belly dacon...nailed it

[davef63]

been playing around with the new smokeshack making bacon and sausage. this is my third attempt at bacon, first was good, second was a disaster this attempt came out outstanding. this stuff is as good or better than meat market bacon. no prep pics, but it was your basic tenderquick dry rub. i soaked it for 1 1/2 hrs till salt content was where i wanted it. then back in the fridge for one more day to let salt equalize.
into the shack:

ive been playing around with different temps, this time i went 130*-140* for around 14 hrs. [ after drying with no smoke for an hr] this is what came out:

and some sliced:

now if i can get this sausage making thing down, i still have 8 lbs of kielbasa jerky left. lol thanks for looking,
dave

 

[hog warden]

Looks outstanding!

Walk us through your basic Tender Quick curing process prior to the smokehouse.

I've done two or three of these and mine always comes out too salty. In my case, too much salt/cure mix to begin with I fear.

Then there is Tender Quick or one of Morton's Sugar Cure products to consider. Both have the cure already in them.

 

[rbranstner]

Looks great. Nothing better than putting out a product that is better than what you can get at the store.

 

[tlzimmerman]

Wow...that looks amazing. Talk about bacon would be perfect this morning.

 

[buffalosmoke]

Bacon looks great!

 

[davef63]

i used regular tederquick at the rate of:
1 tblsp per pound of belly
2 tsp turbino sugar per pound of belly
1 tsp white pepper per belly [ not pound]
1 tsp onion powder per belly
1 tsp garlic powder per belly
after dry cure is mixed thourghly,rub into belly all sides, particulary on the meat side. shake off excess. then i bagged it up and put into fridge trying to maintain 38* [ i put a fridge therm where the belly sits] i let it sit there for 7 days rotating and massage daily. after 7 days rinse very well with lukewarm water. here is where you can control the saltiness. i soaked mine in lukewarm water for 15 min, fried a piece, too salty. i worked my way from lukewarm water to cold water changing every 15 min. after 1 1/2 hrs it was perfect, then back into fridge for one more day to let remaining salt equalize. hope this helps
dave

 

[tjohnson]

Awesome looking bacon!

Did you smoke the whole 14 hours?

What wood did you use?


Todd

 

[nozzleman]

Awesome job, I love this stuff.

 

[Bearcarver]

Great job Dave,
Points to you !

That's pretty much the same recipe that I use, except I don't shake off the excess cure. I do one bag at a time, and anything that falls off goes right into the bag with the meat. That way the cure amount stays exact.

You're a day or two ahead of me. I'm slicing mine today. Will try to post pics tomorrow (new iMac might give me a hard time).

Thanks for showing,
Bearcarver

 

[jak757]

Awesome looking bacon! Thanks for posting the Qview and method.

I like the looks of your smoke shack. Did you build it?

Nice slicer too!

 

[blue]

Looks great, Dave. Thanks for sharing!

 

[davef63]

todd, used hickory and apple, probably 80% hickory 20%apple.
jak757: ya, just built it, its in builds " smoke in the works"
dave