# Double Smoked Berbere Side Bacon



## disco (Aug 21, 2016)

One of the pieces of meat my brother brought me from Love's in Vaigreville was a nice piece of side pork (I believe Americans call it the belly). I was out of side bacon so I pulled it out of the freezer.

I started by taking the skin off.













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I weighed the skinned piece so I knew how much cure to make. There was 1.766 kilograms of pork (3.899 pounds). I have a set recipe for curing. I mix the following for each kilogram of pork:

3 grams (2 ml) Prague Powder #1
40 ml brown sugar
15 ml kosher salt
If you are metrically challenged, it works out to the following per pound:

0.05 ounce (1/5 teaspoon) Prague Powder #1
4 teaspoons brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
Then I add any spices or extras I like to try.

So, for my 1.766 kg, I mixed up:

5.3 grams Prague Powder #1

71 ml brown sugar

27 ml kosher salt

2 ml Berbere Spice

I used very little Berbere as I wanted just a touch of flavour without all the heat it brings.













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I put the pork on a tray so any loose curing mix would fall in the tray and rubbed both sides of the pork.













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I put the pork in a plastic bag and made sure to get all the curing mix from the tray in the bag.













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I used Bearcarver's formula to determine how long the pork would need to sit in the cure. It is 2 days for every 1/2 inch of thickness of the thickest part of the pork and then add two days. The thickest part of the pork was 1 1/2 inches. So, 2 times 1 1/2 plus 2 gave me 8 days in the cure.

I put the pork in the fridge for eight days, turning and rubbing it daily.

I took it out and rinsed it under cold water.













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Then I put it in cold water and let it soak for an hour, changing the water twice.













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I put it on a rack to let it dry. I patted it dry with a paper towel and let it sit for an hour. About every 15 minutes, I would pat it down with a paper towel again. By the end of the hour, it was nice and tacky and dry.













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I put it in my smoker without turning it on but with my A Maze N Tube smoker filled with hickory pellets. Normally I don't worry about keeping it too cool but it was a very hot day so I kept some ice cubes in the chamber as well.













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After 5 1/2 hours (I changed the ice a few times), the tube smoker had run out of pellets. I took the bacon out and put it in the fridge overnight.













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The next day, I preheated the pellet smoker to 200 F with hickory pellets and hot smoked the bacon to an internal temperature of 120 F.













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I took it out and let it sit in the fridge overnight.













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The next day, I sliced it up with my trusty ham slicer.













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The finished product.













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Of course, I had to cook up a couple of the trim pieces to test them.













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The Verdict

It has taken a few smokes to get the salt amount just the way I like it in the bacon. My curing mix gives a nice cure taste without being very salty.

The double smoking gives it a a nice hickory flavour.

The small amount of berbere spice was perfect. You don't really taste it as a major flavour, there is just some nice undertones and a touch of something approaching heat. Even She Who Must Be Obeyed said it was very good.

This will be made again but I will try other seasoning blends in future bacon smokes.

Disco


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## briggy (Aug 21, 2016)

Very nice Disco - I need to try a homemade bacon for sure!


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## disco (Aug 21, 2016)

Briggy said:


> Very nice Disco - I need to try a homemade bacon for sure!


Oh yes! Home made bacon has the benefit of being made exactly the way you like it. Every time I throw a slice of store bought bacon in a pan and all that liquid comes out, I just sigh in disappointment.


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## b-one (Aug 21, 2016)

Looks great nice and meaty as well!


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## disco (Aug 21, 2016)

b-one said:


> Looks great nice and meaty as well!


Thanks, B1. It is so nice to get quality meat from a local butcher. I wish we had one here but I will continue to get more meat when I visit my brother.


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## SmokinAl (Aug 22, 2016)

Nice job Disco!

You just can't have enough bacon in the freezer.

You have good knife skills to be able to skin that belly with a chef's knife.

I use a curved skinning knife.

Point!

Al


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## disco (Aug 22, 2016)

SmokinAl said:


> Nice job Disco!
> 
> You just can't have enough bacon in the freezer.
> 
> ...


Thanks, Al. I didn't use my chef's nice, I used my straight ham slicer. Best meat slicing blade ever. Thanks for the point!













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## bena (Aug 22, 2016)

Looks Great Disco! Great thread!  Hope you threw the skin in the smoker or saved it for a later smoke cause it will make you the best friend of all the dogs in the area when you crack off a piece out of the freezer for them ;-)


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## disco (Aug 22, 2016)

BenA said:


> Looks Great Disco! Great thread!  Hope you threw the skin in the smoker or saved it for a later smoke cause it will make you the best friend of all the dogs in the area when you crack off a piece out of the freezer for them ;-)


Thanks, Ben. Not quite on smoking it, I gave it to a friend with a dog. He cuts it into strips and dries it for dog treats.


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## mike w (Aug 22, 2016)

Great lookin bacon! I'll have to google that berbere mix.


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## disco (Aug 22, 2016)

Mike W said:


> Great lookin bacon! I'll have to google that berbere mix.


Thanks, Mike. It is a north African seasoning blend. It is quite hot but has some nice complexity.

Disco


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## Bearcarver (Aug 22, 2016)

Looks Mighty Tasty from the Bear Den!!!
	

	
	
		
		



		
			






Nice Job, Disco!!
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





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I slice mine with my Electric slicer!! If I slice my Bacon by hand, I'm liable to end up with more meat than I want on the pile!!
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





Bear


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## disco (Aug 22, 2016)

Bearcarver said:


> Looks Mighty Tasty from the Bear Den!!!
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Thanks, Bear! My bacon thing is all your fault you know.

As for an electric slicer, I am just too cheap. I will break down some day.


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## Bearcarver (Aug 22, 2016)

Disco said:


> *Thanks, Bear! My bacon thing is all your fault you know.*
> 
> As for an electric slicer, I am just too cheap. I will break down some day.


Har---If that was the worst thing I ever took the blame for, I'd be Happy!!

Bear


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## nsoutdoorsman1 (Aug 22, 2016)

Those pics of fried belly bacon are making me drool!
Looks excellent:)point


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## disco (Aug 22, 2016)

NSoutdoorsman1 said:


> Those pics of fried belly bacon are making me drool!
> Looks excellent:)point


Thanks for the kind words and the point!


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