# Make'n Bacon - Finally!



## walle (Dec 5, 2009)

Well this has been a long awaited project for me, so I wanted to share. I started this project last Sunday by dry curing 38lbs of pork belly with the basic dry cure that Cowgirl uses:
1T TQ/lb
1t brown sugar/lb
1T black pepper/bacon
1t red pepper/bacon
Turned and massaged daily as recommended by Bearcarver,

Also brined one whole pork loin for Canadian Bacon, using the Tender Quick directions of one cup TQ to four cups water. Ended up using two batches (8 cups) to get the loins covered. I added the following to the brine:
1 whole onion sliced
1T minced garlic
1T black peper
Wanted to go for the plain Jane on first one.

Here's how it went:

Rolls?! (Well I baked them for the company X-mas party last night, and thought what the heck!)


On to the post..!
Here is the CB and bellies after I pulled them from the fridge this morning


CB washed and ready for a 2 hour soak in cold water. I put them back in the pot I was using, and back into the fridge. I found that the spray hose on the faucet worked great for removing the brine and spices - much better than trying to rub off by hand, or with the (once) white bristle brush the Mrs.'s had...


Bacon after the same rinsing method above


How do you soak 38lbs of pork belly? - There's how I did it!


Before that, I had to slice off a few and just taste - not too bad overall, but the soak definitely was needed.




After a 1 1/2 hour soak on the bellies, and a two hour soak on the CB, I patted dry and hung in the smoker. Why the light? Cuz I didn't have a heat lamp! Don't know what the actual temp was in Fruita, but Bassman had 6 in Grand Junction. The temp shown on my smoker was after the light hung in there for about 10 minutes.
I let them just hang out for four hours.



After they hung, I pulled them, started my smoker and let it heat up, then rubbed three of the bellies with Blackstrap Molases, and just lightly dusted the other three with black pepper. I left the CB plain. Here they are hanging - Molases on the left. That's my old neighbor who grew up in a butcher shop and had to come supervise my project.


Set the smoker to 140 and let'er go. I'm going for an 8 hour smoke with a mix of Hickory/Apple/Oak. I'll share the final product tomorrow.
I'm using real live bacon hooks that I ordered from Butcher and Packer. Very reasonable (I thought) ~ $5, SS, and I hope to try and wear them out!

Thanks for checking out my bacon project.
Tracey


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## fire it up (Dec 5, 2009)

Congrats on your first bacon!
That's one thing I can't wait to try, as soon as I can find bellies around here.
Good luck, I'll be looking forward to the finished verdict.


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## DanMcG (Dec 5, 2009)

Thanks for sharing the Q-view, it looks great. I can't wait for the finished product.
I got to look see if you posted about your smoker, If not I would like some info on it. If nothing else it looks really large. lol


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## walle (Dec 5, 2009)

DanMcG, Thanks!
Here is some picts of my smoker http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/for...ad.php?t=84111

Fire It Up - thanks, I can't wait to try it!

Tracey


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## bassman (Dec 6, 2009)

Bacon's looking good so far!  I thought I smelled a smoker this afternoon.


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## beer-b-q (Dec 6, 2009)

Looks Good...
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





Do you need everyone's address to send out samples?


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## scpatterson (Dec 6, 2009)

Man O man that looks great....Cant wait to do my first


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## pineywoods (Dec 6, 2009)

Looks like a great start can't wait to see the finished pics


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## got14u (Dec 6, 2009)

Looks steller ! wish I could get bellies here.


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## pignit (Dec 6, 2009)

*Shweeeeeet!*


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## walle (Dec 6, 2009)

Thanks everyone - so far so good.
Couldn't stand it any longer and had to take a peek.  One and a half more hours to go on the smoke, then we should be done.  I'll have the final picts tomorrow.


The molases rub is really showing.  Will be interesting to see how much flavor comes through.

Thanks for checking out my bacon.
Tracey


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## cheapchalee (Dec 6, 2009)

That is some GOOOOOD looking bacon.

Charlie


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## walle (Dec 6, 2009)

Thanks, Charlie!

You better send them quick! I've got the neighbors coming out of the wood work... may not be enough left to ship!

The wind was blowing to the East yesterdy... ;o)

Thank you all for checking out this thread. This is what I found in the smoker this morning. Was surprised to see how much of the molases rub stayed put (left). I almost took a bite out of the pepper bacon!

CB looked really good


Then it was into the kitchen for slicing.
Molases

Black Pepper

CB
Sliced half of it thicker for breakfast. Sliced the other half thinner for...


PIZZA!


and more PIZZA! Not everyone here is a fan of pineapple, so I went with onions and sundried tomatoes.


And bread for a bacon sammie tomorrow!


So that's a wrap on this project. In all, glad I'm finished! If I had the last two days to do over, I wouldn't have started with 40lbs of bacon for my first go! Other than that, what I've tasted so far is well worth the effort. Thanks to all of you who have gone before me for all of the great advise.

Thanks for checking out my bacon project.
Tracey


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## morkdach (Dec 6, 2009)

Thanks for checking out my bacon project.
Tracey
Tracey thanks for sharing thats kicka** looken bacon
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





to ya for it


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## rstr hunter (Dec 9, 2009)

How did the molasses rub turn out. Did you think it better than the non-molasses batch and would you do that again? 

I have a belly in the freezer right now that I'm waiting for warmer weather to get smoked. A high of 7 today isn't getting that done with my equipment.


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## walle (Dec 20, 2009)

Rstr Hunter;396881 said:
			
		

> How did the molasses rub turn out. Did you think it better than the non-molasses batch and would you do that again? quote]
> 
> Rstr Hunter,
> Sorry for the delay in responding, but I just tried my first batch of the molasses rub bacon this morning. With all of the butchering we do, I had to test out some other new things in the freezer first!
> ...


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## alx (Dec 20, 2009)

Hot Damn i missed this....Looks fantastico...


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## fire it up (Dec 20, 2009)

Love looking at homemade bacon posts.
From the looks of things you did a great job!


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## tasunkawitko (Dec 21, 2009)

this all looks great ~ outstanding job!


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## smokin-jim (Dec 21, 2009)

Awesome looking bacon. Very nice job. 40 lbs sounds like a lot but I bet you will use it fast. Enjoy.


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## scpatterson (Dec 21, 2009)

Awesome thread man...Great looking bacon....Points for sure


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## blue (Dec 21, 2009)

Looks absolutely amazing!!! Thanks for sharing!


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## Bearcarver (Dec 21, 2009)

Sorry Walle,
I can only give you an A+++++++, and some points, if it will still allow me to.
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





Awesome Bacon to be sure !


Bearcarver

PS: If it wasn't for a guy or two missing this thread for awhile, I'd have missed it too. I'm sure glad I got to see this!


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## walle (Dec 22, 2009)

*Bearcarver* - thank you - looked at a lot of your bacon posts, as well as a great thread from *Cowgirl* before I started!

*scpatterson/Blue/ALX/Fire it up/TasunkaWitko*
Thanks for all of the comments/compliments/points - means a lot coming from you guys.

*Smokin-Jim* - 40 lbs was a lot! Lucky for me I have a lot of hungry neighbors and family! By the time it was sliced, probably ended up with around 30 lbs of good lean bacon, but kept all of the ends to slap in with pinto beans over the winter.

Again, thanks to all for checking out my post. Can't find pork bellies around here, and it'll be another year until we butcher, so I'm going to try some Buckboard Bacon. Look out *Bearcarver*, I'll be stalking your posts again for a while!

Merry Christmas everyone,
Tracey


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