Making Bacon

[ship happens]

I learned quit a bit from watching this guys videos. He explains things well. Whats nice is he's a professional butcher who isn't pushing products, so for myself I don't find the videos to be annoying. This one he explains the 3 methods and why for making bacon

 

[WHO DAT]

#1 is for food that will be cooked or brought up to temp. #2 is for cured and eaten with no cooking.

 

[Rain City]

So what's the consensus on what we're trying to achieve with the cold smoking? Do we ever bring it up to a certain internal temp? Certain amount of time in the smoke? I can't see any point in leaving it in the smoker for hours with no smoke and no heat.

 

[ship happens]

You don't want to render the fat. You want smoke flavor and you want the temp up for the cure to set off without rendering the fat.

 

[Rain City]

You don't want to render the fat. You want smoke flavor and you want the temp up for the cure to set off without rendering the fat.

That video the guy says he smokes at 180. That's pretty damn hot

 

[ship happens]

That video the guy says he smokes at 180. That's pretty damn hot

Says he turns it up to 180 to get the temp that he wants after he smokes it at 150 155 ish. The point in cold smoking is to let the smoke penetrate without rendering any fat whatsoever and let the cure do its thing. Almost like cold smoking fish but that's another topic. Very similar. It's almost like a smoke dehydrator and then boost the temp to get your internal without rendering

 

[Rain City]

Says he turns it up to 180 to get the temp that he wants after he smokes it at 150 155 ish. The point in cold smoking is to let the smoke penetrate without rendering any fat whatsoever and let the cure do its thing. Almost like cold smoking fish but that's another topic. Very similar. It's almost like a smoke dehydrator and then boost the temp to get your internal without rendering

So not really cold smoking at all. My "normal" smoking temp on fish is between 90-125 and then I jump it up to 155 for the last bit. That's still not cold smoking. If I leave no heat on the smoker will be 40 degrees right now.

 

[ship happens]

So not really cold smoking at all. My "normal" smoking temp on fish is between 90-125 and then I jump it up to 155 for the last bit. That's still not cold smoking. If I leave no heat on the smoker will be 40 degrees right now.

Yeah fair enough maybe I didn't explain that right, probly shouldn't have brought up the fish. End of the day it just depends on how much smoke flavor you want and how you want to ride the line between moving that temp up and letting that nitrites or nitrates or whatever cure you use to really start preserving the meat. Least that how I understand it. I'm sure there's different approaches, methods, smoke Temps, times all that stuff that people have their own ideas on. For me when it comes to cured sausages and bacon etc, smoke temp is anything around 150 160. Sometimes I'll crank the temp at the end just to get the internal up for food safety. If you continue to smoke at 150 it would take days for the internal to come up in that big piece of meat and at that point imo it woukd dry out to much. But hey, I'm still learning here too


Last time I made sausages I made one batch of cured smokies that I wanted to smoke and get internal to 155. Did them on the traeger at 165 and it was cold outside so the trager was running at about 150 155. I set the probe alarm for 155 internal on the sausages. I ended up falling asleep. They were on for 4 hours before I fell asleep. I woke up at 630 am to a low pellet alarm and was like ohh crap, ran outside and my smokies looked like pepperoni haha. They were cheese smokies. They never got to 155 internal. After about 10 hours on the smoker. The cheese was not melted either. They ended up making wicked cheese board material. I did another batch and went did them for about 3 hours then cranked the temp to 180 and they came up to 155 internal in about 15 min. Wicked smokies

 

[Rain City]

I think it's safe to say that I've perfected making crackling on roasted pork.

 

[Blueback]

I learned quit a bit from watching this guys videos. He explains things well. Whats nice is he's a professional butcher who isn't pushing products, so for myself I don't find the videos to be annoying. This one he explains the 3 methods and why for making bacon

I watched the video (very good), bought some pork bellies, and now I need sodium nitrate. I found sodium erythorbate on Amazon. Any ideas on where to find sodium nitrate around here (Greater Vancouver)?

 

[Rain City]

I watched the video (very good), bought some pork bellies, and now I need sodium nitrate. I found sodium erythorbate on Amazon. Any ideas on where to find sodium nitrate around here (Greater Vancouver)?

Any butcher will have it. Or gourmet warehouse.

 

[Blueback]

Any butcher will have it. Or gourmet warehouse.

Tried Gourmet Warehouse; no dice. Mr.Google says it's hard to find in Canada. Might have to go begging at a few butcher shops I know of.

 

[ship happens]

Or go to stuffers in Langley. They have everything

 

[Rain City]

Tried Gourmet Warehouse; no dice. Mr.Google says it's hard to find in Canada. Might have to go begging at a few butcher shops I know of.

I got mine at Beefway

 

[walleyes]

I watched the video (very good), bought some pork bellies, and now I need sodium nitrate. I found sodium erythorbate on Amazon. Any ideas on where to find sodium nitrate around here (Greater Vancouver)?

If your in no rush you can order it on line here.

Speed Cure (Sodium Nitrite content: 6.25%) for 25 lb. Meat Emulsions (1 oz.)

Speed Cure (Sodium Nitrite content: 6.25%) for 25 lb. Meat Emulsions (1 oz.)

www.halfordsmailorder.com

Halford Hides is an incredible store for the do it yourselfer. Head in there couple times a year if i need to or not.

 

[ship happens]

I got mine at Beefway

Yeah the owner of beefway will sell you anything in whatever quantity. He's pretty awsome guy.

 

[nicnat]

I watched the video (very good), bought some pork bellies, and now I need sodium nitrate. I found sodium erythorbate on Amazon. Any ideas on where to find sodium nitrate around here (Greater Vancouver)?

famous foods, 1595 kingsway

 

[Rain City]

famous foods, 1595 kingsway

While you're driving between Beefway and Famous Foods, do yourself a favor and grab a chicken sandwich from Chicken World.

 

[Blueback]

While you're driving between Beefway and Famous Foods, do yourself a favor and grab a chicken sandwich from Chicken World.

Rumor has it you're somewhat of a chicken expert , so I will definitely try one! Thanks everyone for the wise guidance! I will report on the finished product.

 

[Rain City]

Let the cold smoke begin! I've decided to roll with maple and do a 5 hour run. I'm still not sure about this cold smoking business and what I'm looking for. In doing some more research, it sounds like the reasoning for cold smoking for 8-10-12 hours is to dry the product and actually attempt to lose moisture as a gauge of doneness. This is also to make it more preserved and shelf stable for longer. But since we're freezing our product and then frying it, I don't really see the need.