smoking bacon

[charby]

So how does one go about smoking bacon? Cool dry smoke?

[mtnbkr]

So how does one go about smoking bacon? Cool dry smoke?

Pretty much.  Alton Brown did a show on it called "Scrap Iron Chef".  Mike made a couple batches, but this year's weather and events kept him from doing it again. 

Chris

[Fudgieghost]

I guess you just stuff it into the pipe. . . .

[K Frame]

First you have to cure the bacon.

Two ways... dry cure, basically slathering it in a salt, sugar, and spice mixture and leaving it go for a week or more, or a wet, or Wiltshire, cure.

I've done both. I like the wet cure better. It's also a lot faster, and you can add things like apple cider to get even more flavor into the meat.

Then you dry the meat thoroughly using a fan. This creates a pelicle, or a layer of protein that curing has brought to the surface. It's what the smoke particles stick to.

Finally, you cool smoke (nothing over 80-90 deg. or so) for anywhere from 6 hours to a week or more.

[charby]

Thanks Mike, I have always wondered. 

I smoke a lot meats but mine are ready to eat when I am done, someday I'll try the cure/cool smoke method.

-C

[K Frame]

Probably the easiest thing to try cool smoking your first time out is cheddar cheese.

You don't have to go through the curing process and you get a feel for how you have to operate your smoker at low temperature.

If you want some ideas on how to build a cool smoker, let me know.

[charby]

Probably the easiest thing to try cool smoking your first time out is cheddar cheese.

You don't have to go through the curing process and you get a feel for how you have to operate your smoker at low temperature.

If you want some ideas on how to build a cool smoker, let me know.

Will do, thanks for the offer, just figure out how to sell it to my wife.

So with cool smoke items will continue to pickup smokey flavor long after the 30-40 minutes a hot smoke normally only allows?

-C

[K Frame]

"just figure out how to sell it to my wife"

How hard is it to sell a hot plate, an old frying pan, a couple of card board boxes, and a length of expandable stainless steel water heater flue tubing?

Total investment, less than $20.

"So with cool smoke items will continue to pickup smokey flavor long after the 30-40 minutes a hot smoke normally only allows?"

Yes, because you're not actually cooking the food.

It needs to be said that cool smoking is really the only way that you can use to get the TRUE essence of the woods you're using to smoke with.

Before 8 to 12 hours smoke time, almost all smoke tastes EXACTLY the same.

It takes a lot longer for the volatile oils that carry the essence of the wood (as opposed to the smoke particles) to build up on what your smoking because there's so little of them compared to the rest of the smoke.

[Bogie]

Hey, you want REAL fun, try cooking bacon on a charcoal grill..

It's FAST.

[Car Knocker]

First you have to cure the bacon.

Why not start out with a pig that isn't sick?

[Fudgieghost]

Car Knocker: it's no use, our attempts at humor go unappreciated here. . .

[cosine]

Car Knocker: it's no use, our attempts at humor go unappreciated here. . .

Not really...

[mtnbkr]

Car Knocker: it's no use, our attempts at humor go unappreciated here. . .

I thought it was pretty funny myself.

Chris

[280plus]

Yup, no matter where you go, there's always a smart @$$ !

 

[Car Knocker]