# Preparing bellies for curing and smoking.....



## daveomak (Oct 7, 2012)

I was watching the tube.... In this factory they ran the bellies through a "pounding, rolling" machine to get them to an even thickness and get the wrinkles out of the hide and soften it all up before running the belly through the "hide removing" station.... I know it was for uniformity in thickness and hide removal...  

My first belly, (bacon that is), is thawing now.... It should be ready for cure on Tuesday......   before the cure# 1 and salt, maple sugar rub, is there anything else I should do to it...   I'm planning on curing and smoking with the hide on...  Cold smoke that is, below 70  ....  I'm cutting the belly in half and maybe smoke one half 10 hours and the other 20 hours.... over several days...  smoke on---smoke off etc. the Mr Miagi method I s'pose ...   May as well start experimenting now..... 

 Any suggestions would help me and any other new guys/gals to smoking bellies that are reading this thread....    Dave

Go ahead and start  "before the cure rub"   do this....

We all thank you....   Dave


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## diggingdogfarm (Oct 7, 2012)

When I do rind-on (which is next to never anymore), because I make use of the rind, I look the rind over real close for stray hairs and remove them with a very sharp knife or disposable razor...square the belly pieces up to equal size and we're good to go.


~Martin


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## linguica (Oct 7, 2012)

DiggingDogFarm said:


> When I do rind-on (which is next to never anymore), because I make use of the rind, I look the rind over real close for stray hairs and remove them with a very sharp knife or disposable razor...square the belly pieces up to equal size and we're good to go.
> ~Martin


Martin,( or anyone viewing) What is the best way to remove the rind? I tried slipping one corner with a knife and ripping it off with vise grips. That did not work for me.

Just finished some brown sugar-maple bacon yesterday. thread: My second try ..........Q view included.

                                      Thanks


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## diggingdogfarm (Oct 7, 2012)

Linguica said:


> What is the best way to remove the rind? I tried slipping one corner with a knife and ripping it off with vise grips. That did not work for me.



Yeah, with pork there's no clear separation between the skin and below like there is with many other animals, so the vise-grip trick doesn't work.
It's best to remove it with a very sharp, not too pointed, knife. Proper blade angle is the secret.
I also use a bacon hanger to secure the belly with some thin rope to a c-clamp at the end of the table, that makes skinning it a LOT easier.

Here's a good video on belly skinning:

[VIDEO]][/VIDEO]


~Martin


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## linguica (Oct 7, 2012)

Thanks Martin,100% on target, as usual...............The grasshopper learns another skill.


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## baconologist (Oct 7, 2012)

That's a good video, he makes it look easy.

Bob


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## lost in nd (Oct 7, 2012)

Just curious when it comes to bacon - how much cure do you put on the belly? Does a guy want cover the belly and rub the cure into the belly or just sprinkle the belly with cure and go with whatever sticks?

The only time I've tried bacon it came out so darn salty I couldn't eat it. I don't think I rinsed the cure off well enough, but then again I my have over cured it too, I don't know.
	

	
	
		
		



		
			






Thanks

Alan


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## linguica (Oct 7, 2012)

There are so many variables. Some homework is in order. Look in Forums\bacon, tons of good information there. The only constant that i am aware of is to use 1 tsp of prauge #1 cure (pink salt) per five pounds of meat when cold smoking.


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## diggingdogfarm (Oct 7, 2012)

Lost in ND said:


> Just curious when it comes to bacon - how much cure do you put on the belly? Does a guy want cover the belly and rub the cure into the belly or just sprinkle the belly with cure and go with whatever sticks?
> 
> The only time I've tried bacon it came out so darn salty I couldn't eat it. I don't think I rinsed the cure off well enough, but then again I my have over cured it too, I don't know.
> 
> ...



There are several ways that it can be done, in my biased opinion, it's best to use a calculated amount of salt along with the obvious safe amount of cure, that way you eliminate the possibility of too much salt and and it saves on ingredients, among other advantages.

