# Next bacon. Brined bellies



## bladebuilder (Dec 16, 2014)

Gentlemen, and ladies of course! Next round of bacon for me. The first was brined CBB, then dry cured bellies, this batch will be brined bellies.

Its a little early to post, but hey, its all about the journey right?

So a quick picture of 40 pounds of bellies in pop's brine. Modified a little, but essentially the same.

I used dark brown sugar, maple sugar, kosher salt, and cure #1, in water. Made two gallons, weighed the meat, water and ingredients, and added cure to hit 120 ppm.

Now resting in the fridge till just after Christmas day, then more pics will follow of the smoke!!

Sorry for the crappy cell pic... Sitting in a 7 gallon wine pail, with Smoking Meat Forum on the 'puter in the background!













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__ bladebuilder
__ Dec 16, 2014


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## bigtrain74 (Dec 16, 2014)

Love it... Can't wait to see more!


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## red dog (Dec 16, 2014)

Jeeez, your gonna keep us in suspense for 10 days? Brine looks good though. Looking forward to the smoke!


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## lucas p (Dec 20, 2014)

That wet cure is enticing. Think I need to get a 5 gallon food-safe bucket soon!


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## bama bbq (Dec 20, 2014)

I have a few 7 lb buckets but they're used to ferment beer and wine!  LOL. Not sure I should "borrow one" for this. Might impart some interesting flavors.


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## bladebuilder (Dec 20, 2014)

If you can find food grade plastic liners at a restaurant supply place, you wont taint your fermenters, essentially heavy foodgrade plastic bags. you can get them up to 45 gallon size.


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## bladebuilder (Dec 27, 2014)

Today is the day! Bellies are out of the brine, rinsed, and trimmed. Keeping the fat trimmings for sausage later. QView to follow...


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## dirtsailor2003 (Dec 27, 2014)

Hot or cold smoking?


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## bladebuilder (Dec 27, 2014)

Gonna be cold smoking these, below 70F, I'm gonna be aiming for 55-60. Ambient air temp here today is 10F with a -5F wind chill, and light snow. So would this qualify as warm smoking? LOL!


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## bladebuilder (Dec 27, 2014)

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Bellies about to come out of the brine













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Bellies after being dried/pelicle formation













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Smoker preheated, bellies are hung, and assimilating to the internal temp, prior to smoke start.













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Inside the smokehouse, after A-MAZE-N pellet smoker has been fired up. Was hoping the 18" tube smoker would have arrived by now (a little logistical mix up, that Todd took care of) just means this may take a little longer to get the smoke level I'm after.


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## bladebuilder (Dec 28, 2014)

So 7 hours of smoke yesterday, a rest in the refer last night, and now back in the smoker today to finish. The AMNPS makes a nice thin smoke, but with one end burning, there isn't a lot of smoke volume. So I think the extra time on smoke is warranted. What are your guys thoughts? As mentioned, I have the 18" tube on route.


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## daveomak (Dec 28, 2014)

Looking very good to me....   Nice thin smoke over several days is a good thing...   You can let it hang and smoke off and on for up to 30 days...    
Do you use a small electric heater to keep the temp up...


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## bladebuilder (Dec 28, 2014)

I am using the propane burner that several here use from Northern Tool. I just took a peek, and temp is holding at 55F with only the center ring at aprox 30%. That doesn't sound like a big deal, but considering the outside air temp is -15F with occasional wind chills at -40F, I am quite happy! Great burner!


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## daveomak (Dec 28, 2014)

Do you see much condensate from using the propane heat....  It should be adding a nice amount of humidity to your smoker...   Perfect for keeping the outer layer of meat from over drying....    Us electric guys, like me, put a small tin, like a tuna can with a 1/4" of water in it, to keep the humidity at a respectable level in the smoker...  especially when the humidity is at 10% and the temp is 10 degrees F....


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## wade (Dec 28, 2014)

Bladebuilder said:


> So 7 hours of smoke yesterday, a rest in the refer last night, and now back in the smoker today to finish. The AMNPS makes a nice thin smoke, but with one end burning, there isn't a lot of smoke volume. So I think the extra time on smoke is warranted. What are your guys thoughts? As mentioned, I have the 18" tube on route.


You may want to try different pellets as I find with hickory pellets my AMNPS type generator produces a very full smoke in good quantities. My smoking chamber is a little smaller than yours though.


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## bladebuilder (Dec 28, 2014)

As of yet, I see no indication of condensation. Inside is warm (comparatively speaking) and dry, I am using metal floor registers as vents, and even with todays cold, there is no condensation on the metal, on the inside or on the outside. The meat surfaces were tacky/dry, I added a thinned coat of molasses and maple to them prior to continuing smoking this morning. Messing with flavors :)


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## bladebuilder (Dec 28, 2014)

Wade said:


> Bladebuilder said:
> 
> 
> > So 7 hours of smoke yesterday, a rest in the refer last night, and now back in the smoker today to finish. The AMNPS makes a nice thin smoke, but with one end burning, there isn't a lot of smoke volume. So I think the extra time on smoke is warranted. What are your guys thoughts? As mentioned, I have the 18" tube on route.
> ...



