Triple smoked bacon - Part 1 & 2 complete

[HCT]

My quest for this delicacy has finally paid off. Here is part 1, the rest of the recipe hopfully will be here later in the day.

   Hi Mike,
   It took a few more days but the book is now in production stage. It is in English. I will start discussing your bacon today and will finish tomorrow.

Triple Smoked Bacon.

From your description we may conclude that it is a classical cold smoked product because:

1. it is not cooked
2.it is triple smoked
The only other way to make a ready to eat product without cooking is to heavily salt it (3.5-5 % salt) and this is not the case.

A. You have to cure it using dry cure method (salt plus nitrite) as you don't want to bring any moisture in. Probably 2 weeks curing time-will let you know tomorrow. This is the idea of cold smoking - to preserve meat by removal of moisture by slow and long smoking using a thin smoke. You are drying a product at low temperature-below 77 F (25 C). Such products have a unique taste and flavor and can be sliced very thin.

B. You can smoke it for 2 days (double smoked bacon), three days (triple smoked) or 4 or 5 days. Your choice and your time. You are not going to baby sit your bacon and if you smoke it for let's say 8 hours, go to sleep and hang bacon overnight at low temperatures. That way it kind of breathes and looses more moisture (is drying out). Once when it is finished, it should keep well for long time at room temperatures.

No need to add too much sodium nitrite (cure 1) as half of the bacon is fat. Fat does not contain myoglobin and is not going to change color. In other words, cure 1 will react only with meat and not fat. Stay within guidelines as sodium nitrite dissipates fast and you are going to smoke it for long time.

You need at least 2% salt, as this is your protection (plus nitrite) to stop bacteria from developing. Once bacon starts to loose moisture, the bacteria will have less and less chance of multiplying. Remember that your bacon will taste saltier in time as the moisture will keep on evaporating but the salt will remain inside.

I have to finish now and I will continue tomorrow. At least you have some meat science behind it so you will understand the process.

Adam

Part 2


Hi Mike,

1. All you need is salt, cure 1 and smoke. These factors preserve meat and as you already know it is all about moisture removal. Let's assume that you have 5 kg of bacon slabs. You need a dry mixture of at least 2 % salt (100 g) plus about 2 teaspoons of Cure #1 (12 g). This will cure your bacon. All other spices like pepper, sugar, coriander are just flavorings and you don't really need them. Pieces like ham or bacon have their own unique flavor and all you need is salt. You can add a few tablespoon of sugar if you like. Sugar was often added in the past when potassium nitrate was used. Nitrate needed bacteria to start reaction that would produce nitrite and sugar was the food for bacteria. This is why we still add sugar when making fermented (air-dried sausages). Because you are usind pure salt your curing time will be short. When using wet cure (salt plus water) you can dissolve maximum 26% of salt in water. You are using pure salt (100%) and this means that salt will penetrate meat faster.
2. One week (7 days) will be OK. Just rub in all of your dry mix into bacon and place it in a container (skin down). Keep in a refrigerator. If you get liquid inside, this is fine. When curing meats like hams or nutts you will remove this liquid as it will contain some blood that might spoil the meat (ham is bigger and will be cured longer than bacon). There won't be any blood from the bacon.
3. After curing rinse in cold running water for few minutes to remove any crystalized salt from the surface that may create barrier for the smoke.
4. Hang on hooks, or butcher's twine and smoke one day with the coldest smoke you can. Try to stay below 78 F. If you can't stay below 86 F. You are not going to ruin your bacon even if you smoke at higher temperature but it will affect the texture, flavor and shelf life. Smoke for a day, 8 hours or watever.
5. Hang overnight in a cool room, then smoke again next day.
6. Do it once more and you have triple smoked bacon.

Very popular item in Europe is cold smoked fatback (lard was made out of it). Great stuff though you don't see it too often in the USA as people are too preocupied with cholesterol. But they buy butter (saturated fat-bad cholesterol) every day not knowing that fatback or bacon (unsaturated fat-good cholesterol) are much healthier.

The same procedure but no cure #1 is needed and the curing time is longer (2 weeks). After the first week you may re-arrange  pieces and rub-in some more salt. Rinse it, dry it and cover well with sweet paprika (powder) before cold smoking.

Adam

[Habanero Smoker]

Nice work finding information on this. Looks like an interesting project. After you get part 2, I would ask for some clarification on the salt percentage. Does the 2% salt means to dry cure it using the amount of salt that would be equal to 2% of the weight.

Also I would ask him what dry cure method to use: dredging, which is covering the meat with the cure on all surfaces then lightly shaking off any access; or salt box method, in which you place a layer of cure on the bottom of a nonreactive container, lay the bacon in and cover it with the more cure. This method you have to check daily, as the cure is absorbed or liquefies, you have to put more cure on top of the bacon making sure that it remains covered.

