# Bacon - flavours



## cansmoke (Mar 4, 2017)

I thought by starting the title with "bacon" I'd get your attention.

Any suggestions on flavours that work well in making bacon AND those that don't.

I just ordered a 5x8 AMPNS and want to make bacon first.


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## akdutchguy (Mar 4, 2017)

I like to keep my bacon simple. Usually just a sugar cure. If I get crazy I will make peppered. My kids are not big fans of the peppered. I know a lot of guys like maple in their bacon. I might start trying some different flavors. Been thinking of a coffee cured bacon to help get me going in the morning. 
Jason


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## SmokinAl (Mar 5, 2017)

I use the bacon calculator & dry cure my bacon, then cold smoke it.

For flavor we like onion, garlic, & pepper.

Cure 14 days, rest uncovered in fridge 4 days, cold smoke 10-12 hours, rest uncovered in fridge 4 days, freeze for 2-3 hours & slice.

Al


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## dave17a (Mar 5, 2017)

Pretty much the same as Al. 7 to 10 days in dry cure, same recipe. Let it form a pellicle, tacky to the touch, smoke away. I like 12 on rest over night, 12 more. Sit in fridge or smoker, depending on temps, for a week. Slicer up. Good luck! Ask as many questions as needed and research on food safety since this sounds like a first. Learned alot on here, and 4th year doing many lbs. of bellies.


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## crankybuzzard (Mar 5, 2017)

Mostly same as above for me too...

When you start your first belly curing, go ahead and buy more bellies, you'll mow through this stuff fast, it's that much better than store bought.  

Looking forward to seeing what you create.


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## hondabbq (Mar 6, 2017)

I make all sorts of flavoured bacons. 
Rosemary and garlic
Maple
Black pepper and garlic
Apple cinnamon
Sriracha and honey
Jerk
Plain ol smoked 
Bloody Mary 

And about 5-6 more flavours I want to try. 

There is no end to the flavours.


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## tallbm (Mar 6, 2017)

I think the guys posts above have some good ideas for seasoning flavor so I don't have anything to add when it comes to seasoning.  I believe I do have some info on wood smoke flavor though.

I did my first bellies a couple of weeks ago and did a very detailed post about it and some of my findings on smoke flavoring http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/259287/1st-pork-belly-bacon-lems-jalapeno-bacon-seasoning-some-bacon-mysteries-solved-qview-included

Basically it seems (to me and please confirm on your end) that you will get distinct and noticeable wood smoke flavors when the bacon is softly cooked or if you smoke to safe internal temp and eat.

If you fry the bacon to be crispy then it seems the noticeable differences in wood flavoring are lost.  You still get great smoke flavor but good luck telling the difference between apple, cherry, and/or other woods you smoked with.

I prefer my bacon soft and not near crispy at all. 

I think I am leaning towards Apple wood slightly beating out Cherry wood for flavor that I can definitely taste on soft bacon.

I did 70/30 Apple/Hickory on one batch and 50/50  Cherry/Pecan on another batch.

They both turned out excellent and I would do either again in a heartbeat. 

The apple based bacon gave me a lovely flavor that for some reason makes me think of chicken.

he cherry based bacon gave me a lovely flavor that for some reason makes me think of beef.

If you are going to cook crispy bacon then do whatever you want when it comes to wood because I believe you will lose the subtle differences in flavoring of the wood.  If you like soft bacon or would like the opportunity to have different flavors then I'm guessing any of the fruit woods would be a wonderful hit!

I tried to tackle a number of mysteries (to me) in my post and address a number of things like the following:

Skin on vs Skin off bacon
Desalinization of belies that are too salty after curing
Wood flavoring mystery (soft vs crispy bacon)
Smoker temp 165F and fat rendering
LEM's Jalapeno Bacon seasoning review
If you can stand to read a lengthy detailed post then I think it might have a nugget or two for you to utilize and may answer/raise questions that could help us all.  I hope this info helps :)


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## hawcreekblade (Mar 8, 2017)

I am very interested in trying new flavors.  Thanks for the thread.  

I have 2 bellies resting in the fridge now for 4 days.  Is it necessary to rinse the seasoning rub off, before smoking?  I notice that people talk about rinsing. 

I had them in brine for 10 days. Then took them out and rubbed on the seasonings.  Pepper, brown sugar, etc.   

Sent from my LG-H820 using Tapatalk


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## tallbm (Mar 8, 2017)

Hawcreekblade said:


> I am very interested in trying new flavors. Thanks for the thread.
> 
> I have 2 bellies resting in the fridge now for 4 days. Is it necessary to rinse the seasoning rub off, before smoking? I notice that people talk about rinsing.
> 
> ...


I wish I had an answer for you.

I believe everything I have read shows that you rinse off seasoning when dry curing.  That is what the instructions on my bacon seasoning said and what I have read online while researching so that seems consistent.  Seasoning flavor was not affected at all and would have been way too powerful in my case if I didn't rinse it.

Heck the salt was so powerful I had to soak my bellies for 6 hours in ice water to pull out the excess salt and make them edible.

Always be sure to do a salt test after you rinse off dry seasoning and cure.  This is known as a fry test for salt.

Fry test after cure and if you need the less salty soak in ice water.

Fry test again after soaking some time and see if it is good to go.  If so you dry and get on with your next steps for smoking.

I have no info or experience with a wet/brine cure.  Hopefully others will chime in :)


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## hondabbq (Mar 9, 2017)

I rinse off and reapply just the seasoning If I feel it needs it after a test fry.


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## cansmoke (Mar 10, 2017)

THanks to all for the suggestions.

Smokin Al, what is this bacon calculator you mentioned?


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## devildog89 (Mar 10, 2017)

At costco I saw they had pre sliced pork belly, as well as whole ones.  Can you use the already sliced and will the cure time change since it will be so much thinner?


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