# cold smoke (pork belly)



## chefmjg

I have been looking at different post about cold smoke.I have a master built electric smoker even on the lowest setting it is up to 120.to my understanding is that the heat has to be below 100 so how do i achieve the right temp but still produce the smoke. Any help would be welcomed. I also have seen smoke generator do reaaly understand what they do


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## diggingdogfarm

Real cold smoking is done at less than 80 degrees, 75 or less is even better.
The best way to accomplish that is to use a cold smoke generator like the A-Maze-N.
Here's a video showing how the sawdust smoker works.


http://www.amazenproducts.com/


Martin


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## scarbelly

Todd's AMAZN smoker is the answer


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## ahakohda

i would not say that temperature below 100 is a must. Actually I  gradually  bring temperature to 160 and keep it there till 145 internal to eat as is.


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## alblancher

Ahakohda

We do not consider that cold smoked.   Cold smoked bacon must be cooked after smoking.  When cold smoking we try to keep the chamber temps under 80 degrees

A lot of people go ahead and smoke the bacon to safe internal temperatures and have a final product.  I am quite sure it is delicious but I have never had the opportunity to try it.


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## ahakohda

Ok, how about this one.

According to Rytek Kutas book bacon should be smoked at 135F until internal 120-124. Is it hot smoked or cold smoked?


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## alblancher

Kutas is recognized as a go to source on all things cured.  A lot of his recipes are dated and over the years some of his techniques have been improved upon.   It really is a question of semantics.   I think most of the people on this forum would consider cold smoked, just that, try to keep it under 80 degrees but as long as you do not render fat then we consider the bacon cold smoked.  Warm smoked in the range you are discussing produces a different product.   The final bacon is in an almost ready to eat form.  Fat is rendered, maybe the color is set a bit better.  If you had a bit of Mountain Man in you, you would probably cut off a chunk, throw it in your backpack and just heat it on a skillet when ready to eat. 

When you smoke belly to a higher internal temp, say 165 or so then you have ready to eat bacon.

:Like I said, to me it is more a question of semantics based on what the final product looks like.  To avoid confusion it would be helpful to use the term  cold smoked to describe bacon kept in smoke chamber temps below that when fat renders  110-120 preferably in the 80 degree range.   Warm smoke where the chamber temps are under maybe 160 180 degrees and the "internal" temp of the bacon never exceeds 120 - 130 degrees  and then hot smoked or cooked bacon where internal temps are USDA safe  165 degrees I believe is the current number.

Hope this helps, we discuss bacon often on this forum and there is always a lot of confusion because of so much conflicting information from so many different sources.


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## ahakohda

It always confusing that is for sure.

Because even with ribs when I do them at 225 I call it BBQ ribs. When I cure ribs and smoke gradually raising T from 130 to 170 I call it cold smoke.


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## alblancher

I have never cured and smoked ribs before.  I'll have to do some research on that and give it a try.

I think the difference between smoking and Qing is the temp of the pit.   Smoking  250 or 260 and below   Qing between  260 and 325 maybe,  grilling above that.


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## dillon reynolds

you are the man!


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## rick hughes

​Masterbuilt makes a cold smoker attachment available on Amazon for 50 bucks that works with all of their electric smokers. Just bought one myself. This will cure what ales you.


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## donr

Is the OP referring to cured or uncured Pork Belly?  

I interpreted  "Cold Smoking Pork Belly" as uncured pork belly.  Would this not require the cold smoking chamber temps to be kept under 40°F?  Which is doable by someone with more patience and diligence than me.  

Don


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## trueteam

I am sure someone more knowledgeable than me will respond, but I have always thought that you should only cold smoke a belly if it has been cured. Does the less than 40 degrees negate this? I love this forum, always learning something new.


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## trueteam

I misread your post I think, looks like you are saying you do have to keep under 40 if uncured.


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## donr

The little nasties really start to multiply at 40°f.  This is why there is the 40°- 140° in 4 hours rule.  You can smoke uncured to your hearts content if you keep the temp. around the meat below 40°f.  Which I can't imagine is easy.  I know enough to know I don't have the patience or diligence to watch it close enough to ensure this, so I won't even try.  

