Real bacon

[Brian Halbleib]

Chef (Chief) Dan spoiled my wife with an outstanding slab of fresh (never frozen) bacon. I've been hearing about it since we polished it off so I finally got around to picking up a pork belly. This is the real deal here, farm raised, hormone free. This one is about 8 lbs, cut in half (stacked on top of each other in picture). Real simple honey cure here.
 
1 cup Salt
4 Tbl #1 curing salt (aka pink salt, Instacure No. 1, Prague powder #1 or DQ curing salt #1)
2 cups honey
(I threw in a handful of brown sugar, not necessary though)
 
Mix the salt and curing salt together. Rub thoroughly into bacon. Pour honey on the bacon so it's distributed evenly. Be sure to do this in a 2 gallon ziploc or other non-reactive container that can be sealed. You want the ingredients to mix with the natural liquids to form a sort of brine for the belly slabs to marinade or "cure" in.
 
Seal up the ziploc or container and place it into the fridge for 6 days. Place a weight on top of the ziploc bag or container lid (in this case, you want the container to be tight with a flexible lid), a 12 pack of beer works nicely as a weight. I've been turning the bacon every other day.
 
To be continued in the smoker...

-Brian
 www.bowyersjournal.com

   

[Brian Halbleib]

Got one slab out, removed the skin and refrigerated. Here's the second slab coming off the smoker. Hickory smoke for about 3 hours and brought the internal temp up to 128 degrees.
 
-Brian
 www.bowyersjournal.com

 

[Brian Halbleib]

You won't see anything this pretty at the grocery store. Nice stuff, eh?

-Brian
 www.bowyersjournal.com

   

[Brian Halbleib]

You can never go wrong with fresh Italian bread French toast and some fresh fruit. I was a hero this morning   :D  

-Brian
 www.bowyersjournal.com

   

[Brian Halbleib]

 

[oldgriz]

You better put claymores around your smoker Brian....
I may make a late night visit...      
I am definitely going to have to try that with the next hog we have butchered.... been having it smoked by the guy who does our butchering... but he does not marinate them
My 9 yr old daughter can eat her weight in bacon... thank goodness she didn't get Daddy's fat genes...

[Brian Halbleib]

I told you Griz, stop on by next time you're in the neighborhood. Better hurry though, my dad and my father-in-law have already called dibs on a few pounds   :D  

-Brian
 www.bowyersjournal.com

[oldgriz]

Unfortunately, I don't get anywhere near you unless we are going to visit the wife's family in Columbus OH...
I might actually have to volunteer to go to visit them soon LOL
Of course that might also cause us to miss a trip when she has a heart attack.... LOL

[sloaf]

Brian what model smoker is that, i am considering going electric when i take the plunge?  Are there any advantages to electric verses propane.

[Al Dente]

The model, from what I can tell is one that uses discs of compressed wood chips, which are fed down into the smoke chamber, with the aid of a timer.

The advantages of electric over propane are these:  You can never run out of a power source unless you have a blackout.  You don't have to constantly check to see if you still have gas in the tank.  No tank to refill.  No tank to lug.  Safety, as there are no flames, just a heaating element.

I've never used anything other than lump charcoal/wood smoker, so I really cannot comment on anything else.

There are several manufacturers of electric smokers.  Some use the wood discs, others use pellets, chips, or dust.

Hope this helps.

[Brian Halbleib]

I've smoked mostly on wood and/or charcoal for years with great results on items that are hot smoked. I've been getting more into the products that require lower temp smoking and cold smoking. These can be done with wood/charcoal set ups but require a good deal of work to maintain the proper cooking procedure.

I picked up an Original Bradley Smoker (pictured above) and have been real pleased with the performance. The Bradley has a removable smoke generator which allows me to use it off set for cold smoking. I've done some personal modifications to the unit to fit my needs and I'm extremely happy with the products I have been producing.

The only downside to the Bradley is like Al mentioned above. The smoke generator is designed to use special wood bisquettes, or "pucks" that are manufactured by Bradley. With a little ingenuity though, you could easily make a substitute "puck" to smoke. But, the bisquettes are pretty reasonable, convenient and are made from quality woods.

I've never used a propane smoker so I can't give you any input on those. At the lower temps that I use the electric smoker for, some recipes require LONG smoke times and having an electric smoker with a digital temperature control allows me to put stuff on and go about my life, even overnight while sleeping.

Again, it's all about personal preference and what you get comfortable with.

-Brian
 www.bowyersjournal.com

[Al Dente]

I know what you mean about those sleepless nights.  When I compete, or doing a whole brisket, I don't get much sleep at all.  Maybe 2 hours total with little catnaps during the night.  But, everyone's up anyway, and we're eating, drinking, and chewing the fat, so it's all good.

[Bobby Urban]

I make the bacon and use Brown sugar, Salt and a little Cayanne Pepper.  Mostly Sugar and salt with a touch of Cayanne just for a little kick.

I dry Rub it intothe slabs real good put them in large zip locks.  Squeeze out as much air as possible and lay them in the frig for 5-7 days.  Turn over every morning to keep the juices flowing and then I smoke then for a couple hours on low heat(probably no hotter than 150) but I don't have a thermometer.  Comes out Great!

I don't use the Curing Salt

Bob Urban