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View Full Version : Smoking bacon with maple...should I reconsider?


theTastyCat
03-20-2016, 10:25 PM
Hey all! Doing my first ever pork belly and began smoking today. I did the maple-cured bacon recipe from Charcuterie and, being an idiot, decided *not* to smoke with a tried-and-true wood like apple or hickory and instead ordered maple sawdust from A-Maze-N. Well, put 5 hours of smoke on the belly and some mozzarella today; I was planning to smoke the cheese for 30 minutes because it absorbs smoke so much quicker, but even after 5 hours the smoke flavor wasn't overwhelming - even after no time to chill! I had a wheel of brie in there too but chickened out after 1.5 hours and vac-sealed it to try in a month.

BUT...now I'm a little worried about how the bacon is going to turn out. The flavor of the mozzarella was really nice, but what I'm tasting there is a far cry from the wonderful bacon smokiness I'm after with the bacon. Fortunately there is a Bass Pro Shops here in town and they've got Traeger pellets in stock, so I could easily run by there tomorrow afternoon and pick up a bag of something.

My question is this; has anybody smoked pork belly with maple wood? Seems my AMNPS is putting off a thin enough stream of smoke that it will take several smoking sessions to get it where I want it, so it wouldn't be too late to jump to a different wood if maple isn't really going to turn out that great.

I covet your opinions - as always!

Fwismoker
03-20-2016, 10:38 PM
Awe heck I always cook with maple and am sure I've cold smoked with it at some point... It's all good maple dust it up!!!

gcs
03-21-2016, 10:15 AM
Did you taste it? I've used Maple before and found it ok, not real strong but good enough, I use chunks though.

LongIslandEd
03-21-2016, 11:00 AM
I usually rub pure maple syrup and ground black pepper on before I smoke it. Maple wood is fine.

IamMadMan
03-21-2016, 01:09 PM
Maple is milder than hickory, but it imparts a good smoke flavor. I'm sure if you followed a true tested recipe the bacon will be just fine.

As far as the cheese.... The type of cheese you are smoking also determines exposure time. Harder, Stronger, flavored cheeses like Emmentaler Swiss, Extra Sharp Cheddar, Asiago, and Gruyère can take a heavy smoke without overpowering the flavor of the cheese. Whereas Brie, Camembert, Bleu, Mild Cheddar, and other mild flavored cheeses can be easily overpowered with heavy smoke exposure.

theTastyCat
03-21-2016, 04:22 PM
Many thanks for all of this, guys - I haven't had the luxury of sampling a slice yet but most certainly will tonight when I get home; then I'll throw it back in the smoke if it needs it.

MadMan, I took great counsel from one of your earliest posts and leaned upon it heavily for reference! I was really expecting such soft cheese as mozzarella and brie to only need a wee bit of smoke, but several hours in, it wasn't too much. I did pull the brie when it just started to take on some color, but I'm leaving a bit of mozzarella in until it develops a nice golden hue like some pics I've seen on here. I figure the AMNPS is putting out of light enough smoke that these longer times aren't causing ashtray syndrome.

BTW, the AMNPS is a work of art - once I got the hang of it! At first I didn't microwave the dust enough and it wouldn't stay lit for the 10 minutes; then I nuked it so long it actually caught fire in the microwave (oops), and over-torched it so the whole thing lit almost immediately. After these initial disasters, and considerable apprehension that I was ruining my first batch of bacon and all the cheese, the thing runs like a dream. The smoke it produces (at least from maple sawdust) really looks light grey rather than blue, but apparently that's not uncommon, and I am getting decent draft through the offset as well as a good non-ashtray taste on the cheese, so I figure things are running according to plan!

I've only cooked on a stick burner that demands quite small splits or it will temp spike like a mother, so the sickening ease of setting and forgetting this thing makes me feel warm all over.

Many thanks, all!!!

robinfresno
03-21-2016, 04:52 PM
You can always put another layer of smoke with a different wood on it since you're cold smoking.

krex1010
03-21-2016, 08:34 PM
I love maple. It's a solid, versatile smoke wood, I can't think of anything it wouldn't work with.

theTastyCat
03-21-2016, 08:54 PM
Wunderbar!

Pyrotech
03-21-2016, 09:59 PM
Maple is my Go to for smoking Bacon. and lately even pork chops.

Although I prefer to use a small fire and do a semi - hot smoke and save the amazin smoker for doing smoked cheese.