Back Bacon - Double Smoked with Hickory

[MacEggs]

I have made this before, but my first time trying a double-smoke.

Believe it or not, this whole pork loin had been in the freezer for 3½ years.
Surprisingly, it looked okay when I cut open the cryovac after thawing.  I cut it into three pieces.




This is the cure I used.




I like to use this cup as a reference.  It measures 3¼ fluid ounces, and holds about 90 grams of cure.
I used this amount for the smaller piece, and the larger pieces got a bit more.




Cure applied, then wrapped tightly in a number of layers of plastic wrap, and into the fridge.
L to R:  2 lbs, 9 oz ;  2 lbs, 15 oz ;  2 lbs, 14 oz




During the curing time, I flip the pieces every 24 hours.  These cured for 7 days. 
I then rinsed them, and into a water bath for one hour.  I changed out the water after 30 minutes.
I pat them dry, and then air dry in the fridge for 1-2 hours.






I did not do a fry test, and I never have done one.  The meat is very firm after curing.

After curing, my intention was to cold smoke it first, then the next day, hot smoke.

There was some discussion in the following thread about a particular smoking tube:

http://weberkettleclub.com/forums/weber-kettles-accessories/smoker-tubes/

I have one.  It measures 12" long, and has two end caps.  There are only 2 rows of small holes on the tube.






At first, I was not completely sure how to go about using it for this particular purpose of cold smoking.

I decided to try the following:
Cap one end, and fill the tube with wood chips (not soaked),
plus some very small pieces of lump charcoal mixed in to hopefully provide some burn assurance.






Light one briquet and place it at the opening without the cap.
I started out with the tube laying almost flat, but then I quickly had a rush of blood to the head ...
Stand it up and let gravity do the work.












In the past when I have done Back Bacon, I used my Mini UDS.  This time, my "A" code blackie got the call. 

I dropped the cooker sensor from my ET-73 down the lid vent to monitor, just to see what I was working with.
The cooker never got above 90°.  Had smoke for over an hour, but not much longer.






Here are the contents of the smoker tube.  Everything appeared to be spent.




I immediately wrapped the pieces in plastic wrap, and back into the fridge.
Not sure how much smoked these pieces picked up ... It was a trial, anyway, and I'm glad I made the attempt.





The following day for the hot smoke was very nice. 
A slight breeze, and an ambient temperature just above freezing.

I lit 6 briquets and added them to start the fuse / snake, along with some small hickory chunks.
Here is O.J.'s ball as a reference.






For most of the cook, I had two intakes closed, and one fully open.
I let the cooker slowly come up in temperature.  The smoke was not heavy, but nice.

After two hours:




At this point, I opened all the intakes wide.

After three hours.  I decided to remove the meat.
I checked the IT with my Thermapen, and was getting readings 5-10° less than this ...




So, everything stayed on for a spell.

The wind had picked up a bit, so I brought it into the garage.  Let it go for another 40-45 minutes.
Probably 15-25 minutes too long.  Thermapen confirmed an IT in the 140-150° range.  Beyond my target.




Got them off and tented with foil for about an hour,
and then wrapped in plastic and back into the fridge ... Awaiting Sunday's breakfast.








The snake was nearly spent.





Alright, it's Sunday morning ....












A delicious Canadian breakfast!

Wow, I am very impressed with how this turned out.

I am glad that I did the soak after curing.  I had not done it in the past, and I found that the end product was extremely salty.
This time the saltiness was very pleasant .... Not, pucker-up-your-face kind of saltiness.

Later today I will cut these pieces into smaller hunks, vacuum seal, and freeze.

Happy New Year to everyone, and have a great 2016. 

[Jason]

Nicely done!

[Saugust]

Excellent work and a great write up! All that hard work payed off.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[SmokenJoe]

My God that looks good, I got to give it a go  ...  never made bacon before, and I LOVE bacon.                             SJ

[austin87]

That looks fantastic! I'm due for a new batch soon...

[weldboy]

Nice job looks great


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[BC]

Looking mighty fine. Can this bacon crisp up like regular bacon? So, the smoke tube ran an hour and that was it?
OJ's balls..... no comment.

[MacEggs]

Can this bacon crisp up like regular bacon?

My personal preference ... No.  It's the same cut as Peameal bacon, however, it is cooked instead of raw.
I like to cut a fairly thin slice, then onto the fry pan quickly just to take the chill off.  YMMV

So, the smoke tube ran an hour and that was it?

With the method I used, yes.  I was hoping for longer.  Might need to experiment more.