# Making bacon experience over the years



## griffeyt (May 8, 2022)

I've been making pork belly bacon for a number of years now and basically learned how by following the posts on SMF and experimenting.  Here's what I've gleaned and current process developed from the various posts:
1.  I dry cure and always use the "diggingdogfarms" calculator to calculate cure #1, sugar and salt.  Always works well. Sometimes I add extra flavors, but bacon comes out great with just the basic ingredients, The bellies are vac-packed, placed in the fridge and try to turn them every day.
2.  I always give the belly two weeks to cure in the fridge using the calculator above.  Could be pulled earlier with thin bellies, but have never had an issue with uncured meat before smoking. (Never prepared a belly more than 3 inches thick.)
3.  After two weeks of curing, I wash it thoroughly, pat dry and sit on racks in the fridge for 2-3 days and the surface dries and gets nice and tacky (pellicle).
4.  I start the smoking process with cold smoking the slabs first using an A-MAZ-N tube with pellets using either hickory or apple pellets.  I use a Weber Kamado grill and it works very well by placing the smoking tube on the bottom charcoal rack and the slabs on the top rack with the dampers open on both the top and bottom. It takes about 4 hours to burn all the pellets and the temp stays near ambient temp in the smoking chamber.  I usually repeat this process for a total of 8 hours of cold smoke.
5.  I then hot smoke the slabs using the "snake" method of charcoal and wood chunk placement in the grill using the heat deflector and recommended smoke configuration.  I wait until the smoking wood chunks have heated and the smoke is "blue" before closing the lid and dampers.  I try to keep the temp about 250-275F.
6.  I use a thermometer and hot smoke the bellies until the internal temp is 150F.  I then pull the slabs and sit on the counter for about an hour.
7.  The slabs are then placed in the fridge for at least 72 hours to chill thoroughly.
8.  When ready to slice, I put the slabs in the freezer for about 30 minutes.  They are then cold enough to slice easily with a small home slicer and make uniform thin cuts.
The results are always delicious and very consistent. Thanks for reading! --Terry


----------



## DougE (May 8, 2022)

I agree with most of what you said. 

I do my own calculations; I don't rely on some website to do it.  "diggingdogfarms" calculator works fine, but I'm old school and would rather not rely on a site that may poof off the internet at some point.

I also start with cold smoke and later turn up the heat, but I don't go above 180* in the smoker. You start rendering fat if things get too hot, and I pull the bacon off at 145* IT.


----------



## SmokinAl (May 9, 2022)

I’m a cold smoke guy all the way. Never put any heat on the bacon! Just think the texture is better than hot smoked bacon!
Al


----------



## mneeley490 (May 9, 2022)

In-between, here. I go by BearCarver's warm smoke method. Bacon takes on a good amount of smoke, and it only takes 1 day. Seems to me to be the best of both worlds.


----------



## SmokinEdge (May 9, 2022)

There sure are a lot of ways to make bacon, but the base of your cure is solid and if you are happy with the finished product then it works fine.

I do agree with Doug that you are running your hot smoke way to high. Just one time you should try holding that temp close to 170F I think you will see an improvement in the final product. Otherwise looks good to me.


----------