That is, if part two doesn't fully explain the curing process.

[Gizmo]

HCT,
Also check to see if that is smoking in a regular smoke house.  I have seen this type of direction before (expecially the long smoke times) but they were in reference to a regular smoke house and not the Bradley.

[HCT]

Giz,
   The directions were for a regular smokehouse.

[Gizmo]

Now I wonder if a 2 to 3 hour smoke on 3 consecutive days would be too much from the bradley?

[3rensho]

It it's a cold smoke I'd think it'd be pretty tasty.  My next pork belly I'll give it a try.  Local farmers in this area smoke a pork belly,  relatively cold, for six days or so to make their "Speck". 

Tom

[HCT]

Giz, I wonder the same. I'll prolly start the first batch with between a 4-6 hour mild smoke and adjust the times and seasoning from that point. Ya gotta start somewhere. :D

[Gizmo]

Sounds good HCT,
Keep us posted.  I think the longest I have gone on belly is 3 hours.  I haven't over smoked one yet so for me, longer is still an option. :D

[manxman]

start the first batch with between a 4-6 hour mild smoke and adjust the times and seasoning from that point. Ya gotta start somewhere

I have oak cold smoked pork loin ("back" bacon in UK) and pork belly ("streaky" bacon in UK) for 8 hours and it turned out excellent, it wasn't too smokey even for my youngest son at 6 years old. 4-6 hours would be a good place to start. :)

I plan to try a 10 - 12 hour smoke at some stage.

Now I wonder if a 2 to 3 hour smoke on 3 consecutive days would be too much from the bradley?

As above, IMHO 2 hours per day x 3 days would be a good starting point if wanting to try triple smoking.

[Habanero Smoker]

Triple Smoked Bacon:
Please excuse any grammatical error, my though processes have been miss firing the past several days. Click on pictures to enlarge..

First I want to thank HCT, for posting the instructions on how to make triple smoked bacon. This was the second time trying this; the first time came out real good. The flavor of the bacon becomes concentrated, and the fat becomes very firm. The first time I had a lot of interruptions, and failed to maintain adequate information. This time I had fewer interruptions, and was able to maintain more data; so I feel comfortable posting the results. The hardest part in making this bacon, is scheduling the time to put into it, and hoping that the weather will cooperate.

The goal was to apply at least 3 hours of smoke per day, reduce the moisture of the bacon, and keep the bacon in the smoker for most of the time at 80°F-90°F; during the three days. When not it the smoker, it was left on a cooling rack to air dry at room temperature. For the bacon, I just used a simple basic dry cure with added sugar; 1 tablespoon each per pound. I did this solely because I didn't want any other flavors added. I would guess you can use your favorite cure. Since this was going to be left unrefrigerated for at least three days, I decided to cure it for 9 days instead of the recommended 7 days.

At first, I had planned to leave the skin on for this batch, but I decided to remove it just prior to smoking, but did smoke the skin for two days, and will use that as seasoning in baked beans. The reason I decided against leaving the skin on, is when this bacon is smoked and dried for three days, the fat gets very firm, and it develops a tough surface. Leaving the skin on would have created a surface too tough to slice through, and it would interfere with the drying process.

I couldn't find that much information on triple smoked bacon. Most of my other information was obtained from blogs, and retailers that sell triple smoked. But most hits were for use in recipes and menus. Like most foods, there seems to be no particular authentic way to make it. Some sold it fully cooked, some had it fully dry cured and did not require refrigeration, while others were just cold smoked and needed to be refrigerated.

I decided to finish mine by fully cooking it to a temperature of 155°F at the end of the third day, but this is an individual choice. The first time I made this, I cooked it to an internal temperature of 162°F, and that also turned out real good.  By fully cooking it, you can eat it as is, or further cook it if you wish. Fully cooking may render some fat at the thinner areas of the slab, but I was satisfied with the final out come.

I'm not sure if this is what one would call triple smoked bacon, but it sure comes out good using this procedure. I will definitely do this again, and next time I will only bring the finished product to 137°F at a cabinet temperature of 170°F, just to compare the difference. Since this is my second time making this, I've learned a few things. I can't stress enough the importance of planning ahead, to ensure you have the time to monitor this project, and to protect the smoker form the elements, incase the weather does not cooperate. The more time in the smoker at 70°F – 90°F for air drying, the better the end product will be. The selection of the slab is important. Try to use the thicker part of the slab for best results. More meat does not mean a better product. For me the fat tastes better, and has the best texture (I need to keep that information away from my doctor). Because of the bacon's firmness, using a sturdy chef's knife works best for slicing. When every possible, plan to cold smoke other foods during the smoking period; such as nuts, cheese, vegetable etc.  The only other thing I can think of is, when sliced and fried the bacon does not shrink up.

