# Bacon 3-way with Cheese Watching



## desertloper (Mar 12, 2016)

First time doing bacon...first time trying to cold smoke for that matter.
3 slabs. Skin Off
Belly 1: 9.0lb  9T of TQ, 9T of brown sugar
Belly 2: 8.0lb  8T of TQ, 8T of brown sugar
Belly 3: 7.25lb Sausage Maker Maple Ham/Bacon Cure (wet)
Fridge space is limited, so I vac-sealed the dry cures and used a cooler for the wet brine.
I flipped the bellies in the fridge daily and kept ice on the wet one.
9 days on the cure.
After the cure I rinsed and soaked for about 2hr. Then I patted dry.
Slabs 1 and 2 got Garlic/Onion Powder and Black Pepper on both sides.
Slab 3 no seasoning.
Into the fridge for 12 hr for pellicle to form
Then into the AMNPS with pit master blend pellets (1st time using this)
0630 into the smoke. 36 degree ambient, 48 inside smoker

Stay tuned for more updates....and the part about the cheese....













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## SmokinAl (Mar 12, 2016)

Looks great so far!

Al


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## desertloper (Mar 12, 2016)

Mild Cheddar
Pepper Jack
Dill Jack
Mozzarella 
Swiss
Gouda
Smoker is stabilized at around 66 degrees.
1/3 of AMNPS in 3-4hrs












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## dirtsailor2003 (Mar 12, 2016)

Looks great!


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## 3montes (Mar 12, 2016)

Ok. You get the award for the best thread title of 2016 so far!


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## ak1 (Mar 12, 2016)

That looks great!

I agree, best title.


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## desertloper (Mar 12, 2016)

The cheese came off after 4.5 hrs.
All sealed up and in the fridge.












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## desertloper (Mar 12, 2016)

10hrs on the smoke and pulled 2 off












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## b-one (Mar 12, 2016)

I was expecting more action in this thread!:biggrin:


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## desertloper (Mar 13, 2016)

The last slab I let smoke for 13hrs.

I fridged overnight, then let set up in the freezer. It seems like 3 hrs is about the perfect time in the freezer to get the meat in a form our slicer liked.

All 3 were quite tasty, we preferred the dry cure to that of the liquid brine. But we could not taste a difference in smoke from the 2 slabs that were seasoned the same just smoked 10 and 13 hrs.













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