OK, I have an update and additional question. I work close to home so after getting the smoke going again at about 5a, went to work then ran home at about 10a to check and the
AMNPS had gone out again. I'm not too worried about that, next time I'll micro the pellets and I think I can tinker enough to figure out how to keep it going. But, it means the bacon had only another couple of hours of smoke and more time sitting at air temp. Here's about where I'm at:
Pops Brine for 13 days
Rinse and Fridge for 2.5 days to dry
Total time in the smoker (out of refrigeration) was around 15 hours, give or take
During that 15 hours, I'm guessing about 6-8 hours of smoke hit the meat, about half of what I was shooting for
After 15 hours, wrapped in plastic and back in fridge to rest.
Since I work close to home, ran home again on lunch thinking I'd slice a piece, cook it up, and check it out. Braz's comment above confirmed what I was thinking and what I'd researched, that it'd been cured and 15 hours out of refrigeration was OK due to the cure.
Now my question: The bacon slab had the pale grey color on the outside but the inside was very red/pink. I understand the grey is normal but from pictures I've seen from the experienced guys and gals, my bacon middle was very different color after having been smoked a for a while. Granted it didn't get as much as I wanted but wondering if red/pink after some smoke is what I'm supposed to see?
I've smoked summer sausage and very aware of the need for proper curing and I'm pretty confident that I followed pops brine instructions on the proper cure but now I'm have a moment of panic that maybe I dropped the ball somewhere on the cure. Being new to making bacon had me excited but certainly comes with some question of doing things right.