Smoked Bacon on the Weber

[tatoosh]

Made bacon for the second time. My first try was with a "wet" cure and finished hot in the kitchen oven. This time I did a "dry" cure and tried to cold smoke in my Weber with the Smokenator. I was unable to keep the temperature down in the cold smoke are of under 100F, but I did keep it in the 110F to 130F most of the time. So it was a warm smoke that turned out very well.

My wife wanted a sweeter bacon, so I bought 3 1/2 pounds of pork belly and removed the skin. Then we made a cure of salt, brown sugar, honey and Prague Powder. I thinned the honey down with some hot water so it made a watery, sticky paste that we rubbed all over the pork belly. We wrapped it in plastic wrap and then a Ziploc bag. It went into the refrigerator for 6 days and a bit more.

The evening of the sixth day we pulled it out, rinsed it off, discarding any liquid that came out. Back in the refrigerator overnight to form a coat called a pellicle. In the morning I started the Weber/Smokenator with a half dozen pieces of the local lump charcoal. They did not quite get my hickory chips to smoke, so I added a bit more. That got it going.

So for the next 6 hours, it was a dance with the Weber to keep the charcoal going without running the heat up too high. This is not a set it and forget it process. I had to replenish both the charcoal and the hickory chips that I wrapped in foil. When the hickory quit smoking, I'd pull the foil out, adjust the charcoal if necessary, then dump the darkened contents of the foil right onto the hot charcoal to get the last of the smoke out of them.

End of the six hours and we pulled the smoked bacon off the grill. I cooled it, then chilled in the freezer to make it easier to cut. I cut it at first but my brother-in-law got into the game so I could take photos.

It came out great! The sweeter flavor balanced with a nice smokey edge. It was not overly salty, which I had heard sometimes happens with a dry cured bacon. I would have soaked it a bit in plain water, changing the water once or twice. But that was unnecessary.

Next week I will put 10 or 12 pounds of bacon in the cure for a week, then smoke again. I will freeze what we don't need right away. Excellent flavor and it was a lot cheaper than the bacon here, none of which is really smoked!

Slicing the bacon:

[ksu1971]

I love bacon and this sounds like a fun thing to take on. Do you have a recipe of the rub you put on the bacon. Do you cook it to a specific internal temp or just long enough to impart a good smokey flavor to the bacon? Does it matter how long it cures in the fridge? How do you store it in the freezer?

This will be my first attempt at this so any additional information you can give me would be greatly appreciated.

[tatoosh]

Hi ksu1971,

I got the cure recipe from a fellow bbq'er named Thirdeye over at BBQ Brethren but it originally comes from the book Charcuterie by Michael Ruhlman.

For 5 pounds of Pork Belly:

2 ounces or 1/4 cup of Kosher Salt (I used the local sea salt)
1/4 cup of brown sugar
1/4 cup of maple syrup (very expensive here so I used honey)
2 tsp (12 grams) Pink Salt (aka Prague Powder #1 or Instacure #1) - NOT MORTON TENDER QUICK See the note.

The recipe called for pork belly with the skin on, but feel free to remove it, I did.

Adding a bit of hot water (1 - 2 Tbsp) will help the honey or maple syrup become a bit more runny. It will be easier to mix with the other ingredients and rub better into the belly: top, bottom and sides.

Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and put in a ziploc bag. Put in your refrigerator below 40F and above 36F (standard refrigerator temperatures).

Turn each day and rub it just a bit if you have time. Don't let it go more than 2 days without turning.

After 6 to 7 days, remove from the refrigerator. Unwrap, discarding any liquid that has come out. Rinse off well and dry. You can leave it out if not too warm or put it back in your refrigerator uncovered to form a "pellicle" which is a skin that protects the exterior and attracts/holds smoke. Outside for a couple of hours or in the refrigerator as long as overnight.

You can either cold smoke or hot smoke to finish your bacon. Since the Weber/Smokenator is not really set up for cold smoking, I did a "warm" smoke. I tried to keep the temperatures in the 110F to 135F range. I had a couple of times it ran up into the 150F range, but got it down pretty quickly. I did that by limiting the amount of charcoal. Here in the Philippines, charcoal is different than in the States, I use the local lump charcoal. I did 12 or so pieces, and had to add more every hour to hour and a half. I had to restart it once, because with the smaller charcoal it is easier to burn out, particularly with lump. Briquettes shouldn't be quite as fussy.

