My first Bacon w/ Q-view

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papagreer

Meat Mopper
Original poster
Jul 7, 2010
249
16
Raleigh, NC
Hey Fellas,

Instead of buying my colleagues a Christmas present, I figured I would smoke them each some bacon. This is my first batch of bacon so I am pretty excited...heres what I have so far. I mixed up a batch of Pop's brine... (2 gallons of water, 2 Cups of Kosher Salt, 2 Cups of White Sugar, 2 Cups of Brown Sugar and 2 oz of Cure #1). In his Wiki, it says 10-14 days to soak for Pork Bellies....how do I know when to pull it and do a fry test? Ive seen a couple of people soak for 7 days so it makes me a little unsure of the time it needs in the brine. Here's what I have so far:

This was a 3.88 LB piece of belly that I cut in 3 pieces.

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Took the rind off

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Taking a nice bath

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Weighted down with a ziplock full of water

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I put them in the fridge around 11PM Saturday night and 10 days puts me at December 20. Do you think that it needs to go 10 days or can I pull them at 7? Any advice would be awesome and stay tuned for more pics. I plan to cold smoke these for about 12 hrs using Apple Dust in my Amazen. Thanks guys!

Chris
 
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I would let it go for 10 days. If you are not sure PM Pops!

By the way nice knife work getting the rind off!
 
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I do them just like the recipe sez...10 days.

They look kinda thin so shoot Pops an IM and see what he sez..

  Craig
 
Looks like you are off to a good start. Like the others have said shoot Pops a note 
 
I do them just like the recipe sez...10 days.

They look kinda thin so shoot Pops an IM and see what he sez..

  Craig


Yeah they are a little on the thin side, but that was all i could find. You think Raleigh would have a good butcher or at least a spot a man could get a thick belly.....I mean we are in the south! I sent him a PM but unless he says otherwise, I'll let them soak the 10 days. Thanks!

Chris
 
Yes, you can go 7 days; the belly is thinner and it will cure no problem.  Make sure you get a Qview of it so we can all drool as you fry or bake or broil it up!!
 
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You are doing everything right so far. I personally like the dry cure method. Why do they call it the dry when it pulls alot of moisture out of the bellie and there's water in there the whole time. Go Figure.
 
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Alright, now that Christmas is over, I can update my bacon post. 

So the reason I made this bacon was to give to my co-workers for Xmas presents as well as make some bacon from scratch for the first time. Here are some shots out of the smoker...I smoked the bellies for 15 hrs with a combo of apple, pecan and bourbon barrel dust. I coated each with black pepper, onion powder and garlic powder.

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I don't own a slicer (d'oh!) so I sliced it up by hand:

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I also smoked some kosher salt and some peppercorns as a little extra:

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All in all, it was a pretty good first run of bacon. Such a nicer flavor then the store bought bacon, I was shocked at the difference. Next run, I will get a thicker belly... other then that, I think Ill keep it the same. Although, I think I will do a maple syrup and a hot habanero version. I will post those as they come. Big thanks to Pops for his cure and the rest of you guys that post and give advice. 

Chris
 
It looks great !!!!! FYI, If you are having problems finding bellies you may give Buck Board Bacon a try…. One of the reasons I went with it was, incase I made a mistake I was cheaper that bellies....But by following Pops recipe....it will be hard to mess it up......It’s made with from Boston Butts. I just made my first batch (using Pops recipe) and it came out fantastic!!! Here is a link to my run.... 

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/forum/newestpost/114409
 
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It looks great !!!!! FYI, If you are having problems finding bellies you may give Buck Board Bacon a try…. One of the reasons I went with it was, incase I made a mistake I was cheaper that bellies....But by following Pops recipe....it will be hard to mess it up......It’s made with from Boston Butts. I just made my first batch (using Pops recipe) and it came out fantastic!!! Here is a link to my run.... 

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/forum/newestpost/114409


Hey Shoneyboy,

Your BBB looks really nice! I got my belly for 2.99 a lb so that isn't a bad price but I recently found a nice pork supplier. Cant wait to pick up a nice chunk of belly and get to makin bacon!

Chris
 
That looks amazing!  How did it taste?


It came out really well. It wasn't too salty and it had a nice sweetness to it. I put black pepper, onion and garlic powder on the top, which tasted great. Cold smoking it for that long gave it a nice smokiness BUT i really wish i had a slicer! Putting it in the freezer for about 2 hrs really helped the slicing. Cant wait to make some more!

Chris
 
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