Longer smoke Bacon...

[hitechredneck]

I cured some bacon again using Pops brine.  The curing process has been pictured here a lot, so I didn't bother with pics from that.  However, I did have an issue with this bacon in that I try to let it sit in the fridge to for the pelicle over a work week.  (Take out of brine on Sunday and smoke on the next weekend.)

I got distracted by my son having a wreck and ended up with letting it sit in the fridge for two weeks instead.  It didn't seem to hurt the bacon at all, so I smoked it.  A bit longer than I normally do, but after the fry test, I'm a believer in a longer cold smoke.  Love making my own bacon.  Thanks Pops!

After cure I rubbed with S&P and Onion & Garlic powders.

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• hitechredneck
• Mar 11, 2015

In for a good long (cold) smoke...  Friday around 3:00PM

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• hitechredneck
• Mar 11, 2015

Still smoking Saturday morning.

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• hitechredneck
• Mar 11, 2015

Finished Sunday afternoon.  It's all sliced up and in the fridge/freezer now.  The 10lb+/- pork belly I started with turned out to give me just over 8lbs of cured and smoked bacon.  BTW, the house smells wonderful!

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• hitechredneck
• Mar 11, 2015

Thanks for looking!

 

[tropics]

Looks good hope your son is not hurt.

 

[mr t 59874]

Nice color on your bacon, very good job.

 I also do a long smoke on my bacon, using a very light, pale blue smoke, normally in the 72-hour range before the color wanted is achieved.

T

 

[hitechredneck]

Mr. T,

Thanks!  Yeah, I wish I had time for a 72hr smoke.  I was pushing it as it was to get from Friday evening to Sunday.  I could have gone to Sunday evening and had a full 48 hrs, but had to be somewhere...

tropics,

Thank you.  I love bacon ;)

My son is on the mend.  He was ejected from the vehicle and spent 15 days in the ICU before they no longer called him critical...  So while he was hurt very badly, he is getting better very quickly.  Youth has an impact on the duration of recovery of this type for sure.  Well, that and an enormous amount of prayers being said for him by tons of people...

 

[Bearcarver]

Fine looking Bacon, RedNeck!!

-------------------

Not just saying it either.

I agree, if you're gonna cold smoke Bacon, the longer the better----Nothing under 20 hours.

Glad your Son is doing Great !!!

Prayers from SE PA.

Bear

 

[torp3t3d0]

what is the advantage of the "cold" smoke vs. smoking at about 130deg? (10 hrs vs 72 hrs)

 

[Bearcarver]

 
what is the advantage of the "cold" smoke vs. smoking at about 130deg? (10 hrs vs 72 hrs)

That's a matter of personal taste.

I'll take the 10 hours at 130°, but as long as you do a lot of hours, cold smoking is good.

And it doesn't get cooked using your 130°, so the only cooking will be before you eat it.

And stick with light smoke to avoid creosote.

Link:

Bacon (Extra Smoky)

Bear

 

[mr t 59874]

 
what is the advantage of the "cold" smoke vs. smoking at about 130deg? (10 hrs vs 72 hrs)

If it is properly cured, it doesn't require pre-cooking, although many do anyway.  It then only needs warming prior to consumption as with any pre-cooked pork.

I prefer to smoke to a desired color rather than by time, therefore, the shorter the smoke time the heavier the smoke in order to get it to the desired color. 

The reason I personally like to cold smoke is, it gives the bacon additional time to equalize, both salt and smoke while the smoke is being applied.  After smoking, it is given an extra two days in the cooler before being packaged.   

It's all personal preference, nothing more.

The following is how I do mine.   Mr. T's "Sugar Cured Bacon"

Tom

 

[gary s]

I think you did a fine job, Your bacon really looks good I too have to say   

  are weel deserved

Keep up the great curing and smoking

Gary

 

[hitechredneck]

what is the advantage of the "cold" smoke vs. smoking at about 130deg? (10 hrs vs 72 hrs)

I couldn't smoke at 130 if I wanted to. My setup would hit 200 quickly. I use a mailbox mod on my propane smoker and use my A-MAZE-N Tube smoker.
Then the smoke temp is whatever temp it is outside plus the solar effect on the box. For this smoke, it was really cold out, so had a perfect temp for cold smoking.

 

[hookedonq]

Great looking bacon! That 2 week aging period helps with the final product also.

Last time i did bacon i let some hang in the smokehouse a little over 2 weeks after a 11 days curing and it had a much better flavor and a better color also compared to bacon i hadn't aged

Fyi Most old fashioned country style bacon is aged over a period of time

 

[hitechredneck]

Great looking bacon! That 2 week aging period helps with the final product also.

Last time i did bacon i let some hang in the smokehouse a little over 2 weeks after a 11 days curing and it had a much better flavor and a better color also compared to bacon i hadn't aged

Fyi Most old fashioned country style bacon is aged over a period of time

Yeah, I noticed it didn't really hurt it.  And now that I've tasted the final product, I'm probably going to age it like that from now on.  It seems to make the smoking process work better.  Not sure what the overall reason is, maybe less moisture?  Regardless, it's going into my black book I keep for smoking recipes.

 

[dave17a]

Did you side by side on that. Bet is good. Last smoke let sit 7 days after smoke. Doing same again. 2 days after cure then smoke. They do beef on dry age in fridge. What about pork over that salt?

 

[woodsplitter]

Looks great, I've made bacon numerous times this will go in my notes thanks for the Q-view.:drool

 

[hitechredneck]

 
Did you side by side on that. Bet is good. Last smoke let sit 7 days after smoke. Doing same again. 2 days after cure then smoke. They do beef on dry age in fridge. What about pork over that salt?

Not quite sure what you mean by 'side by side'...  I cured it as a whole belly and only cut into three pieces to fit into my smoker.  I aged it (unintentionally) on the rack in the gray tub shown in the first picture.

After I smoked it, I sliced and vacuum sealed it.  It sat in my fridge for a few days before I froze it.  I have the first package in the fridge again waiting on the wife to cook up next chance she gets. :)  (OK, so I'll likely be the one to cook it up if I know what's good for me!)

Looks great, I've made bacon numerous times this will go in my notes thanks for the Q-view.

Thanks!  Yep, aging that belly went into my notebook as well.