Slab bacon

ajajbrent · Dec 6, 2013

I am interested in smoking a pork belly in my backwoods party. Does anyone have experience in making their own bacon. Where to buy meat? What temp to cook? Curing time before the smoke? Any recipes and comments will be welcomed.

Andy Brent
Atlanta GA

IamMadMan · Dec 6, 2013

ajajbrent said:
I am interested in smoking a pork belly in my backwoods party. Does anyone have experience in making their own bacon. Where to buy meat? What temp to cook? Curing time before the smoke? Any recipes and comments will be welcomed.

Andy Brent
Atlanta GA

Check with your local butcher or an Asian or Hispanic store with a meat section. You can get a pork belly which is traditional bacon, or you can get pork sides which is thinner but has a higher ration of meat.

If that isn't available you can use a boneless pork butt to make "Buckboard Bacon" or a pork loin to make "Canadian Bacon".

Basic Recipes can be found here ... Click the link..
Len Poli Cured Meats

YetiDave · Dec 7, 2013

I posted this in another thread -

3% of the meat's weight in salt, 1% of the meat's weight in sugar and 0.25% of the meat's weight in cure #1 - rub all over the meat and place in a large lidded container (or ziplock bag) and rotate once every 24 hours. Leave it for a week or so until the meat firms up a little then rinse off the cure and leave the meat to dry before smoking. No need to soak as the salt content is calculated - you cannot over-salt using this method. Oh and add whatever seasonings you want to the basic cure

- it never fails. Also I've not tried imperial but I'm guessing your life will be made a lot easier using a digital scale and working in grams

KBird · Dec 7, 2013

YetiDave said:
I posted this in another thread -

3% of the meat's weight in salt, 1% of the meat's weight in sugar and 0.25% of the meat's weight in cure #1 - rub all over the meat and place in a large lidded container (or ziplock bag) and rotate once every 24 hours. Leave it for a week or so until the meat firms up a little then rinse off the cure and leave the meat to dry before smoking. No need to soak as the salt content is calculated - you cannot over-salt using this method. Oh and add whatever seasonings you want to the basic cure

- it never fails. Also I've not tried imperial but I'm guessing your life will be made a lot easier using a digital scale and working in grams

Just a clarification: flip the meat over every day for the week, air dry in the frig for 24 hours before smoking, and smoke at 200 degrees until the internal temp hits 150. I am doing 10 pounds worth on the smoker tomorrow and followed this method. Samples fried up last nite were delicious!

YetiDave · Dec 7, 2013

Yeah flip once every 24 hours just to make sure all sides get a turn in the liquid that leeches out. I cold smoke but I'm sure hot smoking works just as well

oifmarine2003 · Dec 7, 2013

I like to use Ruhlman's bacon cure.
http://ruhlman.com/2010/10/home-cured-bacon-2/

I actually just made another batch last week and it was about a 4 hour cook. I do 175 for 2 hours, and then 200 for an hour, and finish up about 210 for the last 30-60 minutes. I smoke to an IT of 150. They will come out looking like this:

I have gotten my bellies at a Hispanic grocery store before and also from when I butchered. You usually pay a little more at the butcher but the bellies will probably be a little bigger. Bacon is pretty easy to do really. Any questions, just ask.

Slab bacon

ajajbrent

Found some matches.

IamMadMan

somebody shut me the fark up.

YetiDave

is one Smokin' Farker

KBird

Knows what a fatty is.

YetiDave

is one Smokin' Farker

oifmarine2003

Babbling Farker

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