First bacon in OBS

[whitetailfan]

Nice job Stick,
I love making my own bacon also.  Now the only thing I get cured by the butcher is the hams, I make sure I freeze the bacon fresh and then do it myself for superior results.

Good job in pointing out the skin removal.  I do it hot out of the smoker also, it peels off like a wet beer label out of the ice bucket.

Thanks for sharing.

[Gizmo]

The last batch I did, after pulling of the skin and slicing up some of the bacon I placed the skin back in the bag with the slab and the slices.  Not sure if it helps but thought the smoke flavor on the skin was so powerfull that it would help deepen the smoke on the rest.  The smoke flavor was great on that batch but don't know if the skin helped it or not.

[MallardWacker]

Stick...That right there would make good Baptist go into glossolalia.

NICE JOB!  and Welcome fellow bacon maker

[begolf25]

Brian,

Bacon is one thing I have been dying to try and your post may be what inspires me to finally try it.  Got a few questions.

1. At what temp did you smoke the bacon at for 3 hours?

2. Is there a reason you leave the skin on until after it has smoked? 

3. Will the butcher ask if I want a belly with the skin on or off?  If so, should I have them leave it on.  Never used a pork belly before so I am not sure what I am dealing with.

4. Is 128 the max the IT should come up to?

Thanks for the help,

Bryan

[Habanero Smoker]

"Is there a reason you leave the skin on until after it has smoked?"

Because it is hard as all h#@@ to trim it off prior to it being smoked :)

At least for me it is. 

[Gizmo]

And just a difficult to remove after the bacon has cooled. :)

[West Coast Kansan]

i leave the skin on until time to eat - really on your plate to eat.  Pretty simple to remove with pointed knife. just like a sausage casing on one side only  ;)

Giz i do think the skin carries smoke flavor that transfers while it is being stored.   ??? At least my senses are sure it does  ;D

[Stickbowcrafter]

Thanks everyone. I just followed the instructions in the book Great Sausage Recipes And Meat Curing. Great resource for all things sausage and meat curing.

Plenty of hickory smoke flavor for my taste, and I like a lot of smoke flavor. That's with the skin being removed immediately out of the smoker.

Answers to Begolf's questions:

1. Since the bacon will be cooked after smoking, I set the smoker at 135 degrees F (57 C), applied smoke and brought the internal temp to 128 degrees F (53 C). You don't want to risk too high a temp that may start rendering the fat.

2. Seems the skin is easiest removed right out of the smoker while hot.

3. I got my pork belly from a farm and I was given my slab with the skin on. They didn't ask if I wanted it skinless.

4. Pork fat will start to render (turn into liquid oil) around 160 degrees F (71 C). You definitely want to stay away from that mark. Again, since it will be pan fried or baked later, there is no need to worry about getting the internal temp high enough to "safe" numbers.

-Brian

[Habanero Smoker]

I smoked a slab of bacon eight days ago, and just finally getting around to tasting it. I purchased a 12 pound slab and divided it into four sections prior to curing. I cure one with a honey brine (pickle); use a maple sugar dry cure on another, the third I used a basic dry cure with herbs and peppercorns, and made pancetta with the fourth. I haven't tasted the savory bacon, but the maple, honey and pancetta were all good.

The slab came with the skin on, and I skinned 3 pieces prior to curing (man was that a pain in the neck), and left one piece (savory bacon) with skin on. The savory bacon will be used for various dishes. Today I removed the skin from the savory bacon. It came off real easy. I just used a knife to separate about 1 inch of the skin from the fat, grasped the skin and peeled back. It peeled off very easy.

If you never made pancetta, it is fairly simple; other then the fact that you have to remove the skin first. So the next time you get a slab, save a piece to make pancetta. I used the recipe out of Charcuterie. I air dried it for 7 days. Today I trimmed off about 3/4 off each end, because I felt they were getting too dry, and now I am hanging it for another 7 days, to see if the flavors get more intense.

[Stickbowcrafter]

NICE! Been eyeing up that pancetta recipe in the Charcuterie book myself. Had the book for a few months now and I'm starting to wear out the spine I think  :D

-Brian

[begolf25]

Thanks for the info fellas. I am going to try some bacon very soon.

[rexster]

I've been doing home cured/smoked bacon in my Bradley since 2005. I've got the routine down pretty well, I cure my bellies for no less than 2 weeks in a brown sugar cure I found from Zach's. I've been getting my pork from a local grocer a case at a time (usually 3 full bellies to a case) at a very good price. I soak the pork after the curing process in my bathtub for about an hour, then rub pepper and brown sugar on them, let them air dry for about an hour, then put them in my 2 Bradleys I have on my back deck. I'll usually use pecanor hickory pucks and smoke the pork for about 6 hours (we like the deep smoke flavor) to about 100 deg or so. Take them off, peel the skin off and place in the refrigerator overnight. The next day I'll trim them up and vacumn seal them, freezing most of them, but leaving one out for sure.

Rex

[Skipystu]

I agree there needs to be a rating system when pictures are included! I just ate ribs for lunch and dinner is not far away and I am starving now!

Only thing I didn't see asked, answered, or mentioned: Do you need to hang it like in the picture or can you lay it out on a standard OBS rack? If you have to hang it, what kinda setup do you use?

I am guessing this is a dumb question but how long and how many people does it take to eat a full 10-14 pound slab of bacon? I would love to do this but my wife is getting upset with the way I am filling up the freezer with smoked meats!  ;D

Congrats on that bacon tho .. looks damn good!

[West Coast Kansan]

you can lay them on the racks.  Looks more authentic hanging though  ::)  Most BBQ place will sell stainless hooks - like a clothes hanger on one end to hook over a dowl and then multiple hooks you can stick through the bacon. 

You can do it with pure cotton string also.

I think one person could eat a 12 pound slab in about 2 hours...  :D :D
not sure i want to be around about 2 hours after that  :-\

Congrats on filling the freezer.  ;)  When the kids come from Tucson they do pretty good at resetting my supplies  ;D

I still dont get why taking the skin off ahead of time is necessary -  ???

[Habanero Smoker]

I think one person could eat a 12 pound slab in about 2 hours...  :D :D
not sure i want to be around about 2 hours after that  :-\

I still dont get why taking the skin off ahead of time is necessary -  ???

I wish you had told me that way ahead of time, on how fast the bacon would disappear.

I prepared bacon both ways, and it is much better when you skin it prior to smoking. Warning, skinning a belly will challenge your will power. I sliced a slab into four pieces, and left the skin on one piece. The piece of belly I left the skin on,  it did not have as much of a smoke flavor, compared to the other pieces that were smoked at the same time. Though not necessary, from my experience skinning prior to smoking produces a superior product.