# Makin Bacon



## pineywoods (Aug 24, 2009)

We needed more bacon and of course I have a few family members that wanted some so decided to do a bunch


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## beer-b-q (Aug 24, 2009)

Looks good,  You can send some to Kansas for a taste test... LOL


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## cajunsmoke13 (Aug 24, 2009)

Awesome looking bacon Jerry...


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## bassman (Aug 24, 2009)

You weren't just kidding when you said you did a bunch, were you?  Looks great from here, Jerry.  I haven't gotten into making real bacon yet but getting closer.


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## erain (Aug 24, 2009)

holy schmoly!!! 3hawgs worth... hea what happent to that side hangin on the left, get a lil hungry and fry up some side pork??? looks good jerry!!!


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## nozzleman (Aug 24, 2009)

How do you cure bacon?


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## irishteabear (Aug 24, 2009)

Nice! 
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





 It all looks great.  I can't wait to do some myself.


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## morkdach (Aug 24, 2009)

goooooooooooooooooooooood looken bacon my friend


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## richoso1 (Aug 24, 2009)

Great looking pics Jerry, thanks for sharing. Now my taste buds are aroused, and no bacon in the house.


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## uncle_lar (Aug 24, 2009)

excellent bacon for sure!!
damn, your making me hungry


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## mballi3011 (Aug 24, 2009)

HOLY PIG there jerry thats a bunch all right. Thats a boat load for sure. looks like you got that smoker handled. 
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





For what I know is some good eating bacon. AWESOME


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## sumosmoke (Aug 24, 2009)

Looks like you have the bacon making process, down! Nice looking bellies, Jerry!


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## desertlites (Aug 24, 2009)

yery nice looking bacon jerry-sure is fun huh?


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## pops6927 (Aug 24, 2009)

You start off with fresh bellies (when sliced it'scalled *sidepork.*)

You soak it in a brine of salt, sugars and curing agent (Tenderquick or DQ cure, cure #1, etc. - sodium nitrite) for a length of time depending on the concentration of nitrite in your cure.  A mild brine you can soak for 3 or 4 weeks, a full -strengh brine for a week.  You want to make sure you get it pickled all the way through or you'll end up with raw pork in the center.  Once cured, this is now *salt pork.*  Great in beans and soups!

Last, you smoke it in the smokehouse.  You can cold smoke or hot smoke; you don't want to get the temp too high or you'll melt out the fat too much.  Once fully smoked, it is now *bacon.  *However, it's not cooked all the way through; you have to cook it before consuming it (sliced and fried, baked, or broiled).

Those are the three stages of pork bellies.


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## pineywoods (Aug 25, 2009)

You can do what Pops said or you can use a dry cure. I used some Hi Mountain Buckboard Bacon kits and they come with directions. I used pork bellies but I think true buckboard bacon uses butts


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## ronp (Aug 25, 2009)

Wow, that's a lot of bacon.

Good job.


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## fire it up (Aug 25, 2009)

Wow that is awesome Piney.
Never made bacon but definitely something I wanna try.  How did you get a hold of so much pork belly?
Hope to see a few pics of the first time you slice it up and have breakfast or a BLT with a smile on your face for a job well done.


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## pineywoods (Aug 25, 2009)

Theres a meat market near camp that stocks bellies and with a couple days notice they can order however much I want they usually stock 20-30 lbs. A meat market by my house will get it for me but I have to buy it by the case there of course this time that would have been fine.


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## pineywoods (Aug 26, 2009)

Lots of bacon has been packaged


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## DanMcG (Aug 26, 2009)

Beautiful Jerry, I'm jealous. :)
I want a BLT


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## desertlites (Aug 27, 2009)

yummm-good lean bacon


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## ronp (Aug 27, 2009)

Very nice.
	

	
	
		
		



		
			






Wish I had some.


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## shooterrick (Aug 29, 2009)

Jerry ya never cease to amaze me!  LOL  Hogs gone Wild!!


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## dasgrinch (Sep 3, 2009)

A) Holy crap, look at all that bacon.  
B) Holy crap, look at the size of that smoker! 







I am totally jealous.


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## lcruzen (Sep 17, 2009)

Nice job on the bacon. Nice to be able to do that kind of quantity.


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## isutroutbum (Sep 17, 2009)

Amazing! Great post - this really makes me want to try it! Thanks!!!


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## okie joe (Sep 17, 2009)

Good post jerry heck of a job.....
thanks Pop for the explation for the question how ya make bacon,,,, bacon=bellys       buckboard=sholder and Canadian bacon = pork loin,,,all Smoked if not smoked its salt meat where i come from...Thanks


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## downstatesmoker (Sep 17, 2009)

I just read a blog (different board) about making bacon.  The gentleman that wrote the blog uses a salt only (no nitrates/nitrites) to cure the meat.  Has anyone on this board tried this before?

http://www.imafoodblog.com/index.php...nd-smoke-bacon


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## pineywoods (Sep 17, 2009)

Check this out for some curing info

http://www.wedlinydomowe.com/curing-meat.htm


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## downstatesmoker (Sep 18, 2009)

So it will work but there is a higher chance of spoiling and bacteria growth than if you use nitrates, if I am reading this correctly.


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## ronp (Sep 18, 2009)

Very interesting Jerry, thanks.


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## pineywoods (Sep 18, 2009)

The way I understand it nitrates make it much safer. I know many of our grandparents cured with just salt but then again most of them were butchering their own hogs


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## downstatesmoker (Sep 18, 2009)

well, being on Long Island on a 50'x80' plot of land in the heart of the "burbs" I doubt my neighbors (or the town) would allow me to slaughter my own hogs :)


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## pineywoods (Sep 18, 2009)

I know very few people still butcher their own compared to days gone by. I also know that the USDA is supposed to keep our meat safe. That being said I'll still use the nitrates and be as safe as possible


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## melonhead3215 (Nov 9, 2011)

So what would be the right temp if you was going to hot smoke the bacon? Great Looking Bacon by the way!


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## pineywoods (Nov 9, 2011)

Honestly I would not hot smoke belly bacon. At temps over about 100 degrees your gonna render fat and affect the final product


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## mballi3011 (Nov 9, 2011)

I'm with Jerry and I would recommend smoking bacon at a high temp unless your doing Canadian bacon so yo can eat it right out of the package. I always smoke my bellie bacon at low as I can go temp maybe 70°-75° after all you are just looking for the flavor of the wood in the bacon. Not to cook the bacon. This way you will still need to fry the bacon as normal bacon goes.


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## polarlys (Dec 19, 2011)

I have the book from the Sausage Maker.  I usually combine techniques that I get from several directions.   This year I tried something new.   Not my idea,  I simply ran out of propane in the middle of the hot smoking process.   In the book he advised hot smoking until you get an internal temp. of 115 deg. F.   I usually try to keep the smoking temp around 200 deg. F.   That has worked nicely for me over several bacon making times.   This time, and I started with #60 of fresh bellies, things worked out differently but came out very well in the end.   My propane burner that I use inside the smoker was acting up and I was only able to get the temp up to 100 deg.   So that was issue #1.   Second issue was that during the night I ran out of propane so it turned into not only a low temp smoke but then a No temp smoke.   I was going to put a fresh tank on and warm it up again but I took a look at it and took a piece to do a taste test and I liked it better so left it as it was.    Things worked out in the end nicely.


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