Food Smokers and Smoking Tips/Tricks/Techniques

Looks great to me! Been way too long since I have had any wings But the Bills seem to be able to win even without me cooking any on game day LOL.

Been busy getting ready to head to the tip of the Mn. Arrowhead for the month of October to hunt birds with the dogs. Leave in less than 2 weeks and still have a lot to do. Including smoking and vac sealing a lot of meat to take with me to the cabin. Need to get it done soon or it will still be cooking on my way North!

 

I'm always happy when I see I am not the only one that keeps the regulars on the countertop next to the sink.

 

If you have to ask me you're already behind.

 

There’s a wsm 18.5 on sale at Ace Hardware for $165.00

I almost bought it lol but don’t really need one

 

Saw one on CL for $75

 

Fuk Yea! I would eat that till I popped!

 

Looks pretty damn good to me. Maybe that 400 degree temp before you caught it was the culprit. But nonetheless, still looks fantastic. I see some moisture.

 

First bacon throw down. Cured for 8 days with herbs and peppercorns.

 

thank you for saying that

 

All finished up!

 

Now step 2 is you send it to me right J?

 

If there’s any left...





... no

 

So how does one go about doing this?

 

2 briskets and another 8 beef ribs this week.

 

*edit* The cure will make extra as I plan to stop buying grocery store bacon.

1 pork belly (Mine is halved and skinless. For skin on, slice it off as close to the skin before curing. Make cracklins)
1 cup Kosher salt
1/2 cup sugar
3.25 teaspoons curing salt (Prague powder #1)

Dry the belly with paper towels. Use a x0.025 amount of cure mixture for the weight (2100 gram belly is about 52 grams of cure). Rub it all over, add whole hearty herbs, spices, and whatever else you want to flavor it with (thyme, rosemary, peppercorns, and garlic for me).

Place in a ziploc bag, remove as much air as possible, and place in the fridge. Flip once a day (I moved the herbs/etc. to the other side every 2 days) for 7-10 days, depending on the size and moisture pull.

Rinse the belly thoroughly and pat dry. *optional* Place in the fridge for a few hours on a wire rack to continue the drying process.

Smoke it at 225-250 for 2-3 hours or until internal temp reaches 150. Rest until cooled at room temp, wrap tightly in plastic wrap, place in the fridge for 4-6 hours. Ready to slice once firm

The hardest part was waiting for the cure!

 

This sounds excellent! So once it is firm, at the end, is it ready to eat or does it need to be cooked like bacon at this point? We've been eating a lot of BLTs and it would be really nice to make my own bacon.

 

Technically it’s good to eat since it’s cooked to 150 (pork requires 145 internal), but it’ll slice like a ham — not crispy. Frying or baking strips or chunks will crisp it up

 

Bacon around here is close to $6 a pound now for something decent. It would be nice to have something better for less.

 

With herbs and cure ingredients, I’m at $3.5 /lb. I’ll find out if the taste/texture holds up to store bought tomorrow... but I’m thinking it will.

I like the versatility, though. I might try a pepper/brown sugar rub on the next one... maybe a chipotle maple... the possibilities are endless!

 

Yea, I am thinking a cherry smoked bourbon maple peppercorn would be so good this winter.

But like you say, the possibilities are endless.