Bacon! My first cure & smoke - pr0n

[Smoking Westy]

This weekend I decided to try my hand at curing and smoking my own bacon. I called a couple of the local butchers looking for pork belly and one of them had some fresh (as well as some they had froze). I sent my wife on a mission to procure the pork belly while I went to the duck blind draw, grilled out, drank beer and waited to see if we won a blind. :laugh:

She came home with this nice looking chunk of belly...


http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s290/mjweste/Grilling/e67f0955.jpg


http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s290/mjweste/Grilling/171b48c2.jpg


It weighted in right about 7 pounds so they had already done a little trimming on it. When I got it home all I had to do is cut it down the middle so it would fit in my brining container.

I found this brine awhile ago link from TVWBB...

Brine:
5 L water
440g Salt
50g Curing Salt
450g Sugar

Pickling Spice:
16g Black peppercorns
11g Allspice
10g coriander
10g brown mustard seed
4 bay leaves

The pork is currently soaking in the brine (planning on a 3 day soak). On Wednesday I will pull it from the brine and let it rest on a rack in the refridge overnight. After work on Thursday I'm planning on smoking the bacon. I haven't decided if I'm going to do hickory, apple or peach as far as smoke wood goes but I have a couple days to figure that out.

With any luck I'll be able to slice some up Thursday evening and tossing it right into a hot cast iron pan to cook up and sample. :clap2:

I'll be taking pictures along the way so stay tuned...

[MisterChrister]

That's a mighty fine lookin' slab o' belly meat there! Looking forward to the rest of the process!

[HKChad]

Very nice!
This was mine starting the cure,

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-umUQvMrE6pY/T_dNBzUtoKI/AAAAAAAAEAk/3GYZQorZUHw/s912/P1020582.jpg

I didn't brine mine but put some maple syrup on one, used about 1/4 of the bottle. Fried some up this past weekend should have used 1/2 the jar! Only thing I wish I had was a meat slicer, took me over an hr to slice and vac seal it.

[cowgirl]

Did you win the duck blind? :grin:

Your bacon looks and sounds great! I can't tell how thick it is.. but I've never cured a slab less than 5 days. Do you think 3 will be enough?

If your recipe says 3 days.. do as they say. Not all recipes are alike.

Looking forward to your outcome! :grin:

[Smoking Westy]

HKChad - I have a feeling I'm going to wish I had a meat slicer as well. At least I'm a knife nut so it'll at least be entertaining for me. Did you just do a dry cure on yours?

Cowgirl - we did win a blind! There were about 2,000 people gunning for 20 blinds and one of the guys in our group was drawn. So it looks like I'll be spending some time on the river hunting this Fall.

As far as the bacon goes, this is my first attempt so I was just going off the recipe. I didn't measure the thickness but it's a solid 1" - 1 1/4", maybe slightly thicker. The recipe said to cure for 3 days, let dry for one in the refrigerator and then smoke. I have read some folks brining for 5-7 days, so we will see how it goes and make some adjustments from there. Thursday can't get here fast enough!

Thoughts on what smoke wood to use?

[Smoking Westy]

lol...just noticed my dog Harley's head in that second photo...he is never far from the action,especially when meat is involved.

[HKChad]

HKChad - I have a feeling I'm going to wish I had a meat slicer as well. At least I'm a knife nut so it'll at least be entertaining for me. Did you just do a dry cure on yours?

Yea, I went though all 4 of mine about 1/2 way in, then had to resharpen for the second 1/2 (had a 7.5lb belly). Yes, I did a 6 day dry cure w/ lid on, then left the lid off for 1 day. I cold smoked mine though is that your plan or are you hot smoking?

I used apple and a little hickory for about 3hrs. Gave a slight smoke flavor, can defiantly tell when it hits the fry pan, w/ the kids I didn't want something to strong, next time I'll up the maple and go stronger on the wood.

chad

[Smoking Westy]

I was planning on hot smoking this one, running the WSM around 250 until I hit an internal temp of 150. From there I'll pull, cut off the skin, slice and vacuum seal.

[Limp Brisket]

Out of your three woods I'd use the apple. Hickory second, but you can't go wrong with any of them.

[Ackman]

FWIW I have always cured my bacon 5-7 days

[Smoking Westy]

Ackman - do you let it rest/dry a day between pulling from the brine and smoking?

[CarolinaQue]

I go by the 2 1/2 days of cure for every inch of thickness.

I'd also recommend a soak out of at least a few hours, pat dry and then place on a cooling rack in the fridge for 24 hours to let the pelicle form. Not doing this can result in a slimy texture on the bacon.

[Crazy Harry]

that's a nice meaty slab there. you may need to soak in plain water overnight, changing the water several times to remove excess salt. refrigerate overnight before slicing.

[CarolinaQue]

When I do the soak out, I use an apple cider and OJ mix to add one more layer of flavor to the bacon. I'll soak it for 2 hours, slice a piece off and do a quick pan fry and see where the salt is. Do this until it gets to where you want it, and after doing a couple of bellies, you'll know exactly how long you need to do it every time to get the flavor you're after.

And yes, those are some good looking bellies!!!

[Smoking Westy]

Last night I pulled the slab of belly out of the fridge and fired up my WSM. After work I swung by the meat shop and picked up some fat ribeyes and some Humphrey's lump charcoal (this was my first lump experience). When I got home I made a smallish pile of lump charcoal and started about 15-20 Stubbs briquettes in my chimney. Once they were burning nicely I scattered the Stubbs on top of the lump charcoal and let the smoker get up to temp. The WSM ended up running right at 240 degrees (never moved more than a single degree throughout the cook). I settled on a combo of peach and hickory for smoke.

