Just finished my 1st bacon smoke last night. Huge success! Best bacon I have ever had. I only took 2 pictures once finished since I just joined the forum and hadn't planned on posting... But it turned out so good I must share...
Here's the process I followed:
Started with 2 slabs about 3.5 lbs each. My pork comes straight from dad's farm and is 100% all natural.
I used Pop's brine and think I went with 1/2 c on sea salt and a heaping tbls of cure plus an extra small pinch.
Put the bacon in a lunch size cooler and zip lock bag on top for weight and set it in the fridge for 11 days.
Cold water rinsed it then cold water bath for an hour and a half. Then pat it dry and set back in fridge on a rack for about 17 hours.
Then the smoke:
Using the ECB I have very little temp control so I put the bacon on at 200. I had to use the water pan to keep the temp down. Used cold water. I used 1 chute of royal oak hardwood lump and about 4 applewood chunks that soaked about 40 minutes. The temp stayed pretty steady for 2 hours then steadily dropped the last 2 hours down to about 160. After 4 hours the internal temp was 150 and I pulled it off.
I wrapped it in plastic wrap and foil right away and set it the fridge for 2 more days. (The hardest part of the whole smoke because I wanted to chow it all down so bad) Then I moved it to the freezer for 10 minutes before slicing on my Waring pro FS150. Finished product I ended up with 4.5 lbs of the most delicious bacon ever. Cooked up all the ends and pieces for snacking as I sliced and wrapped. The salt level came out perfect as I prefer less salty bacon and the applewood flavor is very distinct.
The next smoke I will take many more pictures and try to have a more thorough walk through.
Here's the process I followed:
Started with 2 slabs about 3.5 lbs each. My pork comes straight from dad's farm and is 100% all natural.
I used Pop's brine and think I went with 1/2 c on sea salt and a heaping tbls of cure plus an extra small pinch.
Put the bacon in a lunch size cooler and zip lock bag on top for weight and set it in the fridge for 11 days.
Cold water rinsed it then cold water bath for an hour and a half. Then pat it dry and set back in fridge on a rack for about 17 hours.
Then the smoke:
Using the ECB I have very little temp control so I put the bacon on at 200. I had to use the water pan to keep the temp down. Used cold water. I used 1 chute of royal oak hardwood lump and about 4 applewood chunks that soaked about 40 minutes. The temp stayed pretty steady for 2 hours then steadily dropped the last 2 hours down to about 160. After 4 hours the internal temp was 150 and I pulled it off.
I wrapped it in plastic wrap and foil right away and set it the fridge for 2 more days. (The hardest part of the whole smoke because I wanted to chow it all down so bad) Then I moved it to the freezer for 10 minutes before slicing on my Waring pro FS150. Finished product I ended up with 4.5 lbs of the most delicious bacon ever. Cooked up all the ends and pieces for snacking as I sliced and wrapped. The salt level came out perfect as I prefer less salty bacon and the applewood flavor is very distinct.
The next smoke I will take many more pictures and try to have a more thorough walk through.
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