Homemade bacon

This is one part of the 10 lbs of bacon my dad and I made. Cured for 10 days and cold smoked for almost 12 hours. It tastes really good but could definitely use improvement; I'm noticing a cure/ham aftertaste that I don't really care for. It's not so bad after you eat your second piece, but it kinda hits ya after the first bite. I skipped the water soak and just let it rest in a pan for 24 hours in the fridge, I might need to soak it next time and/or reduce the cure time. I guess this just means I need to make more bacon. :becky:

I also wanted to show off the new knife: Konosuke 270mm wa-sujihiki with white #2 steel. Nothing like a little pork fat to develop the patina on the blade. I need a real cutting board, though.

Puppyboy said:

Your bacon looks great.

I love making bacon.

Are you using a commercial cure or a homemade one?

I cure for 6 days and smoke on the 7th til 140* @ 250*.

Are you rinsing the remaining cure off before smoking?

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This was a commercial cure. I ran water over it for a couple minutes, but I didn't actually soak it for an extended period of time. My method was.

Cure in ziploc for 10 days.
Quick rinse.
Rest in fridge 24 hours.
Cold smoke.
Chill over night.
Eat.

Perhaps it would have benefited from soaking instead of just a rinse.

thull said:

I think I read somewhere that you want to let it sit after you smoke it. It's been a while since I did bacon, but the last time the taste improved after storing for a few days. The last of it that I got out of the freezer (vacuum packed) was really good. I know that I also pick up enough of the smoky smell on me when I do stuff that I sometimes lose my frame of reference for how stuff tastes in terms of smokiness.

Nice knife. The wife was generous enough to get me a Hiromoto AS for my birthday. Haven't had a chance to even use it yet.

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This was smoked yesterday and chilled in the fridge over night. I'll try it in a couple days and see if it improves.

The Hiromotos look really nice. Sounds like you have a good wife, make sure you keep her around. :thumb: