BACON (Extra Smoky)

[Bearcarver]

 
Those S & P shakers are good old Tupperware shakers from the 1970s.  We can find them up this way at flea markets and yard sales.

Yup, the tall ones are from Tupperware. We have a lot of Tupperware around this house.

However, I think Merv "Venture" was talking about the old glass ones with the metal caps, in the front, because he mentioned making the caps look old by denting them. They used to be in all Restaurants around here.

Bear

 

[famous ticketz]

wow you out did it this time, AWESOME

 

[Bearcarver]

 
wow you out did it this time, AWESOME

Thank You Ticketz!!

Bear

 

[kel krause]

Can you use same cure recipe for ground meat bacon?

 

[Bearcarver]

Can you use same cure recipe for ground meat bacon?

No, You would mix the ingredients & ground meats, and you would use half as much TQ with ground meat-----1 TBS of TQ for every 2 pounds of ground meat.

Something like my "Bear Loaf" (Below), but with some Pork & maybe different spices:

Smoked Bear Loaf (All Beef):

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/106904/smoked-bear-loaf-hot-all-beef

Bear

 

[bagbeard]

thanks,

this is the best bacon thread.

 

[Bearcarver]

 
thanks,

this is the best bacon thread.

Thank You for the kind words!!

Bear

 

[rob sicc]

I am so hungry now after seeing these pictures of bacon.  I started curing my own bacon about 3 months ago.  I'm afraid of what my blood pressure and cholesterol are since I started.  LOL

 

[Bearcarver]

 
I am so hungry now after seeing these pictures of bacon.  I started curing my own bacon about 3 months ago.  I'm afraid of what my blood pressure and cholesterol are since I started.  LOL

I know exactly what you mean, Rob!!

All I do is eat about 1/4 as much Bacon per Breakfast or per BLT than I used to eat, when I was young & healthy. 

I can honestly say that none of my heart problems have come from my eating habits.

Bear

 

[austyn]

Hi Bear

Fantastic reply - thanks very much - this will be my step by step bible from now - looking forward to when your book is published! - seriously though maybe you should consider it?

 

[Bearcarver]

 
Hi Bear

Fantastic reply - thanks very much - this will be my step by step bible from now - looking forward to when your book is published! - seriously though maybe you should consider it?

Thank You Austyn!!

Actually my older Sister tried to talk me into doing a book, but I figured only a book with at least 4 half page pictures on each Step by Step would do it justice, and that would cost so much, the book would have to sell for a fortune.

So I decided to just keep it all in order, like it is on here (with all the big pictures), and that way it's FREE to all my friends!!

Bear's Book:

Just click on "Bear's Step by Steps".

Bear

 

[dr k]

 
Thanks Al !!!

See Below,

Bear

Thanks Todd !!

I have smoked Belly Bacon just about every way, except for cold smoking for longer than 12 hours.

They are ALL good, but IMO colder smoking had the least amount of flavor & color, probably because it takes a lot longer to get the smoke to adhere to a cold clammy piece of meat. It is my guess that if you cold smoke long enough, you can get the best smoked Bacon there could possibly be, but I'm not into smoking things for days.

I talked to some butchers in my area, and they agree that a little heat allows the meat to be able to accept smoke more readily, and as long as you keep the temp down, it won't have any adverse effects. I had my heat set at 120˚ (a little higher than the temperature in Arizona right now) for almost all of the smoke, so the lowest it went was about 116˚, and the highest it spiked would have been about 140˚ (only for a few minutes). Most of the time it was between 120˚ and 126˚.

I watched this one really closely, and if it would have started dripping any fat, I was prepared to cut the heat quickly, but it did not.

Your AMNS and/or AMNPS made it so much easier than trying to get consistent smoke any other way, especially at such low temps!

Thanks Todd,

Bear
 

I cold smoked my BB with my CB for 4 hours today.  Pulled the belly and hot smoked the CB to IT 145*F.  Going to finish cold smoking BB tomorrow.  Does BB take a longer smoking time due to the higher fat that takes longer to permeate?  I was going to go 16 total hours but your 12 hr. smoke seems just fine.

-Kurt

 

[the smoke]

Bear,

How did you slice it? Do you have a slicer?

 

[Bearcarver]

 
I cold smoked my BB with my CB for 4 hours today.  Pulled the belly and hot smoked the CB to IT 145*F.  Going to finish cold smoking BB tomorrow.  Does BB take a longer smoking time due to the higher fat that takes longer to permeate?  I was going to go 16 total hours but your 12 hr. smoke seems just fine.

-Kurt

I usually take my CB & my BBB to 145° IT. Then I don't have to fry it before eating it. Instead I can eat it cold, or just warm it a bit before eating it (my favorite way to eat it) without worrying about burning it.

