Bacon made the easy way...

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I just saw this...Yeah it's ok..I used to skin them before smoking them..much easier after the smoke..
You skin the bellies after smoking, my butcher will provide skinned bellies. Is that okay, or do the skins need to be on for the brining and smoking process?
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How about using a venturi type smoke generator? Would it take as long to cold smoke them using a venturi instead of an amazin? It seems that the venturi style of smoke generators produce more smoke. Can't wait to try this method out!
Never used one or know anyone who has...

We all pretty much are AMAZEN users..

Let us know how it works!!

  Craig
 
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How about using a venturi type smoke generator? Would it take as long to cold smoke them using a venturi instead of an amazin? It seems that the venturi style of smoke generators produce more smoke. Can't wait to try this method out!

More smoke is not necessarily a good thing, meat can only take so much smoke.

I used the venturi-type generators for a few years...i built a few and bought a couple....they're a major pain in the butt compared to the A-Maze-N.
The A-Maze-N produces great smoke and is a pleasure to use.


~Martin
 
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I bought a venturi type smoke generator about a year ago.  To walk in to the street and just throw my money into the air would be putting the money to better use.  The contraption required constant attention and still didn't work worth a sh*t. The A-Maze-N produces better smoke and

is practically "set it and forget it"
 
I personally like smoked pork skin to cook with beans....any kind of beans but anasazi or pinto are my favorites.   Better than ham!  I like to smoke brisket or pork and have homemade beans and cornbread with a salad or slaw.
 
 
I personally like smoked pork skin to cook with beans....any kind of beans but anasazi or pinto are my favorites.   Better than ham!  I like to smoke brisket or pork and have homemade beans and cornbread with a salad or slaw.
 
Add Southern style mustard greens cooked with the hock and you have the best truly American meal possible.   
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fpnmf, quick question: what is the deciding factor in this time frame:  "10-14 days belly bacon"?? Is it a function of size of the belly?  When it's convenient?  Your original post stated 15 days just because it turned out that way. Is it possible to cure it too long?  Is there something about the meat that I can tell from a visual standpoint that 10 days is/isn't enough?

Sorry for all the questions--I've worked around food and food service for 25 years, and know what improper procedures can do to folks.  Don't want to put anybody (well, there's a few...) through food poisoning.
 
fpnmf, quick question: what is the deciding factor in this time frame:  "10-14 days belly bacon"?? Is it a function of size of the belly?  When it's convenient?  Your original post stated 15 days just because it turned out that way. Is it possible to cure it too long?  Is there something about the meat that I can tell from a visual standpoint that 10 days is/isn't enough?

Sorry for all the questions--I've worked around food and food service for 25 years, and know what improper procedures can do to folks.  Don't want to put anybody (well, there's a few...) through food poisoning.
Hey Simple!!

Once it hits 10 days it is a matter of convenience with me...Pops sez if its more than 2 inches thick add a certain number of days per 1/4 or 1/2 inch..

I am sure it can be over cured...but I have never seen a reference to that here..

Here's where I get the info... http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/110799/pops6927s-wet-curing-brine

I grew up with Pops...trust him completely when it comes to any meat related info..   (hehehehehe)

  Craig
 
Hey Simple!!

Once it hits 10 days it is a matter of convenience with me...Pops sez if its more than 2 inches thick add a certain number of days per 1/4 or 1/2 inch..;


  Craig
2 inches thick?? I wish I could just find one that thick.  My last one was close to 1 1/2 inches thick at one point, but closer to 1 inch overall.  I have tried bellies now from 4 different butchers, and have yet to find a good thick one.  The good news is that even the little ones make good eatin'.  And of course you have to eat more since the bacon is so smal
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l....
 
1/3-1 cup is wide range. If I have no reason to make low salt bacon should I use a full 1 cup? Or less? Thanks

It's up to you.
Kind of depends on what salt you're using.

A cup of Morton's pickling salt weighs ~296 grams, Morton's kosher salt ~248 grams and Diamond Crystal kosher ~181 grams.
So there's a big difference in the salt level when using volume measurements depending on what salt is used.

I'm pretty sure that Pops said that the standard brine is intended be about 30 degrees SAL.
That equates to ~310 grams of salt per gallon of water.


~Martin
 
This will be a project of mine soon.  If i wanted to add some maple syrup to the equation should i add to the brine, after rinsing off the brine before it goes back in the fridge, or right before it goes in the smoker for a cold smoke?
So far my experience with adding flavors is that I didn't get much flavor when I added what I wanted to the brine. So I would coat it after rinsing and prior to the drying phase.
 
1/3-1 cup is wide range. If I have no reason to make low salt bacon should I use a full 1 cup? Or less? Thanks
The first batch I made we did 1/3 cup. We don't like our bacon super salty. It was determined that for our tastes that wasn't salty enough. So for the batch that I have brining right now I upped the salt to 1/2 cup. If that isn't enough I'll modify again with the next batch.
 
1/3-1 cup is wide range. If I have no reason to make low salt bacon should I use a full 1 cup? Or less? Thanks
I use plain non-iodized table salt, a low of 1/3rd of a cup to a high of 1 cup.  I am on a salt-restricted diet so I gravitate to the 1/3 rd cup myself, but anywhere in between it's up to you; my preference is not by taste, but by lo-salt content (if I had my druthers, I'd druther have 1 cup myself, but the doctor sez "NO NO!").  And this is what it's all about; your preferences within acceptable limits.
 
Hey Simple!!

Once it hits 10 days it is a matter of convenience with me...Pops sez if its more than 2 inches thick add a certain number of days per 1/4 or 1/2 inch..

I am sure it can be over cured...but I have never seen a reference to that here..

Here's where I get the info... http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/110799/pops6927s-wet-curing-brine

I grew up with Pops...trust him completely when it comes to any meat related info..   (hehehehehe)

  Craig
Craig, thank you so much for fielding everyone's questions!   

Over-curing starts at 45+ days in the brine; it will start breaking down the proteins into mush at that point.  We have had to get near that limit at the height of Custom season at the store, taking in hundreds and hundreds of pounds of pork daily and processing it.  I'd spent more than my share of Christmas and New Year's day processing custom pork many many times!  But under normal circumstances, you'd keep the flow going in moderation, smoking enough of retail and custom smoke daily and stay abreast of it.
 
So, just to clearify on the over brine questions..
I have bellie that is about 1-1/4 inch thick, but the one end is probably 2-1/2 inch thick. So 14 days in the brine will be enough, and is not even close to over the limit?
 
So, just to clearify on the over brine questions..
I have bellie that is about 1-1/4 inch thick, but the one end is probably 2-1/2 inch thick. So 14 days in the brine will be enough, and is not even close to over the limit?
You should be fine at 14 days. 45 days is the max, so at 14 days you aren't even half way close!
 
I use plain non-iodized table salt, a low of 1/3rd of a cup to a high of 1 cup.  I am on a salt-restricted diet so I gravitate to the 1/3 rd cup myself, but anywhere in between it's up to you; my preference is not by taste, but by lo-salt content (if I had my druthers, I'd druther have 1 cup myself, but the doctor sez "NO NO!").  And this is what it's all about; your preferences within acceptable limits.

Thanks pops. That was going to be my next question, which size sea salt you used? I'm trying to convert the measurement to the equivilant amount of Morton's kosher salt. Can't seem to find a conversion
 
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