You scored some pork belly.
You found a recipe for how to cure it, chemical free (see below).
Then you despair, because you really want to smoke your home made bacon, but your smoker or grill only hot smokes (cooks while smoking), and bacon needs to be cold smoked.
Rejoice! You can turn any grill or smoker into a cold smoker!
Meet Pellet Smoker Tubes.
Pellet smoker tubes are a nifty, inexpensive contraption that hold smoking pellets. You fill it with pellets, ignite it, blow out the fire so that it smolders and creates lots of smoke, and place it in a grill or smoker with your meat where it creates minimal heat and maximum smoke.
We got a set of a 6" tube and a 12" tube for $14 on amazon.
Please note that you MUST use wood pellets that are intended for smoking food. Do not use wood pellets designed for heating your home or animal bedding. Those are likely to have additives that are unsafe for food.
Because a little heat is created by the smoking tubes, and you want to keep your cold smoked foods in the 80-90F range, it is important to smoke on days that it is 70F or below.
Only cold smoke cured meat. You know better than to leave raw meat on the counter all day, because it will grow nasty bacteria. The same thing will happen when you cold smoke meat if it is not cured.
Curing is a process where you add a measured amount of salt, spices (and sometimes nitrates, if desired) to meat. The salt draws out moisture and prevents spoilage bacteria from growing.
Following are photos of our first time cold smoking. We smoked two pork bellies, two shanks (smoked shanks make delicious bean soup), and two cappicolas.
Igniting the pellets in a pellet smoker tube with a propane torch.
Heavy smoke enveloping our cured meats from the pellet smoker tubes.
Cured, smoked shanks, cappicolas, and bacons.
Maple Bacon Cure
Making bacon from pork belly is easy. And you can make it chemical free.
You need
pork belly,
a kitchen scale,
a calculator,
a plastic tub,
non-iodized salt,
and maple syrup.
Pork belly with salt and maple.
1. Weigh your pork belly. To make the math easier, weigh it in grams rather than pounds and ounces.
2. Multiply the weight by .02 to calculate 2% for your salt.
-if your pork belly weighs 987 grams, 987 x .02 = 19.74 grams (round up to 20 grams)
Measure 2% of the weight of the pork belly in non-iodized salt.
3. To calculate how much maple to add, multiply the weight of the pork belly by .015 to calculate 1.5% maple.
-if your pork belly weighs 987 grams, 987 x .015 = 14.805 (round up to 15 grams)
Measure 1.5% of the weight of the pork belly in maple syrup.
4. Combine the salt and maple syrup in a bowl. Put the belly in a plastic tub and smear it on all sides with the salt and maple mixture.
Put the tub in the fridge.
The next day, pour off the juices which have been drawn out by the salt. Flip it, cover it with plastic wrap, and put it back in the fridge.
Keep the belly in the fridge for a total of two weeks, flipping occasionally.
Congratulations, you now have bacon!
5. Cold smoke your bacon with pellet smoker tubes for about 4 hours.
6. Cut the slab of bacon into approximately 1 pound rectangles.
I highly recommend vacuum sealing them if you want it to last more than a couple of months in the freezer. Fat goes rancid in the freezer, and it goes rancid much faster if it is exposed to oxygen. The worst thing you can do is slice it and wrap it in something where air can get to it. The best way to make it last is to vacuum seal the whole piece and wait to slice it till you are ready to cook it.
7. When you are ready to cook the bacon, take it out 1 or 2 hours before cook time so that it begins to thaw, but is still partly frozen in the middle. Being very firm helps you cut thin slices.
With a very sharp chef's knife, cut as thin of slices as possible. It will be thicker than most bacon you can buy. But it is so good.
8. Cook. Eat. Enjoy.
Comments