Uncured pork belly can be hot smoked to fully cooked.  It will most likely be tasty.  But it won't taste like bacon.


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## mr ray ray

Cold Smoking is at best if keep at or below 80f because at higher temps your fat starts to render out. If you are cold smoking please do use curing salts when you cure your bacon so you don't run the risk of* botulism poisoning *if your meat has pick up spoors from any contaminated surface which will grow in your meat rapidly in a low oxygen environment regardless of temps until you hit 250F

*  Does cooking kill Cl. botulinum and its toxin?*  
Normal thorough cooking (pasteurisation: 70°C (158F) 2min or equivalent) will kill _Cl.botulinum_bacteria but not its spores. To kill the spores of _Cl.botulinum _a sterilisation process equivalent to 121°C (250F)for 3 min is required. The botulinum toxin itself is inactivated (denatured) rapidly at temperatures greater than 80°C (179F) . 

this is from this web site https://www.fsai.ie/faqs/botulism.html   and this is a us web site https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Botulism


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## Bigmark1127

alblancher said:


> Ahakohda
> 
> We do not consider that cold smoked.   Cold smoked bacon must be cooked after smoking.  When cold smoking we try to keep the chamber temps under 80 degrees
> 
> A lot of people go ahead and smoke the bacon to safe internal temperatures and have a final product.  I am quite sure it is delicious but I have never had the opportunity to try it.


I could smoke pork belly cured at a temp really cold like many 35 degrees I live in Wisconsin's it'what's to get to 68 degrees with my smoke generator


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## ahakohda

This conversation happened almost 8 years ago when I was trying to recreate something from Eastern European smoking tradition. Mixing and misusing terminology and wording.
While American bacon needs to be cooked before consuming, in Eastern Europe we prepare same cut until internal T reaches 154.4F.
 After proper breathing period and cooling down  in refrigerator you can simple cut a piece and eat as it is.


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## mrad

Update:

I gave the pork belly a good cold rinse when I got home last night, It did seem to take away some/most of the odd smell. I then place it back in the vac sealer bag and placed it back in the refrigerator without being sealed.  I will check it again after the weekend and decide if I want to give the dust a try.  I could also pull my masterbuilt electric out of storage and try to use that.  I would have to figure out how to hang it so I don't have to cut the belly in numerous small pieces


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## cocoa&e

ahakohda said:


> This conversation happened almost 8 years ago when I was trying to recreate something from Eastern European smoking tradition. Mixing and misusing terminology and wording.
> While American bacon needs to be cooked before consuming, in Eastern Europe we prepare same cut until internal T reaches 154.4F.
> After proper breathing period and cooling down  in refrigerator you can simple cut a piece and eat as it is.
> View attachment 470780


Hello, I love the Eastern European smoked meat as well.  Do you have details for this process?


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## ahakohda

There is not much to it.
Classic recipes are more detailed in what to use as spice mix or cured method. You will need a book for those. My guide book was and is* Great Sausage Recipes and Meat Curing by Rytek Kutas.*

I am not sure if you are familiar with general meat curing methods. If yes, follow your favorite way of curing meat either dry or wet method. If you novice, search around this forums - many many great posts here on that topic.

Lets say I want ready to eat bacon or what called grudinka or podcherevok. 

Cure slab of bacon the way you like it.
Rinse. Vacuum seal in bag. Submerging into sous vide for 4 hours at temperature 149F.  Thicker slab takes longer 5 or 6 hours.
Next take it out of vacuum bag and hang to dry at a room temp for 24 hours or for as long as needed to dry it.

Next step is smoking. As with spices its up to you to choose level of smoke. I generally go with 6-8 hours of pellet smoke. No heat.
Its important to understand that as hotter it is outside, the hotter it is inside your smoker.  I'd say outside temperature 50-70F is optimal for that kind of smoking. Obviously any kind of cold smoke generators eliminate heat factor but smoke is too heavy for my taste.

After you happy with level of smoke, remove your bacon from smoker, let it rest for few hours. Wrap in plastic and let it sit in refrigerator for 2-3 days to even out smoke.

Ready to eat.


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