I thought about building a cold smoke box like others have and smoking the bacon that way at around 90 degrees, but my question is, how long do I smoke at this temp? Am I looking for a specific internal temp?

Is it better to cold smoke at 90 or at 135 when the bacon is already cured?

Thanks,
Kevin

 

[deejaydebi]

Per my mentor David (aka Dacdots)

Place bellies in a 135°F smoker with dampers wide open and start smoking. After surface of the bacons have dried completely close dampers to 1/4 open and smoke until internal temperature of the bacon hits 128°F. Reduce temperature to around 90°F and smoke until they become a nice reddish-brown color, you will know when you get it right. I smoke mine for 10 to 16 hours. After youâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]re done remove the bacon to the fridge and chill for a day or so then slice. When this bacon is gone you wonâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t want store bought bacon ever again! http://www.deejayssmokepit.net/

 

[kevin13]

Thanks Debi and I've seen Dacdots post numerous time. However, while I can keep temp at 135 degrees, the burner doesn't cycle on enough to keep a constant stream of smoke...at least with the current ambient temps here now. I'm looking for other suggestions...

 

[deejaydebi]

When it's warm out (over 70 degrees) and I'm cold smoking - like with bacon or cheese, sometimes I'll just light a chunk of wood on fire and get it going good and just put that in with maybe one chunk of charcoal to keep it lit. That usually keeps it up to the 90 degrees you'll need later. Maybe two or three chunks of charcoal for the first few hours. It works for me and saves alot of fuel too! It doesn't take much to get the temps in the summer and the smoke is just lighting a chunk of wood on fire and letting it smolder.

That help any?