You can do a from scratch calculated cure with the calculator on my website, or a saltbox cure with an all-purpose mix (I have an easy recipe for that) or an equilibrium brine, any of those will give MUCH more consistent results rather than "shotgun" hit-and-miss curing.


~Martin


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## bbqonice (Oct 8, 2012)

we use tenderquick...sugar, pickling spice mix.

just from raw...into the cure container...slather with the mix....rotate every couple of days for a 5 to 7 day cure.

Then a rinse into the smoke house for 3 or 4 hrs...we dont cook it right through....have never heard of anyone doing it 20hrs...

we smoke with black alder or maple or red willow.


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## DanMcG (Oct 8, 2012)

Hey Dave, Ya might try cold smoking it for 6-8 hours then letting them rest in frig, and then give them another 6-8 hours of smoke the next day.


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## daveomak (Oct 8, 2012)

DiggingDogFarm said:


> When I do rind-on (which is next to never anymore), because I make use of the rind, I look the rind over real close for stray hairs and remove them with a very sharp knife or disposable razor...square the belly pieces up to equal size and we're good to go.
> 
> 
> ~Martin


Martin, good idea..... Never thought to clean up the hide...  Squaring up the belly will make it easier later on....  I'll smoke the trim for beans or some other delicious dish....


DanMcG said:


> Hey Dave, Ya might try cold smoking it for 6-8 hours then letting them rest in frig, and then give them another 6-8 hours of smoke the next day.


Dan, Good idea....  I was thinking of something similar... AK1, doesn't he cold smoke his bacon bellies for 7 days...  I know natives who smoke fish for days... alternating smoke no smoke something like 12 on, 36 off etc... 


BBQONICE said:


> we use tenderquick...sugar, pickling spice mix.
> 
> just from raw...into the cure container...slather with the mix....rotate every couple of days for a 5 to 7 day cure.
> 
> ...


Kelly, morning and welcome to the forum.....  Normally I would smoke meats 2-4 hours myself....  The new blend of pellets Todd has put together Pitmaster's Choice has no bitter taste and smells great....  Also I'm planning on on smoking the belly with all vents wide open to get the "thinnest" smoke possible and do a "smoke on", "smoke off", method..... After doing some reading of "old country" methods of smoking, at times the fire would only be smoking for 6-12 hours/day....  don't know if it was to control the heat or the smoke or what....  I do know, letting the meat "bloom" or "rest" after smoking is a very important step in having a quality tasting product... So I thought I would do a rest in the middle of the smoke also....   Hopefully the temp in the smoker will not get above 70 degrees.....  I might have to refer the bellies during the afternoon... we will see... and I will report back on the process I am using.....  

Dave


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## tennsmoker (Oct 14, 2012)

Dave, been reading up on curing bacon, I'm curious about what kind of smoker do u use to

*Cold Smoke!! *  I suppose your cold smoking will be <100?

al


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## daveomak (Oct 14, 2012)

TennSmoker said:


> Dave, been reading up on curing bacon, I'm curious about what kind of smoker do u use to
> 
> *Cold Smoke!! *  I suppose your cold smoking will be <100?
> 
> al


Al, morning..... I use the MES 30 to hang the bacon or cheese or what ever for cold smoking....  I have a dimmer switch on the element to control the temperature,if needed......  And a mailbox for the AMNPS hooked to aluminum flex pipe to transfer the smoke to the MES and dissipate the heat...  I'm shooting for 70 deg or so on the temp..... About 5 more days and the cure step will be finished....     Dave













Adjusted element heat.jpg



__ daveomak
__ May 11, 2011


















AMNPS and Mailbox mod.jpg



__ daveomak
__ Sep 22, 2012


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## scarbelly (Oct 14, 2012)

Great video Martin - key to that is a very sharp knife. A dull knife will just rip it and will cause you a lot of grief for sure


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## tennsmoker (Oct 14, 2012)

Dave thanx for the info (rheostat), ingenious,
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





I see,

al


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