Makin' Bacon!

[snadamo]

I bought a pork belly for burnt ends and it never came to be. So, I decided to try my hand at bacon. It is about as basic as it can be. Salt, sugar, pink salt weighed out and rubbed all over the pork belly. In to a vac seal bag and in to the fridge for 7 days to cure, flipping daily. I will have some follow up pictures in about 6 or so days. I plan to smoke it with apple wood and slice up. I am kind of excited to see the end result. Who doesn't love bacon? Already having breakfast and bacon cheeseburgers dancing in my head, lol.

 

[IamMadMan]

Nice start, looking forward to the new pictures.

 

[nsbbqguy]

Very nice! I make quite a bit of homemade bacon, nothing better and it’s so easy. The waits a killer tho!!

 

[Big George's BBQ]

Will want to follow this

 

[SmokinAussie]

Now you're talkin!

 

[cholloway]

That's a nice lookin' slab of belly... Everyone loves home made bacon!

 

[snadamo]

day 2 of cure. Good coloring

 

[SMOKE FREAK]

I've not yet tried this. But I have two hunks of Duroc belly in the freezer. I'm kinda waiting for cooler weather to cold smoke mine.

 

[ModelMaker]

My first slab of belly comes out of the fridge Sat.
Will start my own thread.
Ed

 

[Big George's BBQ]

Looking good

 

[thirdeye]

Looks like a nice meaty slab.

If your total salt percentage is around the 1.8% range or less you have an equilibrium style cure... meaning you can extend the curing time beyond 7 days. 12 to 14 days is my sweet spot as I use 1.5% salt, then the salt in Cure #1 raises that a tick.

 

[Porcine Perfection]

Once you do your own bacon you will never buy it at the store again. I do something similar and add some maple syrup.

Sent from my Pixel 6a using Tapatalk

 

[roademier]

What's the best way to slice the bacon if you don't have a deli style slicer?
Great looking start on the bacon.

 

[snadamo]

from what I have seen, long sharp knife. I have a slicer, but I don't think it's long enough for a full slice.

 

[Badjak]

Looks nice!
Are you going to cold smoke it? Or hot (cold with birch is my favourite).


I normally wrap in kitchen towel and keep in the fridge till it dries out somewhat
At that point in time it is easy to slice as long as your knife is sharp

 

[sudsandswine]

What's the best way to slice the bacon if you don't have a deli style slicer?
Great looking start on the bacon.

I use a 12” cimeter knife most of the time

 

[snadamo]

Looks nice!
Are you going to cold smoke it? Or hot (cold with birch is my favourite).


I normally wrap in kitchen towel and keep in the fridge till it dries out somewhat
At that point in time it is easy to slice as long as your knife is sharp

The plan is to smoke it at around 200 ish with apple wood for a few hours, until the internal temp is 150 ish. So I guess it’s a warm/hot smoke.

 

[seattlepitboss]

What's the best way to slice the bacon if you don't have a deli style slicer?

What I do is to borrow my buddy's slicer. He has an old Hobart 400. Look 'em up. It's light enough to move easily, and it is a real slicer that works perfectly. I do have to trim my cured pork belly a little thinner to make a bit shorter pieces of bacon but actually that makes them easier to fit into the food sealer bags (hint: use a piece of parchment paper) and also they fit easier into a pan. Although I don't really pan fry bacon since I learned how completely easy it is to cook bacon in the oven and no spattery mess. Lay them out on parchment paper in a shallow pan and cook at 400 for 15 minutes.

I love makin' bacon!

seattlepitboss

 

[snadamo]

well today was smoke day. I had it in the fridge overnight, mainly due to a scheduling conflict, but it got some pellicle.

threw in my weber kettle. A lot of vent tampering but it got it done.

took longer than I thought but after 4 hours later its done. Letting it cool down and I will throw it in a vac seal and in fridge overnight before slicing.

 

[snadamo]

All done! The deli counter can kick rocks! As good if not better. I got a little over 4lbs yield with this batch. Did about half thick cut and half thin cut. Would have had more finished product shots but the 2 year old raided the plate...twice. Well, now I can say I can make bacon!