Hickory-Smoked Maple bacon: with Pix

[scarbelly]

Looks like it came out great - congrats 

 

[thoseguys26]

What is the biggest difference between cold smoking and hot smoking bacon? Do people actually eat bacon cold? I have always hot smoked mine, with no intention of eating it cold but I see many cold smoke it. I always fry my bacon anyways but I'm just curious. Thanks!

By the way your bacon looks great!!!

 

[diggingdogfarm]

What is the biggest difference between cold smoking and hot smoking bacon? Flavor. Do people actually eat bacon cold? Some do. I have always hot smoked mine, with no intention of eating it cold but I see many cold smoke it. I always fry my bacon anyways but I'm just curious. Thanks!

By the way your bacon looks great!!!

~Martin

 

[smokinhusker]

Don't know how I missed this! The bacon looks awesome! Great job! I just cold smoked buckboard bacon yesterday and now it's in the fridge to mellow!

 

[gersus]

thoseguys26- cold smoked bacon must be cooked before eating. If bacon is hot smoked to an IT of 145 it's ok to eat without any additional cooking. 

 

[gersus]

Great looking bacon btw Couger!

 

[tjohnson]

Awesome Color!!

I really like Apple Smoked Bacon

This last round, I went with Pecan and Apple

 

[thoseguys26]

thoseguys26- cold smoked bacon must be cooked before eating. If bacon is hot smoked to an IT of 145 it's ok to eat without any additional cooking. 

Oh I'm fully aware of the safe IT, I have just never compared cold vs hot smoked bacon and was curious what the major difference was. If I cold smoked a PB for 9 hours and hot smoked a PB for 9, compared the two, what would be the major flavor profile differences? Thanks

 

[couger78]

If I cold smoked a PB for 9 hours and hot smoked a PB for 9, compared the two, what would be the major flavor profile differences? Thanks

I going to speculate, based upon the nature of the two smoking techniques, that cold smoking would provide a deeper, stronger smoke flavor since cold smoking allows total smoke penetration inside of the meat. Unlike hot smoke, which tends to form an exterior barrier, with cold smoke, there's very little hardening of the outside surface of the meat or casing and smoke penetrates the meat easily.

Kevin

 

[couger78]

After a few days rest, I applied several 'coats' of maple-honey glaze to the hangin' bacon. Hanging in the fridge the past two days has really firmed them up nicely & they still have a strong smokey aroma.

After a good overnight chill, its off to the slicer....

 

[jack07]

Looks great...I will be over in the morning to sample some! 

 

[couger78]

This weekend is time to wrap up the big bacon project.

Got the big slicer out & prepped, ready to go.

Time to remove the skin from all the bacon bellies. Some of the bellies were more difficult to skin, others no problem.

Almost there...

Quite a stack of skins. I considered deep-frying them, but that'll have to wait. i gave a few large slices to my wife as she's making a large pot of baked beans...

Well my slicer was acting squirrelly

so I opted to slice a good portion of the bacon with a sharp knife.

Works great just not as fast as the big slicer...

I took a number of odds & ends, scraps & uneven pieces and fried them up.

I discovered its best to cook at a much lower temp than store-bought, and to keep an eye on the bacon as it burns quickly. High sugar & low moisture content.

Slowly cooking in cast iron under the Pig Squisher...

Smell bacon-y! 

 Boys thought the bacon was great—thicker cut with a real nice smokeiness; a nice sweetness, too. NOT too salty—a concern I had going in.

Wrapped for later. This should keep us in 'bacon Heaven' for a while!

Kevin

 

[mneeley490]

Look great!

I discovered that it needs to be cooked at a lower temperature also. Even so, the sugars still get a little dark.

 

[thoseguys26]

I don't use much sugar in mine. I like a medium to medium high because I don't use much sugar like store bought bacon. The sugar and water the store bought uses causes it to splatter and burn in a pan or oven. That looks great by the way. Good job!

 

[guitartramp]

This bacon looks awesome!!!! I like the honey and maple combination.
 

