Hickory-Smoked Maple Bacon, with FINAL PIX!

[SiFumar]

Looks like it's coming along just fine.

[Kevin A]

This morning, I sliced & fried up a sample to check the overall flavor balance (salty vs sweet) after 4.5 days of curing.
Tasted fine— a bit of both saltiness and sweetness, neither overpowering the other. So on to the next step....

I washed & wiped down all the belly pieces quite throughly (2 larger 'squares' and two end hunks) and dried them. Some of the black pepper 'residue remained, but my main concern was to remove any excess cure/salt.
Ready to be hung...


Dug out my bacon hangers & set up our 2nd fridge to let the bellies hang dry for a day or so. This is to ensure a good dry time (fridges suck out moisture from exposed foods) and really aid in developing good pellicle formation—essential for decent smoke adhesion.

Hangin' & dryin'...


Come Sunday eve, I'll be prepping the smoker and getting these bellies ready to move there for a long, cool overnight smoke.

Kevin

[SiFumar]

We be waiting!  Beautiful looking meat!

[SamuelG]

Those are the best bellies I've seen!

WholeFoods... I might have to give them a try.

[Tenpoint5]

Looking pretty dang good so far Kevin

[Kevin A]

Thank you for the kind words, everyone.

Okay, Sunday eve has rolled around and so now on to the smoker....

Temps were high today (90°F) so I'm glad I waited for a cooler overnight smoke.
After dinner, ambient temp in the smoker was still warmer than I wanted (less than 70°F), so I waited a while.


By 8:00 pm, the temp had cooled down to 68° so off we go...
A nice dry, firm skin (pellicle) had formed on the bellies, so I was in good shape as far as the condition of the pork.

I loaded up the A-Maze-N smoker with a combination of pellets:


I positioned the lit amazen over the floor opening in my MB ExtraWide & test to be sure I was getting good airflow into the smoker:


Once I was ensured of good smoke movement, I was ready to hang the bellies.
To do this, I need to insert my 'custom' () sausage-hanging rack.
These will hold up to 25lbs of sausage so I know they'll do okay with the pork belly load:


Finally got the bellies hanging and the smoke rolling. My 'heat deflector' is an old foil-lined cookie sheet. There's not a 'lot' of heat being generated, but indirect is still best.
The smoke isnt as 'intense' as it appears here in this photo (due to the door being wide open)—just a steady stream of light blue smoke:


I'll check on it a bit later. We revisit this tomorrow morning after a good 10-12 hours of smoke. I may backfill a few more pellets before calling it a night.

More to come...

Kevin

[Kahunas]

Lookin good

[Kevin A]

Early next morning, time to check on the bellies. They've been smoking now almost 12 hours, with the temps in the low 60s outside & in the smoker.
It's supposed to be warm today, so I'll pull the bellies before the smoker temp hits the upper 70s.
After 12 hours of cold smoke:

The bellies have taken on a nice yellowish-brown color (as expected with cold smoking); much more subdued than the brilliant RED when hot smoking.  They smell VERY smokey!....


These will rest in the fridge for the next 2-3 days before I chill them well and slice. I read where, like cold-smoked cheese, resting is essential to 'mellow out' some of the harshness of the smoke.


Slicing & sampling still to come...

Kevin

[squirtthecat]

Wow.................................

[sparky1]

man, that looks good.  BLT, BLT, BLT.   ;)

[Kahunas]

Very nice looking. Can't wait to see the sliced, fried up and ready to each pictures.

[4given]

That is looking really good!

[SiFumar]

They do look pretty awesome...nice color!

[Kevin A]

After a few days rest, I applied several 'coats' of maple-honey glaze to the hangin' bacon.
Hanging in the fridge the past two days has really firmed them up nicely & they still have a strong smokey aroma.

After a good overnight chill, its off to the slicer....

[Kevin A]

This weekend is time to wrap up the big bacon project.

Got the big slicer out & prepped, ready to go.
Time to remove the skin from all the bacon bellies. Some of the bellies were more difficult to skin, others no problem.
Almost there...


Quite a stack of skins. I considered deep-frying them, but that'll have to wait. i gave a few large slices to my wife as she's making a large pot of baked beans...


Well my slicer was acting squirrelly so I opted to slice a good portion of the bacon with a sharp knife.
Works great just not as fast as the big slicer...


I took a number of odds & ends, scraps & uneven pieces and fried them up.
I discovered its best to cook at a much lower temp than store-bought, and to keep an eye on the bacon as it burns quickly. High sugar & low moisture content.

Slowly cooking in cast iron under the Pig Squisher...


Smell bacon-y!  Boys thought the bacon was great—thicker cut with a real nice smokeiness; a nice sweetness, too. NOT too salty—a concern I had going in.


Wrapped for later. This should keep us in 'bacon Heaven' for a while!

Kevin