# Bacon....Brined..Cold Smoked..Sliced..Baked..Vac Packed..



## daveomak (Nov 1, 2013)

Pulled out a belly and brined it for 10 days...  The brine was made from a Maple Sugar Cure my butcher gave me.....

The belly slabs went into a tub and my spacers were placed under, between and on top of the slabs, for cure circulation....

a minimal weight was placed on top to hold the slabs under the liquid....

Daily, the slabs were "moved around" to recirculate the brine....

Then they were rinsed, dried and placed back on the screens and placed in the refer for 2 days to come to some sort

of equilibrium, of the salt, sugar and cure.....

... in the refer for 2 days......













Spacers and Bacon.jpg



__ daveomak
__ Nov 1, 2013






It was 21 degrees and 85% RH.....  So I pulled out the heater

to aid in drying the surface and form a really good pellicle....

Took about 2 hours for the pellicle to form....

The air temp was about 60 ish with the heater running and a fair

breeze on the slabs.....













Heater.jpg



__ daveomak
__ Nov 1, 2013






The slabs on Todd's Q-Matzs in the smoker.....  http://www.amazenproducts.com/

The Matz are a great addition and tool to add to your

arsenal of smoking equipment....  The reason for the Matz... 

I have hung bacon on "bacon hangers" in the past and I don't particularly care for the way

the slabs stretch and deform...  makes for odd shape slabs that don't slice like I want... 

Also the Matz keep the rack wires from making deep impressions in the bacon....

 4 hours of smoke using Todd's pellets in Pitmaster's Choice Flavor.....   http://www.amazenproducts.com/

Temp in the MES was held at 68 deg's F













Bacon.jpg



__ daveomak
__ Nov 1, 2013





      

On the slicer.... First bacon on my new slicer... works very well as long as the slabs

are partially frozen, which is normal I guess.....  Never had a commercial slicer available

to slice my bacon...













Belly in the slicer.jpg



__ daveomak
__ Nov 1, 2013






.....It will eat....













Pile of Bacon 2.jpg



__ daveomak
__ Nov 1, 2013






..Bacon wrapped in plastic in 1# packs before they go into

Lisa's Great Vacuum Bags......  http://www.vacuumsealersunlimited.com/













Bacon for the Vac Pac 2.jpg



__ daveomak
__ Nov 1, 2013






Bacon baked in the oven.....   375 ish for 20 ish minutes....

Comes out perfect, not wrinkled, uniformly cooked... 













Bacon Money.jpg



__ daveomak
__ Nov 1, 2013






Bride says, "The bacon is perfect, like I remember bacon tasted, as a kid"....

Well, that is very good news...   I'm a hero for today.....     

Dave

Brine... How to make...   

Weigh the belly slabs grams.....  weigh the water grams...  X .000120 Ppm = Grams of nitrite allowed / 0.0625% nitrite in cure #1 = Grams of Cure #1 to add to the brine....

 Bacon in a brine can be up to 120 Ppm nitrite...  

You can change the 0.000120 to 0.000156 or 0.000200 or 0.000625 or what ever Ppm you want to achieve for other meat choices..... with or without water....  all you need is the total weight in grams...

Now.... this equilibrium brine is for "thin cuts"...  thicker cuts will need to be injected...

As always, read up on curing from a reputable source...  Reading from the internet can get you into trouble as there are errors in "amounts" or cure to add to recipes... There are also errors in books published about the amount of cure to add....   They hire proofreaders that don't have a clue of what's correct....  

I recommend the FSIS documents....   They seem to be more accurate than most other publications...

Search using  "FSIS" in the search query... then bacon or "curing" whatever you are looking for...

Here is a site I use frequently as I don't rely on memory when curing meats....  http://www.fsis.usda.gov/OPPDE/rdad/FSISDirectives/7620-3.pdf


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## disco (Nov 1, 2013)

Great looking bacon and discussion Dave. Thanks.

Disco


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## mr t 59874 (Nov 1, 2013)

Looking good Dave, wish I had a slicer.  Just hung a belly for it's two day equalization period.  Hope to start the smoke first of the week.

Tom


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## rhino260 (Nov 1, 2013)

Do you get your bellys with the skin removed?


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## woodcutter (Nov 1, 2013)

Very nice Dave! I'm skinning and cutting rib bones out right now.


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## chef willie (Nov 1, 2013)

nice work Dave......the brides happy, you're happy, it's all good.......Willie


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## foamheart (Nov 1, 2013)

Mmmmmm..... Bacon, my favorite! How could anyone not love bacon. Its should have its own food group.


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## daveomak (Nov 1, 2013)

Disco said:


> Great looking bacon and discussion Dave. Thanks.
> 
> Disco


Thanks Disco.....


Mr T 59874 said:


> Looking good Dave, wish I had a slicer.  Just hung a belly for it's two day equalization period.  Hope to start the smoke first of the week.
> 
> Tom


Tom. afternoon.....  You probably have knife skills that compare to a slicer...    


Rhino260 said:


> Do you get your bellys with the skin removed?


Skin on Rhino....  They wanted too much to remove them....  about 40 cents / pound for skin off, if I remember correctly.... 


Woodcutter said:


> Very nice Dave! I'm skinning and cutting rib bones out right now.


WC, thanks...  Did you get a whole side or what ???  Loin and all....   You started a thread yet on what you are doing....  


Chef Willie said:


> nice work Dave......the brides happy, you're happy, it's all good.......Willie


Hey Willie....   You are right about the Bride being happy....  She didn't care for the 36 hour cold smoke on the last batch...  I liked it..


Foamheart said:


> Mmmmmm..... Bacon, my favorite! How could anyone not love bacon. Its should have its own food group.


Kevin, afternoon..... Isn't bacon it's own food group ???


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