Thanks Wade. I am not getting anywhere near that level of smoke. I am using hickory as well. If I feed it more air, I get flare up's.


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## bladebuilder (Dec 31, 2014)

Done! The bellies saw 26 hours of smoke from the AMNPS, broken over 3 days, with a rest in the refrigerator through the nights. As well as a 2 day rest prior to slicing and packaging after smoking.













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__ Dec 31, 2014






This is one third of the packaging.













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__ bladebuilder
__ Dec 31, 2014






As far as texture/flavor go, the brined seemed to be nicely balanced with sweet and salty. Frying took about the same time as the dry cured, but I preferred the texture/chew of the brined. Or maybe it was because I'm mental and had bacon in mouth, trying to remember how the dry cured tasted. I guess I will have to do a side by side next. I flavored some with molasses, and some maple. Molasses won out in the flavor department. Friends and family agreed.

Thanks for following along!


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## bear55 (Dec 31, 2014)

Hey Blade, that looks so great.  My one experience with making bacon did not satisfy me.  My bacon tasted like ham, not bacon.  I am going to try it again and I love the way yours looks.  Can you describe the taste comparing a premium store purchased bacon?  

Thanks for the help

Richard


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## bear55 (Dec 31, 2014)

That is also a very nice smokehouse.


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## daveomak (Dec 31, 2014)

BB, looks great....   About the molasses...  at what step and how much was added...


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## bladebuilder (Dec 31, 2014)

Hey Richard. Thanks for the comments! As far as taste goes,  my friends and family who have tried it, prefer it to bacon commercially produced. Now to be fair to your question, Premium bacon being the benchmark. There is a brand here that sells for $12-$14 for a 600 gram package, so say just over a pound. This brand is thicker slices, under 1/8", but still thicker than the shavings that most bacon comes as. It is a sugar cured bacon, with a hickory smoke, what I based my "ideal" end result on.

The first thing I notices was out of package texture. The store bought variety seemed like it was over processed, almost like it was tearing apart. Of course cooking time was similar. Again being fair, the store bought was a simple bacon, the one I preferred had molasses added while smoking. Out of the pan, the store bought had a nice chew, crispy edges (how I prefer to have my bacon cooked, not a fan of crispy) Mine was the same, but the flavor! WOW! Pop's brine did it for me! Sweet and salty through and through, great gentle smoke flavor with every bite, and a little sweet flavor kick from the molasses. Surprising, it didnt burn or caramelize like I thought It might.

SO if I have the choice, home made wins. But I cant say I wont eat store bought again. Supply and pricing of bellies will rule. This stuff ended up costing about $3.40 a pound, costs in. If you include the smoker I built, I could have bought a lot of store bought bacon!!


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## bladebuilder (Dec 31, 2014)

DaveOmak said:


> BB, looks great.... About the molasses... at what step and how much was added...


Hi Dave, I diluted the molasses with hot water and used about a half cup molasses, with a couple TBSP hot water, rubbed into what would have been 1 1/2 whole bellies (3 pieces is the QView shot) With the smoker at 55-60F, the bacon was tacky when hung, and dry to touch after 10 hrs of smoke. I applied it morning of the second day, then smoked an additional 10 hours day 3.


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## daveomak (Dec 31, 2014)

Bladebuilder said:


> Hi Dave, I diluted the molasses with hot water and used about a half cup molasses, with a couple TBSP hot water, rubbed into what would have been 1 1/2 whole bellies (3 pieces is the QView shot) With the smoker at 55-60F, the bacon was tacky when hung, and dry to touch after 10 hrs of smoke. I applied it morning of the second day, then smoked an additional 10 hours day 3.



Good to know.....  thank you....


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## craigdchang (Feb 16, 2015)

Why do some people let it rest and then smoke it again. Why not just let it cold smoke for 24 hours straight?


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## daveomak (Feb 16, 2015)

http://www.meatsandsausages.com/meat-smoking/cold-smoking

Old world cold smoking is a process where smoke is applied then stopped over and over again....  Some cold smokes lasted up to a month....   I have cold smoked bacon 6 hours/day....  for 6 days...      each no smoke period allows the meat to rest and equilibrate....   

It all depends on what you are trying to duplicate....   Store bought is injected with liquid smoke....


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## craigdchang (Feb 19, 2015)

When you let the bacon rest, do you cover it in the fridge? I am planning to do a slab this weekend.


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## gary s (Feb 19, 2015)

I didn't   then after it's smoked I did  be slicing mine tomorrow

Gary


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## craigdchang (Feb 19, 2015)

Does it make a difference in hanging vs. laying flat on the rack?


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## bladebuilder (Feb 19, 2015)

As long as air can get around it, no. I put mine on cookie cooling racks. Didnt have enough, so I put a couple strips of wood between the slabs. Just so they didn't sweat and stick together.


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