Once internal temps on the bacon hit 150 I pulled it, wrapped it and set it inside to rest while I started prepping the steak. I checked the fuel status and I had barley burned up at of my charcoal so we decided to do the steaks on the WSM rather than fire up the kettle. I opened all the vents and soon the lump charcoal had my WSM running at 450 degrees...the hottest I've ever had the pit. I did a dandy job on the steaks.

Ok enough talk...on to the pictures sorry for the terrible lighting (my kitchen lighting needs some help!)


Ready to be pulled, internal temp at 150


http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s290/mjweste/Grilling/5a3443cf.jpg



http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s290/mjweste/Grilling/cbad1dba.jpg



http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s290/mjweste/Grilling/5505a926.jpg


http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s290/mjweste/Grilling/88a151cf.jpg



I brined this from Sunday afternoon to Wednesday evening, pulled it from the brine, rinsed, dried and put back in the fridge to air dry overnight. It looks to me like the brine had penatrated the slab pretty well even in the short soak time.

Overall I really liked the flavor and the amount of smoke I had on the bacon but it was a bit on the salty side. Never having tried it before I didn't give it a fresh water soak because I wasn't sure how salty it would be.

I do have a couple questions now that I've been through the process...

1) Is it better to cut down on the salt in the brine or should I just do a fresh water soak?
2) What do you prefer, brining or doing a dry cure?

I'm looking forward to experimenting with the next batch!

[Tatoosh]

Looking very nice there, better than the first time I made bacon!

[MisterChrister]

Dang that bacon looks good!

[aquablue22]

That looks like some fine BACO right there, need to make some my freezer is getting empty

[Smoking Westy]

Any thoughts on the saltiness on my 1st batch? The more I read it sounds like a lot of folks do a soak prior to smoking.

[HKChad]

Any thoughts on the saltiness on my 1st batch? The more I read it sounds like a lot of folks do a soak prior to smoking.

What did you end up curing it with? I used Morton's Tenderquick for 6 days, then soaked it for about 30 min, pat dry, then left it in the fridge 1 day uncovered to firm it up. If you didn't soak it I'm sure it was salty. Most people suggest to soak, cut a slice, fry and taste for salt content, I didn't and mine was almost undetectable salt after the 30 min soak, just maple and smoke goodness.

[Smoking Westy]

Here was my brine...

Brine:
5 L water
440g Salt
50g Curing Salt
450g Sugar

Missing the soaking step is sounds like my problem.

[Big George's BBQ]

I have heard anywhere from 8 hrs to an overnight soak changing the water a few times. I belive that is thirdeyes recommendation I am waiting for the weather to cool down before I try this so I can begin the smoke at 150 degrees in the Egg

[fingerlickin']

If it was salty I would do the soak out for sure. Then overnight in the fridge to form the pellicle.

[gtr]

I would suggest soaking out the next batch and seeing how you like it - I wouldn't fool with the amounts of salt in the recipe as salt is part of the curing process if I'm not mistaken. I've been doing that lately and liking the results. I've only done dry cures so far. I like to cut the skin off and hit the whole thing with cracked black pepper before smoking as well.

But the thing is - now you've gone and done it! You'll most likely never look at store bought bacon the same way again. I almost never buy bacon anymore - I like mine much better. :thumb:

Here's (http://playingwithfireandsmoke.blogspot.com/2002/10/lynnes-breakfast-bacon.html) a great recipe from thirdeye's blog. I did my last batch with this recipe and it's really good!

Nice job btw! :clap2:

[bigkahunaranch]

I agree with GTR, and have followed thirdeyes recipe and have never been disappointed.
My last batch I ended up soaking the bellies overnight to get the salt content down.
Then prior to smoking them I coated one belly in black pepper, one in brown sugar and cinnamon, and the last one coated it with minced garlic.
All three came out really good, and yes I have boycotted store bought bacon as a result.
I am looking to purchase a slicer from Amazon.com in a week or so. Should make slicing the bacon so much easier.

[dealm9]

I have never made my own bacon so I cannot help you with your question but boy oh boy I just wanted to comment on how good it looks. I really need to do this. Thanks for sharing!:clap2:

[SmokinAussie]

Looks like a good job with the brining after all. I've always dry cured, taking about 6-7 days, so this process appears a lot faster. Yes, doing a soak for at least a few hours is mandatory. Give it a few hours, slice a bit off and fry it, then taste. Then go from there if it needs more soaking etc.

Also noticed that you sliced that bacon pretty thick. When something is salty by it's very nature, you need a thinner slice or it can be quite overpowering.

Cheers!

Bill

[Smoking Westy]

Just an update...tonight I soaked some for 90 minutes prior to frying and it turned out perfect! I know it's backwards so next time I'll soak before smoking but it turned out awesome tonight!

Bill - a slicer is on my list to get so I can process this stuff a little better. Thick is oh so good once cooked up though!


Thanks everyone!

[Hawg Father of Seoul]

lol...just noticed my dog Harley's head in that second photo...he is never far from the action,especially when meat is involved.

They say once you buy a weimeraner, you never pee alone again.

Mine is like velcro.

[Smoking Westy]

They say once you buy a weimeraner, you never pee alone again.

Mine is like velcro.

That could not be any more true! No matter what's going on he is always right there.