1st Bacon smoke success! on ECB

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sparkee

Newbie
Original poster
May 4, 2015
21
10
Central Iowa
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.
 
Last edited:
Congrats !!!  Here is a perfect example of using an inexpensive smoker( ECB)  and a successful smoke. Like Sparkee said he didn't have any adjustments.

Well lets try to fix that.  Her are some ECB mods you can do that makes a huge difference.

Covered the original  drilled 3 new holes and attached damper



Made new leggs and attached  to base







Installed bolts in ash pan to support the new grate


Picked the grate up at Lowe's



Installed new Temp Gauge




Drilled holes in the lid and installed damper


Installed rope seal to the Lid

 
Thanks gary! I should have clarified that my I have done the mods to my ECB but still have a heck of a time trying to adjust the temp. I use it just I side the open garage to to get it out of the wind. When it's out in the wind I seem to have zero control. Although I'm not all that worried about it since later this week I'll be picking up an old style OKJ.
Thanks for the feedback!
 
Looks great.

What pieces/slabs, did you use ?

I will be putting some belly into brine this weekend for a 1st time try also on a ecb modded

Cheers

Shane
 
I wish bellies would get cheaper around here

Gary
 
Well it's hard to say exactly Shane... I do my own processing and I don't label things very specific. Lol
What I can tell you is it's the belly and when I cut the belly I get as close to the chops as I can without taking away from the chops. Then once I have the belly from one side, I cut it in to 4 pieces for easier packaging. Each piece is about 3.55-4 lbs on average.
Hope that helps!
Good luck with the smoke! Let us know how it goes!
 
The Belly Loin part by the sounds

Ok great work, yes will make a post of my first effort.

Regards

Shane
 
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