Virgin Belly Bacon .. Continued

[JZ]

After an overnight sit in the fridge and letting the bacon warm up a bit in the kitchen, I skinned one part of the slab and left the skin on the other part. Put it into a preheated smoker at 135 and applied 2 hrs of smoke. A combo of hickory and maple.

Here is a pic of the slabs in the smoker, including the skin I removed from one piece (figured that would be good for soup or something so why not smoke it).

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And here are some pix of the bacon after smoking. This one shows the 2 different slabs, left with the skin on and right with the skin off while smoking.

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This one shows the same pic but with the skin removed after smoking. I could not smell a difference on the fat underlying the skin on either side. I guess a taste test in a couple of days will tell. Oh and I couldn't find any difference in skinning the slabe before the smoke or afterwards. Not easy either time, but certainly worth the effort.

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Here is a view of the meat side.

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And here is a view of the ends.

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After I took the bellies out of the fridge, I fried up a little piece and found it way too salty and sweet. So I soaked it for 1/2 hr in water and tried a slice again ... still too salty and sweet. Soaked for another 15 minutes and tried another slice. Tasted great and went with that.

I was surprised that the smokey smell was not overpowering after 2hrs of smoke and the smell of the bacon is wonderful .... just the right amount of maple and smoke. Hope it tastes as good as it smells. I will have to wait for a day or so to find out while it mellows in the fridge. Can't wait. ;D

[rexster]

I find when dry curing my bacon I have to soak the cured bellies in fresh water for at least an hour before smoking.