# 1st attempt at Bacon using Pop's Brine



## JZ_Focus (Nov 19, 2017)

Well, I finally broke down and gave it a shot.  I bought about a 5 pound piece of Pork Belly and dropped it in Pop's Brine for 12 days.  Pulled it from the brine and dried it, placed on a cooling rack in the fridge for 24-hours, and then into the smoker yesterday.  You  can tell from the pictures how new the smoker is (yes I did season it first, the day before).


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## JZ_Focus (Nov 19, 2017)

Guess I should also add this was in a MES30 with an A-MAZ-N tray using Apple wood pellets.  Top slab smoked for 6 hours, bottom slab smoked for 7 hours.  I was going to go for 12 hours on the 2nd slab, but after tasting a sample off the 6 hour slab, I was actually pretty happy with the taste and didn't want to over do it.


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## Rings Я Us (Nov 24, 2017)

Very cool. Looks good. I'm going to be doing some soon. You use any flavorings? What temps did you use?


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## JZ_Focus (Nov 25, 2017)

I have the pork loin in brine now, this will be an attempt at canadian bacon.


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## JZ_Focus (Nov 25, 2017)

Rings Я Us said:


> Very cool. Looks good. I'm going to be doing some soon. You use any flavorings? What temps did you use?



Used Pop's brine, nothing added flavor-wise. Apple wood pellets. Temps topped out at 100 degrees which was actually a bit warmer than what I wanted. The 7 hour smoked slab seems to be the one everyone preferred so far. I bit less sweet without being overly smoky. Also, it could have been a bit saltier, so next time I do bacon I'll bump that up a bit. Pop's brine recipe say 1/3 - 1 cup of salt per gallon of water, I used 1/2 cup to play it safe. Next batch will be 3/4 cup as I personally don't like overly salty bacon. All in All, I'm happy with the way it turned out for a first attempt.


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## Rings Я Us (Nov 25, 2017)

I just tried some of my buckboard bacon and it was good and soft, juicy.. Salt was good. 
I'm going to be cold smoking today for 6 hours with Apple. I will try a slice and see if I want to go another day tomorrow for a few more hours.
I will attempt 85° in the ECB smoke n grill charcoal.  Using chunks. So you think 1/2 cup in his brine is better than 1/3? Sounds good to me. Starting point .


JZ_Focus said:


> Used Pop's brine, nothing added flavor-wise. Apple wood pellets. Temps topped out at 100 degrees which was actually a bit warmer than what I wanted. The 7 hour smoked slab seems to be the one everyone preferred so far. I bit less sweet without being overly smoky. Also, it could have been a bit saltier, so next time I do bacon I'll bump that up a bit. Pop's brine recipe say 1/3 - 1 cup of salt per gallon of water, I used 1/2 cup to play it safe. Next batch will be 3/4 cup as I personally don't like overly salty bacon. All in All, I'm happy with the way it turned out for a first attempt.


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## hardcookin (Nov 25, 2017)

Good job with the bacon!
The last couple bellies I smoked for 6 hours with A Maze-N tube. And I thought it come out pretty good.


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## johnh12 (Nov 25, 2017)

JZ_Focus said:


> Used Pop's brine, nothing added flavor-wise. Apple wood pellets. Temps topped out at 100 degrees which was actually a bit warmer than what I wanted. The 7 hour smoked slab seems to be the one everyone preferred so far. I bit less sweet without being overly smoky. Also, it could have been a bit saltier, so next time I do bacon I'll bump that up a bit. Pop's brine recipe say 1/3 - 1 cup of salt per gallon of water, I used 1/2 cup to play it safe. Next batch will be 3/4 cup as I personally don't like overly salty bacon. All in All, I'm happy with the way it turned out for a first attempt.



I just took a couple of 2# slabs of belly out of the fridge after soaking in Pop's Brine (exact regular recipe with full salt) for 14 days. I did a test fry and it wasn't over salted at all but did taste a bit on the sweet side.
They're uncovered in the fridge for tonight and want to do my first cold smoke in the morning. I plan to use the blend of cherry, hickory, and maple pellets I got from the A-Maze-N smoker folks. I'll put the pellet tray in the firebox of the Lang, close off the main chamber flu and open the warmer box flu's so the smoke, hopefully, will go straight up the the hanging slabs.
I'll copy your timeline and shoot for about 7 hours.
The high temp for tomorrow is predicted to be in the high 60's to low 70's so I may add some frozen water jugs if the warmer get too hot.
Wish me luck!


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