As for the Belly Bacon, I don't worry about the final IT. I just get good color & flavor, which only takes less than 12 hours at Smoker temps between 110° and 130°. Cold Smoking takes at least twice that long to get the same color & flavor. IMHO.

Hope that helps,

Bear

 

[austyn]

Hi all

I've been experimenting since talking to Bearcarver. I have now perfected a really good method for Maple cured loin of Pork

Basically, I take a 7lb piece of loin, mix together 15g per lb of curing salts, 180 grams of normal salt, 180 grams of sugar and a good slug of Maple syrup. Bag and place in the fridge turning for five days. One day to dry overnight in the fridge.

Place in the Bradley smoker using Oak chips and smoke for nine hours between 90 - 100 deg F

Perfect! not too smokey and not too sweet either - the garlics were good too!

IMG_2290.JPG

• austyn
• Apr 15, 2015

 

[Bearcarver]

Looks Great, Austyn!!

Mighty Tasty!!

That's a little short for curing time, but it looks like it did the job!!

Bear

 

[austyn]

Hi Bear

Thanks for the response - my butcher told me about four days and I also read about 1/2 an inch a day for a good cure - what do you think for a 7lb piece?

Best

Austyn

 

[Bearcarver]

 
Hi Bear

Thanks for the response - my butcher told me about four days and I also read about 1/2 an inch a day for a good cure - what do you think for a 7lb piece?

Best

Austyn

I don't go by weight----I go by Thickness. I explained that on page one of this & most of my cured meat threads.

Here it is:

Calculating curing time:

The thickest place on any of these belly pieces was just under 2".

I calculate there being 4 "half inches" in 2 inches, so that gives me the "4".

Then to that 4 (days), I add 2 more days for safety, the way I was taught.

So that means the absolute minimum cure time by my calculations for these bellies is 6 days.

I then usually add another 2 days on my own, unless I have scheduling problems that make me want to smoke a day or 2 in either direction.

The main thing for these pieces is NO less than 6 days in cure.

Every day, while curing, I remove the packages & flip them over, and massage them a bit.

Moisture will accumulate in the packages. I leave that in, because some of it is curing juices, and at the end of the curing process, it will nearly all be gone through reabsorption.

So most of the time if it's 2" thick, I'll give it about 8 days, give or take a day.

Bear

 

[dr k]

I usually take my CB & my BBB to 145° IT. Then I don't have to fry it before eating it. Instead I can eat it cold, or just warm it a bit before eating it (my favorite way to eat it) without worrying about burning it.

As for the Belly Bacon, I don't worry about the final IT. I just get good color & flavor, which only takes less than 12 hours at Smoker temps between 110° and 130°. Cold Smoking takes at least twice that long to get the same color & flavor. IMHO.

Hope that helps,

Bear

Thanks for the reply Bear. Since cheese is well smoked at 4hrs. cold smoked. as well as CB before I hot smoke it to 145*F. Why does BB take 24hrs cold smoked only at the same thickness of cheese? My questIon I asked that was unclear is, does the fat content of BB make it less permeable to smoke so that it takes a day in the smoke? I went 10hrs. cold smoke only over 2 days. I have a thread I started over 2weeks ago I'll post these picks in. Since I'm not going to eat this belly myself I have eaters that aren't as addicted to smoke as I am, thus the 10hr. cold smoke only.
-Kurt

 

[Bearcarver]

Thanks for the reply Bear. Since cheese is well smoked at 4hrs. cold smoked. as well as CB before I hot smoke it to 145*F. Why does BB take 24hrs cold smoked only at the same thickness of cheese? My questIon I asked that was unclear is, does the fat content of BB make it less permeable to smoke so that it takes a day in the smoke? I went 10hrs. cold smoke only over 2 days. I have a thread I started over 2weeks ago I'll post these picks in. Since I'm not going to eat this belly myself I have eaters that aren't as addicted to smoke as I am, thus the 10hr. cold smoke only.
-Kurt

Actually I would say cheese gets enough smoke quicker because most of the smoke is on the outside, and the cheese really isn't smoked completely until it sits around for 2 or 3 weeks or more, allowing the smoke to move into the cheese more. You can't really compare Cheese smoking to Bacon smoking. All I can say is everybody enjoys different amount of smoke. For my taste, 10 to 12 hours of Hickory smoke from my AMNPS at 110° to 130° smoker temp is enough on my Bacon, but cold smoking below 100° smoker temp would take the same smoke 20 to 30 hours to make me happy.

For somebody who likes 10 to 12 hours of cold smoke on their Bacon, I would guess 5 or 6 hours of 110° to 130° smoke would be fine.

Hope that helps,

Bear