# First time bacon questions



## sportgd (May 1, 2017)

Hello all!  I am in the process of making bacon for the first time and had a couple questions.  I have a pork belly(cut in thirds) going on 8 days in Pops brine right now and wanted to ask a couple questions. 

First I see a range typically from 10-14 days for the cure time... I'm curious why someone may go until day 14 instead of 10 other than just convenience?  I ask because day 10 would give me a perfect amount of time to leave in fridge to form the pellicle for a couple days and then have a full Sunday for smoking but I don't want to under shoot it. 

Second I am trying to decide what temp to smoke it at, I see a wide range typically from 100 - 145... for those on either extreme why is it that you choose to smoke at that temp?

Thanks for any help and guidance and I promise to follow up with pics!


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## SmokinAl (May 1, 2017)

I cure for 14 days, then 4 days in the fridge uncovered, then 10-12 hours of cold smoke (under 90 degrees).

Then 4 more days in the fridge uncovered.

Then in the freezer for 2-3 hours & slice, and vac pack & freeze.

Al


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## sportgd (May 1, 2017)

Thanks for the response Al, I was thinkkng I'd prefer the colder smoking for it! Are the days after that in the fridge to allow the smoke to mellow?


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## mfreel (May 1, 2017)

I cold smoke.  How thick are the slabs?  This will also help determine how long to keep in the brine.  

I use a dry rub for 14 days, rinse, fridge overnight for the pelicle, COLD smoke for 12 to 16 hrs, plastic wrap and back in the fridge for 3 days, freezer for a few hours prior to slicing.













bacon.jpg



__ mfreel
__ Apr 13, 2016


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## sportgd (May 1, 2017)

Thanks for the response! I'll have to pull it back out and measure it to give exact size but it's smaller than many of the pics I have seen posted.  Here is a shot after it cut it with all of the thickest parts facing us.













IMG_3874.JPG



__ sportgd
__ May 1, 2017






Do you think a longer time in the fridge after the smoke would be ok? I will be traveling and if I extend the brine I'd have to let it sit for 6 days after the smoke.


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## tallbm (May 1, 2017)

> Originally Posted by *sportgd*
> 
> Second I am trying to decide what temp to smoke it at, I see a wide range typically from 100 - 145... for those on either extreme why is it that you choose to smoke at that temp?
> 
> Thanks for any help and guidance and I promise to follow up with pics!


They variety of temp is based on what people are trying to accomplish with their bacon making and smoking.

I'm no authority only having done 16 pounds one time but I did lot's of homework to figure out what I wanted.

I chose to hot smoke at 165F until the IT was 145F. 

The smoker temp at 165F was to keep from rendering fat from the bacon.  If you get the smoker too hot the bacon fat starts turning to liquid and draining/dripping out.  That is not good for bacon or for sausage making.

I chose the IT of 145F so it was considered safely cooked according to FDA standards.  I liked my bacon soft rather than crispy so knowing it was already pre-cooked I could lightly fry it without safety concerns. 

What I learned from my experience:

-145F IT was awesome!  I found that you can totally taste the difference and specific wood flavoring when the meat is at 145F or lightly fried to be soft bacon.  I loved this discovery! 

Others have reported that you don't taste the difference in the wood used when making bacon.  This confused me quite a bit but I discovered they weren't wrong they were just making their bacon crispy.   I found with crispy bacon the wood flavor details seemed to get lost and just taste like smoked bacon... which was still great bacon.

-at 145F IT I like eating my vacuum sealed bacon right out of the package!!! It was basically like an amazing bacon sandwich meat.  I didn't expect this to be the case but it seems I eat more of my homemade bacon like this than fried lol.

-at 145F IT I didn't want to wait to taste the bacon when it came out of the smoker, which means I also didn't want to fry it up to try it when I pulled it out.  It was a nice little perk to taste test as it came out and to snack on while slicing and vacuum sealing.

-at 145F IT I didn't have to worry about anyone having undercooked bacon as a gift.  This seems silly but I've known a person to mess up making boxed mac'n cheese where they failed to properly boil water hahahaha.

-at 145F IT the bacon seemed no different in texture or appearance than semi cooked store bought bacon.  I was worried it would seem different but nope.  It looked the same but was fully cooked.

I'm not arguing against cold smoking.  I'm just answering your question about the temp variations and why they exist.  My goals were fully cooked bacon I could lightly fry without worrying about whether it was fully cooked or not or worry that people would some how managed to under cook the bacon I gave to them.

Other's on here have reported liking to do their bacon "semi" cooked, fully cooked, cold smoked-uncooked. 

The question you may want to ask and answer is, "What is sportgd looking for in his bacon?". 

I did a very detailed post of my bacon attempt, what I was looking to discover/accomplish, and what I learned.  See here http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/...ng-some-bacon-mysteries-solved-qview-included

Enjoy!!


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## sportgd (May 1, 2017)

Thanks for all the info and your opinions Tall! I was wondering if that would be considered cooked or not and if eating it at that point was acceptable.  I actually like mine a little more on the crispy side so I'd probably fry it up even if I did smoke it at that temp. 

Hilarious about the person who struggled with boiling water! I think I'll need to blatantly label any gifts! Haha.

That was a lot of food for thought and I'm checking out your q view now, thanks again.


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## tallbm (May 1, 2017)

sportgd said:


> Thanks for all the info and your opinions Tall! I was wondering if that would be considered cooked or not and if eating it at that point was acceptable. I actually like mine a little more on the crispy side so I'd probably fry it up even if I did smoke it at that temp.
> 
> Hilarious about the person who struggled with boiling water! I think I'll need to blatantly label any gifts! Haha.
> 
> That was a lot of food for thought and I'm checking out your q view now, thanks again.


Any time!  I'm glad you found it interesting. 

Ya that person who messes up boiling water didn't get any bacon hahahaha.

I hope all the info that myself and others provide help you figure out which way to go and helps you have a successful first attempt! :)


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## sportgd (May 1, 2017)

For sure, I've never been let down by SMF with the shear volume of knowledge available you can't go wrong.  Thanks again!


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