Homemade Bacon recommendations?

[jp9724]

Currently I have pork belly curing in the fridge for bacon and I plan on rollin it in some smoke this weekend. Anyone have a recommendation on time/pit temp/internal temp or what pellets flavor the belly the best for bacon? Thanks!
Jp

 

[Walleye Hunter]

Cook to internal temp of 150 is what I'm finding. I'm right there with you with my first batch in the fridge about ready to smoke. I look forward to seeing how it works out.

 

[jp9724]

Cook to internal temp of 150 is what I'm finding. I'm right there with you with my first batch in the fridge about ready to smoke. I look forward to seeing how it works out.

Let me know how it goes! Mines going on tomorrow and I was thinking lower temp to allow a little more smoke to hit it and then pull at 150 like you said! I’ll also update!

 

[Walleye Hunter]

Here's some sites I reviewed to get some ideas.

https://www.splendidtable.org/recipes/curing-your-own-bacon

https://barbecuebible.com/recipe/8-steps-making-bacon-home/

https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/homemade-bacon-3362606

https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/scrap-iron-chefs-bacon-recipe-1939446

 

[jp9724]

Cook to internal temp of 150 is what I'm finding. I'm right there with you with my first batch in the fridge about ready to smoke. I look forward to seeing how it works out.

Well my bacon turned out salty as hell but good smoke flavor and smoke ring with nice coloring. Next time I’m dialing the salt coating back to half.

 

[Walleye Hunter]

It looks good, what did you do with yours, just rub it or did you inject and brine it? And how long did you cure it? Did you let it dry for a day or two before smoking?

 

[jp9724]

It looks good, what did you do with yours, just rub it or did you inject and brine it? And how long did you cure it? Did you let it dry for a day or two before smoking?

Just rubbed with some sea salt and pepper, cured for 7 days and just pay it dry before smoking. Should have soaked it in fresh water for a while and let it dry but oh well. How’d yours turn out??

 

[DAeats]

Well my bacon turned out salty as hell but good smoke flavor and smoke ring with nice coloring. Next time I’m dialing the salt coating back to half. View attachment 931View attachment 932

The Traeger recipe for bacon uses WAY too much salt. By about half. Compare it with the Raichlen recipe posted above.

 

[Walleye Hunter]

Just rubbed with some sea salt and pepper, cured for 7 days and just pay it dry before smoking. Should have soaked it in fresh water for a while and let it dry but oh well. How’d yours turn out??

I'm aiming to smoke mine today. I got a new controller in yesterday so I hope it cures my temp issues.

 

[Walleye Hunter]

Bacon turned out OK, a little salty but I've gotten saltier from the butcher. If I'm successful at it here are pics of the bacon and a hunk of pork loin that I made into Canadian bacon.

 

[jp9724]

Looks good! good coloring!

 

[Roastlamb]

Hey, I just started a new thread not seeing this... have you guys tried this again since? Am thinking of grabbing a pork belly today but don't want it to be too salty.

 

[RoadRunner18]

Another online site you should visit is www.makinbacon.net

This site will walk you through wet and dry curing methods, to include a wet and dry curing calculator; a calculator for concerting pounds to grams, a recipe section, and what supplies are required for the various curing methods and recipes.

Right now I have 6 Slabs of Pork Belly "Bacon-to-Be" dry-curing in my garage refrigerator until December 22nd I plan to make Hickory Smoked, Applewood Smoked, and Pepper Bacon just before the holidays.

 

[Roastlamb]

Hey everyone, following the link on this website and the pork belly is taking a long time to get to 150f internal temp... something I am doing wrong? It’s not a big piece and has been on for about 7 hours at 175f...

Cheers!

 

[RoadRunner18]

Is your grill single or double walled? Double Walled grills (like the Timberline Series) hold the heat pretty well and don't need an insulated cover for cold weather cooks. I see you are from Canada and if you use your grill all year long you may want to invest in a thermal blanket if your cooker is single walled.

The next thing you should do is determine your actual grill temp vs the grill temp shown on your controller. By checking actual ambient temperature of the grill with a FireBoard II Ambient Probe, I discovered my Timberline actually runs 9 degrees hotter than what is posted on my controller. So its quite possible your grill could be cooking at a lower temp than what is shown on your controller and that could be another reason why your cook is taking so long.