Hello all, I have my slab starting to cure, it will be ready next week to smoke and cook off, I'm just wondering how you all go about it since this is my first time trying it out, thanks......
I've done it a few times. I just smoke it to 140 degrees. Just flip it over every day. Not much to it.
I cold smoke my bacon using a little bowl of wood chips, a plumbing torch, and my gas grill as a smokehouse.
yes, the cure keeps it from spoiling. Do you do this in cold weather? How long is the smoke exposure?
The hardest part about making home smoked bacon is finding the pork belly! The grocery sells pig tongue, feet, skin, but no belly, weird. I had a source at a Mexican meat market for 2 bucks a pound, they went under. Other Mexican markets I have asked don't use it for their chicharonnes, just skin. Tried looking for a local farmer, but so far, price prohibitive. must buy half or whole hog, 8 bucks a pound. Where do you all get your bellies, and and at what price?
I'm going to try some homemade Canadian - style bacon. Take a lean pork loin, cut it in half so it fits in a large ziploc bag. Trim off as much of the fat as you can, put it in the bag and add one tablespoon TenderQuick curing salt and one tablespoon brown sugar (or maple syrup) per pound of meat in the bag. This will form the brine. Keep the bag in the fridge for 5 days, kneading it at least once a day to work the brine into the meat. Then, put the smoke to it.........Good stuff, lean too!
I always wonder what Canadian Bacon was Up here we would call that back bacon, I think. Quite lean and drier than regular bacon.
I buy whole hogs from my BIL and have them butchered locally. They'll do whatever you want. The last hog walked in to the butcher shop about 260 lbs and was in my freezer for about $200. I can't buy pork in the store anymore. I'm spoiled now.
Oh man, I smoked bacon and Canadian bacon last night after curing it for 10 days or so. Holy cow, breakfast for dinner has never been so good!
saw something interesting at the store, hog jowl bacon. Hog jowl? Is that something Jed Clampett eats? I don't know what a jowl is, but it is delicious!