Day One:
I got a late start and wasn't able to get the bacon into the smoker until 4:45 PM.
•   While in smoker; 4:45 PM – 11:00 PM, ambient temperature range 65°F – 63°F ; outside humidity 85% -  91%. Mild wind.
•   During air drying 11:00 PM – 5:30 AM; indoor temperature ranged from 76°F – 75°F; indoor humidity 55%.
•   When removed from the smoker, the bacon had a very light color, and lost 1.5 ounces in weight.

I used the cold smoking set up to ensure that the temperatures would stay low enough to keep the temperatures in the cold smoking range. I first air dried bacon until the pellicle was developed, and place it into a preheated smoker 100°F, then reduced to 80°F after the bacon was place in. The bacon was placed on the second rack from the top and rotated front to back every 4 hours. During the time the bacon was in the smoker, I maintained a cabinet temperature of 80°F-90°F. I applied 3 hours of smoke with the vent 1/2 opened, using apple bisquettes. After smoking was completed the vent was fully opened to help expel moisture.

Because of rain I had to removed the bacon from the smoker, and bring it indoors to air dry on a cooling rack. I let it air dry until the following morning. Also I was concerned about leaving the bacon in the smoker overnight. I felt it may be too much of a temptation for mice, dogs, cat, raccoons, coyotes, etc. If you don't have my phobias, then I would suggest you leave the bacon in the smoker the full three days, as long as you can regulate the temperature to stay below at least 100°F. I do have to admit, the first time I did use a higher smoking/drying temperature of 110°F – 120°F; but it was left in the smoker for  a lot less time then this trial.




Day Two:
•   While in smoker; 5:30 AM  –  10:00 PM , ambient temperature range 63°F –  69°F ; outside humidity 92% -  77%. The majority of the day the humidity was around 88% Mild wind; showers throughout the time.
•   During air drying 10:00 PM – 5:30 AM; indoor temperature ranged from 76°F – 73°F; indoor humidity 58% - 55%.
•   The bacon is much darker and lost another 3.5 ounces.

Again I used the cold smoking set up to ensure that the temperatures would stay low enough to stay in the cold smoking range. I used the same procedure that I used the first day. During the time the bacon was in the smoker, I maintained a cabinet temperature of 80°F - 90°F.




Day Three:
While in smoker; 5:00 AM  –   PM , ambient temperature range 55°F –  70°F ; outside humidity 85% -  45%. Until 10 AM the humidity was about 74%; then suddenly dropped to into the 40's.

Bacon lost a little over an ounce.

Again using the same procedure, I started smoking the bacon at 5:00 AM. During the time the bacon was in the smoker, I maintained a cabinet temperature of 70°F - 95°F.


Finishing Off:
At 5:00 PM, I turned the temperature up to 180°F, and cooked the bacon until the internal temperature reached 155°F. It was finished cooking at 6:47 PM. Here is the finished product.



Here is a picture of the smoked skin, and fried triple smoked (I started with 4 slices, and ate 3 before I thought of taking a picture of it). I'll use kitchen shears to cut it up, and freeze for later use in backed bean etc.


Here is a picture of my first attempt of triple smoked. The frist time I used the thicker end of the belly.

[icerat4]

Holy cow habs ;) ;D ;D

[Habanero Smoker]

You should give this a try. Even if you don't have access to pork belly, you could purchase slab bacon and smoke that.

[HCT]

Habs and I have been sharing different methods of making this delicacy. I'm pulling my final product out as soon as I post this. This was a real enjoyable project being able to share notes with each other.
EDIT:
To keep the temp down I used ice in the box this kept the temp around 70. The first day the bacon smoked at 110 for 3 hrs. Second and third I smoked it for 4 hrs each day at 70-75. On the second and third day I kept it in the box overnite unplugged. I didn't bring the IT up any higher then the box temp. I just tasted the finished product and it is nice, I'm sure by tomorrow after it rests and sets up it will be alot better. I might put another 4 hrs of smoke on it and bring the IT up to 140. I must agree with Habs, the fat is the tastiest part.
   This recipe is a must do for all pork fat lovers.   

[NePaSmoKer]

Looks great Habs.

HCT how did it turn out.

nepas

[HCT]

NePaS,
   I'm letting it rest in the kitchen overnite. The smokey flavor is permeating the house. One thing that I noticed in the difference between Habs and mine is the outer edges of the bacon. You can see how the higher temp on Habs shows the fat a little 'cooked'. Mine doesn't have that, the fat is whitish all the way through. I will know more tomorrow after it sets overnite and the smoke flavor mellows. I did notice that the bacon is a little sweet but again after an overnite sit it should mellow throughout. Either way, both bacons are finished. Another note, my bellies cured for 11 days, I took Habs advice on curing it a couple of days longer.