 

[daveomak]

Kevin, evening..... I missed another bacon thread.... I don't know how.??..  Looks darn good to me...  Dave

 

[dougmays]

I think that color is just fine...looks awesome Kevin!
Thanks again for the qviews. I wish a I had a similar set-up to hang the bellies. Mine are going to the smoke very soon on my kettle...laying flat. There has to be an advantage to hanging...

i have the same question..i want to do my first bacon soon and i dont have hangers. is there any disadvantage to hanging vs laying flat?

More questions!

- when you "rest" the bacon for a couple days...do you simply just put it in the zip lock bag and let it sit there? i see moisture in the bag do you try to dry that out?

- Do you always leave the skin on or is this a personal preference? if you dont intend to cook up the skin in other recipes could it just be removed?

- for the marinade you have the syrup for a liquid...if i wanted to do a simple dry rub (thinking black pepper, jalepeno, sugar) should i use water?

- also if i used a "dry rub" should i reapply more after the 5-7days of curing?

 

[couger78]

i have the same question..i want to do my first bacon soon and i dont have hangers. is there any disadvantage to hanging vs laying flat?

More questions!

- when you "rest" the bacon for a couple days...do you simply just put it in the zip lock bag and let it sit there? i see moisture in the bag do you try to dry that out?

- Do you always leave the skin on or is this a personal preference? if you dont intend to cook up the skin in other recipes could it just be removed?

- for the marinade you have the syrup for a liquid...if i wanted to do a simple dry rub (thinking black pepper, jalepeno, sugar) should i use water?

- also if i used a "dry rub" should i reapply more after the 5-7days of curing?

Hi Doug

Per your questions:

1. Laying versus hanging. Many folks do it either way. I believe hanging allows for more complete air circulation around all surfaces, whereas laying flat, the bacon will be in contact with the shelf/platform/rack. Not really a big deal. Racks will also tend to leave 'marks' (impressions) on the surface.

2. The 'rest' in the zip-loc post-smoke is dry; there is no moisture present. I removed it from the bag after a day or & let it hang-dry to firm up even more in the fridge before slicing. The main reason I initially bagged it was I didnt want EVERYTHING in the fridge to take on the strong smoke flavor. The pre-smoke ziplock is quite wet as the cure brine has formed.

3. Skin-on or off: personal preference. Remove it if you don't wish to use it later— however, them's fightin' words to some bacon-makers! 

4 & 5. Heres a GREAT explanation on the wet vs dry cure method: http://www.wedlinydomowe.com/sausage-making/curing/methods

Hope you find this info helpful.

good luck!

Kevin

 

[dougmays]

2. The 'rest' in the zip-loc post-smoke is dry; there is no moisture present. I removed it from the bag after a day or & let it hang-dry to firm up even more in the fridge before slicing. The main reason I initially bagged it was I didnt want EVERYTHING in the fridge to take on the strong smoke flavor. The pre-smoke ziplock is quite wet as the cure brine has formed.

thanks kevin!

one follow up to this one above....when you say "as the cure brine has formed"....does the pink salt (cure #1)  draw out moisture on it's own? so in theory if i just covered the belly in the cure and a few other spices...this is really all that needs to be done? or do you use a liquid along with the cure  to make it ad hrere to the meat? or if you add liquid to the cure will this be counter productive because y ou'd be reintroducing  more moisture to the meat? 

i really hope all of that made sense LOL

 

[couger78]

does the pink salt (cure #1)  draw out moisture on it's own? 

It will,and additionally there is a generous amount of kosher salt in the rub.

Quote:

Originally Posted by dougmays  
if i just covered the belly in the cure and a few other spices...this is really all that needs to be done? or do you use a liquid along with the cure  to make it ad hrere to the meat? or if you add liquid to the cure will this be counter productive because y ou'd be reintroducing  more moisture to the meat? 

A dry cure will produce liquid as it draws moisture from the meat. That's part of the secret of meat preservation. Adding liquid will not be counter-productive to the curing process, but you need to be sure NOT to dilute the cure with too much liquid. Wet-curing is most commonly used for making hams, but it also makes good bacon. Moisture is not a BAD thing in the curing process, but once the meat has been cured properly (for an adequate length of time), it needs to be dry & a nice pellicle formed before smoke is applied.

Kevin