I smoked the bacon for 5 1/2 hours. The lower temperature allows you a longer smoke with more of the smoke flavor. I used hickory chips which worked well. If you have Sugar Maple to go with maple syrup that would be ideal, if you like the maple flavor. My wife loved the honey and brown sugar so that will be our standard for her.

Hot smoking you can run the temperature up to 200F - 225F and you are looking for an internal temperature of 150F for the bacon. I did this without the smoke in my home oven the first time I made bacon as my first "test" run. There is no reason you couldn't do that with the Smokenator and give the bacon some smoke in the process. It won't be quite as smokey compared to doing the warm smoke approach where you smoke for 5 to 6 hours. Of course, you don't want a heavy smoke, the light wispy blue smoke is ideal.

Try smoking both ways and you will find what you prefer and how much smokey flavor you enjoy. Some guys smoke bacon for 12 to 18 hours, because they want a much more developed smokey flavor. But that is usually with a straight cold smoke setup, little or no heat.

NOTE: Morton Tender Quick is fine for making bacon, but it is not a 1 for 1 equivalent of Prague Powder #1 and I don't have their guide at hand for how much to use. Any recipe using Tender Quick needs to be specifically written for it and not a substitute for Prague Powder/Instacure.

[ksu1971]

Thanks for the info tatoosh. I was doing some research to try and find the Pink Salt and I stumbled across a few articles that do not use the Pink Salt. What is your opinion on these methods compared to the Pink Salt method. I understand the risk but according to them you really don't need the Pink Salt

[paulw]

Good information to post! Thank you.

A butcher who has pork belly available (my local grocer's butcher does have frozen side pork, and will cut off a section for me) is a butcher to be grateful for.

Morton Tender Quick is a tables-p-o-o-n per pound of side pork (pork belly). Tender Quick is probably in the grocery store; pink salt (InstaCure #1/Prague power #1, not #2) probably has to be bought online. I think bacon is safer cured with pink salt or Tender Quick, although technically you can cure without it if you use a lot of salt, and sugar; your bacon's color won't be as good, though, at least compared to store bought bacon. People who think curing salt will give them cancer might want to weigh whether dying from botulism is any more enjoyable.

People need to be clear that the white sided stuff on your pork belly is the pork rind (skin), not fat. Two gallon Ziplocks work well. Rinse the salt off really well after your week in the fridge is up.

I don't know that a long smoke is necessary. What I've read is that if one smokes the bacon after the curing, all you need to do is get up to about 160 F and then you're finished.

I had to put the odd tables-p-o-o-n spelling above because every time I put the word I wanted, the forum changed it to "tablethingy." What's up with that?

[tatoosh]

Finishing bacon to 160F (I actually use 150F) is not really necessary with well cured meat. But it adds a safety factor that is worthwhile, particularly when eaten by "at risk" individuals which can be anyone under the age of 5 or over the age of 60.

I don't want to get to the finishing temperature quickly. While my Weber/Smokenator isn't really great for cold smoking, I have no problem keeping a low temperature, even around 130F while I let the cured pork belly smoke. Then I ramp up the temperature after 3 hours or so to bring the bacon to the internal temperature target to finish. I continue to smoke then as well.

I'm a bit leery of Morton Tender Quick even though it is very convenient. The reason is that no one has explained why MTQ is used to make bacon even though it contains Sodium Nitrate while Cure #2 is expressly warned against because it contains Sodium Nitrate. That said, if I did not have Cure #1, I'd use it. I have before and probably will again. But it is so much cheaper to make my own replacement cure, I order from the internet and enjoy more control and less cost.

I think the tablesthingy substitution is a humorous quirk of the forum!

[ncsmoker]

Hey tatoosh I was smooking bacon about the same time you were. Used the same recipe even though I used the Maple syrup. I left the rind on as I felt it would add flavor to the bacon and the recipes I checked were about 70-30 leaving it on. Leaving the rind on I smoked it for 12 hours, boy what a chore. I think I checked it every 45 minutes to an hour. I agree with you on the Morton Tender Quick. Here in the States you can buy Insta cure #1 very cheaply on the Internet. I probably have enough for two more sides of bacon and four more hams from what I bought from this last order. If any one wants the source let me know.