# Latest batch of Bacon



## wade (Feb 9, 2014)

The latest batch of bacon was ready for slicing and packaging today. This was just a single joint of bacon as I am adjusting the cure and testing the result. It had 7 days in the dry cure in early January and was then smoked for 3 days over hickory. Since then it has been air drying in the fridge for a couple of weeks.













Bacon Whole Front.jpg



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Bacon Whole Back.jpg



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I find that sweet cure and dry cure bacon is best sliced on a fairly thin setting. I use 1.75 on my slicer gauge however I am not sure if there is an international standard for slicers.













Slicer 2.jpg



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Slicer 4.jpg



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Slicer 1.jpg



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Packaged into 100g packs - that is about 8-9 slices per pack. These look a little yellow as they were photographed under a strip light













Packed Bacon All.jpg



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Packaged and labelled.













Packed Bacon 2.jpg



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Packed Bacon 1.jpg



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There were several slices that just had to be tested in a frying pan at the beginning of the slicing and the whole house smelled of fresh cooked bacon.

There were also some off cuts at each end of the joint and these were chopped finely and added to some minced beef steak, rub mix left over from the cheese trial yesterday and some chopped onions  to make burgers for dinner tonight.


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## kc5tpy (Feb 11, 2014)

Hello Wade.  You are getting into this BIG time.  Good luck.  Looks a great product.  Keep Smokin!

Danny


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## wade (Feb 11, 2014)

The slicer was too good a bargain to pass up 
	

	
	
		
		



		
			






. The day I brought it home it came as somewhat a surprise to my wife who uttered those loving words that we have all heard from time to time.... " AND JUST WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU ARE GOING TO PUT THAT THING !!!"


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## andybigwood (Feb 12, 2014)

Nice work Wade!

Out of interest, how much testing have you done with cure and smoke, before arriving at this end product?

Andy.


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## wade (Feb 12, 2014)

I have been consistently turning out good flavoured bacon (streaky and back) in small intermittent batches for several years however I am now looking to produce it in higher volumes. Before I settle on a "standard" recipe though I am trying a few different herb combinations in the cure. To be honest, it is actually the type of wood used to smoke that has the biggest influence on the flavour. The amount of sugar in the cure also makes a big difference.

A sweet dry cure with hickory is my favourite and this one with added fresh Bay leaves was the nicest so far. This was only a small test run however after tasting it friends are already reserving packs from the next batch!


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## smokin monkey (Feb 12, 2014)

Hi Wade, good looking Bacon!

Smokin Monkey


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