How to make bacon

[sparky]

Anyone have links or advice on making bacon ? I have 4 bellys i cut off some hogs and a wsm . I trust the grillfellas more than google 

[Thunder71]

I cooked some this weekend (twice) on my Sizzle Q by Little Griddle, man that thing is SLICK! They make one for the kettle called the Kettle Q. Found out the hard way the Sizzle Q doesn't fit on the kettle. 

http://www.littlegriddle.com/

[sparky]

That looks slick as shit Thunder ., but I gotta make this belly into bacon first 

ps that thing is pricy $$

[pbe gummi bear]

Sparky, there are two big decisions you need to make for bacon:

1. Brine or Dry rub cure
2. Hot or cold smoke.

I've only made bacon once, brined and hot smoked. I used the maple recipe from the Weber SMOKE book. It turned out pretty good but I had my doubts making it. Once it came off the smoker it was kinda stiff, like over cooked meat but it cooked as I expected bacon to. Great maple taste in it as well. Good luck!

[sparky]

Thanks Gummi - was planning on a hot smoke , brine , don't want sweet bacon .
probably gonna be next month before I get to this so I got some time to get it sorted out .
I also have a whole fresh rear hog leg im thinking of doing around the same time , so if anyone has ideas for that im game  (I want to brine it too) 

Thanks !

[mrbill]

I also have a whole fresh rear hog leg im thinking of doing around the same time , so if anyone has ideas for that im game

the only real/true answer is country ham. if you can't make that happen, it might be acceptable to do a mini-Luau type cook.

[pbe gummi bear]

I also have a whole fresh rear hog leg im thinking of doing around the same time , so if anyone has ideas for that im game

the only real/true answer is country ham. if you can't make that happen, it might be acceptable to do a mini-Luau type cook.

Prosciutto!

[mrbill]

Prosciutto!

I stand corrected!

[Troy]

i make bacon at home quite a bit.

i even have about 20lb of pork belly in the freezer right now waiting to cure (can't find the ingredients locally anymore)

here's how i do it:

The ingredients:
morton tender quick
whatever other seasonings you want.
I typically roll with brown sugar, maple syrup, and some black pepper.
but even just pepper works really well

1 tablespoon of tenderquick for every pound of meat.
add in whatever else you want.

mix the cure well.

rub it all over the belly, try to get it as even as possible.
if your belly has skin, leave it on. if it has nipples, twist them a few times for good luck.

but the belly in a large zip-loc bag, squeeze out the air, and place it in the fridge.
flip it over once per day, for 7 days.

after 7 days, it should be cured. poke it to make sure the whole thing is firm.
If there are soft spots, leave it in the fridge for another day.

take it out of the bag and give it a thorough rince in cold water to get off all the cure.

cut off TWO small slices. fry them up in a hot pan so you can check how salty your bacon will be.
I always cut two because the end slice will always be saltier than the inside slices.

If the bacon is too salty, rinse it some more - or even soak it on cold water for 20 minutes.

To smoke, i technically hot smoke - but i try to keep it as cool as possible.
I always start without charcoal. I place the wood directly in the chimney and get it burning. Once it's engulfed and starting to burn down, i throw it in a spare kettle to get rid of the open flame and leave a smoldering piece of wood.

I typically use apple/cherry or maple, but hickory makes some nice bacon too.

the first burning chunks of wood will only smoke for an hour or less, so i put them in a basket and drop a few pieces of lump on top of them with a few more chunks of fresh wood.

make sure the fire is choked properly, you don't want any open flames.

if you're using kingsford, try to preheat it, or pre-light it. You don't want the white borax shit-smoke of kingsford affecting your precious bacon.
that stuff may not affect ribs and pulled pork, but bacon is more sensitive

smoke to an internal temp of 145, try to keep the smoker as close to 145 as possible (i usually do the first hour or two at 120 if using fruitwood. if using hickory, use a shorter smoke)

try not to render any of the fat out of the belly.

when you're done, bag it (fresh bag) and toss it in the fridge.
I try to wait at least a day before slicing, this will let the smoke distribute (so i've read).

if you don't have a meat slicer, put the belly on a cutting board and put a 2nd cutting board directly on top of the belly to serve as you're slicing guide.

use the longest sharpest knife you have - a 12" non serrated slicing knife works perfectly.

you can peel the skin off prior to slicing, or leave it on (it makes a nice crunch after frying - plus having bacon with nipples is pretty awesome)

[sparky]

Thanks troy , this sounds almost too easy !

[cgaengineer]

I like mtq, but pink salt gives you better control over salt content of finished product.

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy Tab 2

[Thunder71]

That looks slick as shit Thunder ., but I gotta make this belly into bacon first 

ps that thing is pricy $$

And here I thought I had an opportunity to be helpful here just once, DOH! Hahahaha, wow... I really misinterpreted this one.

[landgraftj]

Sparky I make bacon all the time and this is the recipe I use...it's from Michael Ruhlman's book Charcuterie.

Maple Cured Bacon

One 5 lb. piece of pork belly
2 ounces kosher salt
1/4 C. pure Maple syrup
2 t. pink salt (a curing salt)
1/4 C. Maple sugar

Mix up all the ingredients for the cure and spread it all over the pork belly. Make the coating as evenly as possible on both sides so the whole thing has a nice coating. Place in a zip lock bag or suitable container. Once you've done that, throw it in the fridge (36-40 degrees) for 7 days, flipping it over every day. On the 7th day, remove the belly and wash all the cure off. Put it on some sort of drying rack and stick it in back in the fridge for 1 day to dry out (form the pellicle). Next, take the bacon out of the fridge and hot smoke it (about 180-200 degrees) until the bacon temp reads 140. Take the slab out, place it in another zip lock bag, and immerse in a cool water bath to cool it quickly. Put it in the fridge, and now you've got bacon to fry!!!!

[sparky]

Thanks landkraftj , i got some pretty big chunks so i think i will make a couple different ones and see what i like best !

[Troy]

Sparky I make bacon all the time and this is the recipe I use...it's from Michael Ruhlman's book Charcuterie.

Maple Cured Bacon

One 5 lb. piece of pork belly
2 ounces kosher salt
1/4 C. pure Maple syrup
2 t. pink salt (a curing salt)
1/4 C. Maple sugar

Mix up all the ingredients for the cure and spread it all over the pork belly. Make the coating as evenly as possible on both sides so the whole thing has a nice coating. Place in a zip lock bag or suitable container. Once you've done that, throw it in the fridge (36-40 degrees) for 7 days, flipping it over every day. On the 7th day, remove the belly and wash all the cure off. Put it on some sort of drying rack and stick it in back in the fridge for 1 day to dry out (form the pellicle). Next, take the bacon out of the fridge and hot smoke it (about 180-200 degrees) until the bacon temp reads 140. Take the slab out, place it in another zip lock bag, and immerse in a cool water bath to cool it quickly. Put it in the fridge, and now you've got bacon to fry!!!!

oh yeah, i forgot about drying.
i'll edit my post later for clarity - but definitely let it air dry in the fridge for several hours between curing and smoking.