# First Bacon w/QView



## aussiepete (Mar 12, 2012)

After seeing all the great results people on here have had making their own bacon, I decided it was time to give it a go.  I couldn't decide between brining or dry curing so I did both, using pops' recipe for the brine (with some cracked black pepper, and garlic and onion powders added), and Todds' dry cure recipe.  I bought a pork belly from my local butcher, and into the cures they went. I filled the ziploc bag with brine and not water in case the bag leaked and diluted the solution.  The dry cured piece was flipped every

day.

Brined belly








Cry cured belly







After 9 days curing.  I was planning on 10 days but time constraints meant I had to cut it short to 9.  The brined

belly is on the left, the dry cured belly on the right.







The fry test.  The dry cured belly was spot on but the brined was a little too salty so I soaked it in cold water in

the fridge for an hour and the next test slice was much better.







Before putting in the fridge to form the pellicle I rubbed in more cracked black pepper, garlic powder and onion

powder to each piece.













My new AMNPS (this thing is seriously brilliant!) smoking away nicely.  To date I've only ever used hickory to

smoke so went with hickory pellets.







After 12 hours of smoke.  With both ends of the AMNPS lit, the pellets lasted about 6-6 1/2 hours before I had

to refill.  I only refilled two rows and lit just one end for the second run.







All sliced up.  I put the bellies in the freezer for 2 hours before slicing.  Halfway through they had become too soft

to slice easily so I had to put them back in the freezer for another couple hours before finishing them off.







The end product!







Overall I'm pretty happy with how everything went, and with the end product.  I would have liked the pork belly to

have been thicker but you can only work with what's available at the time.  And as much as I love the flavour of hickory,

I'm not sure if it's the right choice (for my own taste anyway) of wood for bacon.  Any recommendations for other wood

or wood mixes would be great!  Thanks for reading and happy smoking!

Pete


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## slydog (Mar 12, 2012)

nice looking bacon i used apple for mine


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## africanmeat (Mar 12, 2012)

It is a great looking beacon. you did a great job keep it going Pete.


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## SmokinAl (Mar 12, 2012)

That's some good looking bacon Pete!

Was there a difference in flavor after slicing, between the wet or dry cure?

If so which did you like the best?


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## thoseguys26 (Mar 12, 2012)

Looks great. You got a nice meaty pork belly from the looks of it. I use cherry wood when smoking my bacon, well practically anything I smoke I use cherry dust. I also smoke my bacon for 9 hrs, dry cure rub..


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## realtorterry (Mar 12, 2012)

SmokinAl said:


> That's some good looking bacon Pete!
> 
> Was there a difference in flavor after slicing, between the wet or dry cure?
> 
> If so which did you like the best?


X2


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## smokinhusker (Mar 12, 2012)

Great looking bacon and smart to try each curing method! Curious to know if there's a big difference in your bacon. I smoke with primarily apple or maple and add a little mesquite.


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## aussiepete (Mar 13, 2012)

SmokinAl said:


> That's some good looking bacon Pete!
> 
> Was there a difference in flavor after slicing, between the wet or dry cure?
> 
> If so which did you like the best?





realtorterry said:


> X2


To be completely honest guys I can't answer that question properly.  By the time I finished all the slicing it was almost midnight and had to be up at 6am for work so when it was all done i packed it into freezer bags and they went into the freezer without me ever thinking to keep the brined bacon separate to the dry cured so I'd know which is which.  The batch that I cooked up could have been one or the other, or a mix of both.  What I can say though is that when I did the fry test after curing and before smoking, the dry cured bacon was the winner for both myself and my partner.  The flavour of both was much the same, but the dry cured was more intense.  As to which method I'll continue to use, the jury's still out on that.  My partner and I both preferred the dry cured bacon, but our son didn't like either, so gotta find that middle ground that keeps everyone happy!


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## moikel (Mar 13, 2012)

Love your work Pete
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





  .I have only used wet cure so far.Used a dark beer I  brew at the Ubrewit  franchise. Pretty happy with it. Only have one belly left & about 4 contra deals to do going forward so I better get on it. The AMZPS is a seriously good bit of gear isnt it?Just finished big batch of chilli over mesquite.

I use a mix of hickory,apple & something (label came off).Hard to buy bacon at the butchers again!


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## smokeater207 (Jun 7, 2012)

Looks amazing!!!


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## smokeater207 (Jun 7, 2012)

Looks amazing!!!


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