While our pork belly cures we are debating hot vs cold smoke. We read about taking internal to 150F. Is the preference for hot smoke just preference, has it to do with taste or is it a preservation thing? We will probably end up doing both, and the answer is probably on this forum somewhere, but we just wanted to ask.
Thanks.
Ken & Cyn
You should try both methods, to see what you prefer. I do suggest for the cold smoke bacon, you apply more smoke, maybe 3 - 4 hours. The meat doesn't pick up as much smoke as it does at higher temperatures, but the type of smoke should be sweeter. You can use any internal temperature you want, if you don't fully cook it in the Bradley, you need to fully cook it prior to serving.
For me it depends on the type of bacon I am making. If I am making a sweet bacon (one with lots of sweeteners) I will hot smoke, and use an internal temperature of 140°F, so when I fry it I can crisp it better with less chance of burning. For more savory bacons, I will cold smoke (cabinet temperature less then 90°F) 3 - 4 hours, then hot smoke at 140°F - 150°F, until a temperature of around 130°F.
Thanks Habanero. I have made a cold smoker and probably will cut the belly in half,(I will try to get pics of it on tonight or early a.m.) so I can cold and hot smoke identically cured pieces. The cold smoker works well. I had a 7F temperature rise from ambient (it was 94F today), and feel this will help the temp over-run when smoking at the lower temps. I may even use the setup when hot smoking. After all, you are just looking for a box full of smoke. Unless there is something I haven't thought about. And that could be very possible.
Thanks again,
Ken & Cyn
There are many members that leave the cold smoke setup permanently. You may need to use a wider vent opening to improve the airflow. When cold smoking, if you can keep the Bradley in the shade, and cold smoke during the early mornings, or late evenings when the ambient temperature is cooler; that will help keep the cabinet temperatures down. If you still have problems keeping the temperature down, you can add some ice.
Thanks once again Habanero. You are a wealth of knowledge. I will start another post to show the homemade box.
I hot smoked bacon a few times before I got my cold smoke adapter and now I only cold smoke. It doesn't matter if it sweeter or not I use the same procedure. I like a lot of smoke so I put 6-8hrs on. Some will tell you that the extra time doesn't give you any more smoke taste, I have played with the amount of time and it is noticeable.
The only things you need to change from hot smoking is the skin really should be off before because it won't be any easier to remove after (harder actually), and you need to fry the bacon completely as it isn't cooked.
My 2 cents
Corey
Thanks guys. Because of the ambient, I am going to hot smoke. I have made a heat exchanger (other post) and will see how that works. I am about 2 days from smoking the pork belly. Really looking forward to it. BLT's mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmGood.
Ken & Cyn
You can't beat Habanero's triple smoked. I have 12lbs curing now and will smoke next week.
Greg