Home made bacon

[Crossroads]

Started my first real attempt at traditional homemade bacon this evening. Used a dry rub of 2 cups sea salt, 1 cup sugar, 1/2 cup brown sugar and a sprinkling of black pepper and 10# of pork belly. I only ended up using about a third of the salt mixture and saved the rest for next time. After 5-7 days, I’ll cold smoke it with mesquite for at least 10 hours. It’s going to be hard to wait a week to sample it. 

[customsawyer]

Sounds like the timing is about right for it to be ready for you to ship me some.

[Crossroads]

😝 I’m trying to work out a trip over for the project in April, in which case I’ll bring some stuff from the smokehouse 

[thecfarm]

I hope it taste as good as it sounds!!!

[Crossroads]

Me too! The process seems to easy to be true. 

[moosehunter]

We buy a pig every year and have it butchered. In an effort to eat healthier I have cut out nitrates. 
So our last pig I had them leave the bellies whole and I made my own bacon. Yours sounds like the same recipe I used. 
Mine came out very good but a little too salty. I was told to rinse the bellies with hot water next time just before they go in the smoker.
mh

[newoodguy78]

I’ve made bacon with a similar recipe in the past. Like mh mentioned my only complaint was it came out a bit too salty and I tend to enjoy salt more than most. Was told the same thing to rinse with straight water to cut the salt then make sure it’s dry prior to smoking.  Certainly depends on your personal tastes but worth keeping an eye on. 
If I was to do it again I’d probably cook a piece prior to smoking just to check. 

[Southside]

What do you have for a smokehouse set up? 

[Crossroads]

I definitely plan to rinse it well before smoking, I’ve heard of the salt over powering things. 

I built a smokehouse from cross laminated timber panels that I hauled home from the factory I used to work at. The footprint is roughly 5’x7’ and the floor, walls and roof are about 6” think. For cold smokes I use a smoke tube from Amazon and for hot smokes I have a small wood stove with 1 section of pipe on it inside of the smokehouse. Eventually I’ll move the stove outside and run the pipe through the wall. 

[Southside]

Wow! That can double as a storm / nuke shelter too! Nice set up. 

[tule peak timber]

I do an overnight wet brine with 1/3 c. sugar, 3/4 c. salt per gallon of water, and a cold smoke on Alder. I built the baconater from a cut off oil drum and support the belly near the top to keep it as cool as possible. During the workday I keep an eye on things, adding wood, stopping flareups, and keeping things as cool as possible. After about 8 hours in the smoker, I slice and BBQ over rotted oak until crispy.
 I own 4 different smokers/pits for meats and fish, mostly Salmon. I serve the bacon and fish buffet style with breads, cheeses, and coffee etc during "dog and pony" shows keeping the designers and architects happily munching while I pitch them.
 Homemade bacon is always a crowd pleaser and all the work in making it pays off, so to speak

 

 

[Crossroads]

Lol, it’s definitely stout. I’ve always wanted a full grown smoker. Now I just need a few more oven racks to fill it up. 

I’ll give your wet brine a try next time, that looks good. 
Your baconator reminds me of a pig roast I did a few years ago. When I get a chance I’ll do a post on it. 
  

[tule peak timber]

I like dry rubs on ribs and sometimes on fish. Hot smoke, cold smoke, dry smoke, wet smoke, electric, wood fired, and imprinting flavors with plant leaves. Lots of combinations to try and enjoy. Cheers....

[Crossroads]

Bacon is in the smoker now, but slices some up for dinner. It’s a little on the salty side, but not offensive. I’ll probably try a wet brine next time. 

[SwampDonkey]

Neighbors make bacon and brought some over as a Christmas gift among other things. Reminds me like old fashioned bacon and didn't smell like an old bore pig. No nitrates or sugar added. Not real salty either. They have a smoker. They are getting better at making their cuts because we had some before and it was more like a fatty fresh bacon used in a baking bean pot.

[aigheadish]

I've discussed the pig I bought a bit in the other thread, and the guy I got the pig from had a buddy smoke some bacon that was sold to me. I picked it up Monday afternoon and last night went to vacuum pack it all. This is one of the piles of what I think was about 30 pounds or so. I like bacon but it's not a huge deal to me, it's just nice to have some around for when I'd like some. As I was sealing this up I tossed 6 small chunks on the stove and cooked 'em up. That was at about 6 or so last night. I haven't stopped thinking of bacon since then. It was very good. I don't know the recipe used for smoking but it seems pretty mellow flavored. I didn't know what to expect but I got only some strips of bacon that look like you get at the store, not many, but whatever, I don't care if it's small strips or chunks or whatever. I want to eat more, now.





It also makes me excited to smoke some of the big thick cuts to see how they'll go. 

[Crossroads]

I haven’t gotten the slicer out yet, so what I’ve eaten has been sliced a bit thick, which is fine by me. 

[newoodguy78]

Aig I wonder if his slicer was a bit dull or the meat was just a touch above being cold. I’ve had both those situations effect how a slicer cuts. It certainly doesn’t bother the flavor though. 
Whenever I cut up pork was always looking for the fat to be snow white, if it started getting translucent at all was a sign it was warming up a little. Once that happens it starts getting harder to make nice cuts and the fat starts sticking which makes it tough. 
Same goes when grinding sausage anytime the head started plugging I would take and run a handful of ice and send it through. Almost always cleared it right up

[aigheadish]

It's entirely possible that is the case. It doesn't bother me much to not have perfectly cut strips of bacon, and they fit on a BLT yesterday beautifully. 

I'm looking into how to make sausage, like brats or italian sausages and buying a sausage stuffer and they make some noise about the material being close to freezing is ideal, I'll have to keep that in mind. 

[newoodguy78]

Making sausage is something I really enjoy. Personally I prefer loose sausage over links but that’s just me. One thing we found is to grind, get it mixed really well then let it sit for at least a day. Gives the sausage a much more consistent preferable taste throughout. Feel like the spices mellow each other out and disperse their flavor evenly through the meat that way. 

[doc henderson]

In our scout troop, "bacon" is considered a sentence, not just a word.

[Crossroads]

That sentence isn’t complete without an (!) 

[doc henderson]

BACON!

[Crossroads]

😝