Finally....Some Cold Smoked Bacon

Mighty_Quinn

Thanks a bunch to Focker and CT for advice the other day when it was frigid here and I was wondering how cold ambient temperature was too cold for cold smoking. I had two 5lb sections of cured (savory) belly waiting to smoke...I ended up holding off for a day and decided to roll one to hang to dry for pancetta. The other got a 12 hour cold smoke using apple chunks for smoke. Sorry no before pics, but it looked pretty much the same..the cold smoking added maybe just a hint of color. Cold smoking is definitely the way to go. we fried some up last night for bacon cheeseburgers...much better texture (I think hot smoked bacon has a ham-like texture, especially the ends...but I think the hot smoked end pieces are better for beans, greens, and whatever other dishes than the cold smoked ends will be). thanks again guys!

500

Looks real tasty.  Please share the recipe setup; especially the cold smoke.  I'm real close to doing this. 

Mighty_Quinn

recipe is from the ruhlman 'charcuterie' book, but is probably similar to this one....sorry, don't feel like digging out book and typing whole recipe. I highly recommend the book though if the topic interests you at all. http://ruhlman.com/2010/10/home-cured-bacon-2/ here is my cold smoking setup.

Chubbs

Looks great MQ. Do you have a meat slicer or a steady hand? If hand slicing, did you throw it in freezer first to firm up? Mine starts curing Saturday.

500

Thanks Quinn.  Looks good.  Since I don't have a second Egg, I need to find another way to cold smoke. 

Mighty_Quinn

@Chubbs--I have a slicer but didn't break it out for this. I threw in freezer for 20 minutes or so and used a long (14") hollow ground carving/slicing knife and steady hand. @500--Quite a few on the forum use the A-Maze-N Smoker with great sucess for cold smoking in Egg...

Chubbs

500 said:

Thanks Quinn.  Looks good.  Since I don't have a second Egg, I need to find another way to cold smoke. 

Order the A-Maze-N smoker online. With help from forum that is what I did.

Mighty_Quinn

damn ipad and it not recognizing the enter key on this forum...If I quote myself my comments to chubbs and 500 are separated.

Mighty_Quinn said:

@Chubbs--I have a slicer but didn't break it out for this. I threw in freezer for 20 minutes or so and used a long (14") hollow ground carving/slicing knife and steady hand. @500--Quite a few on the forum use the A-Maze-N Smoker with great sucess for cold smoking in Egg...

Mighty_Quinn

fail....if someone else quotes me they will be separated. ~X(

nolaegghead

I used the slicer after smoking a huge Duroc belly.  I have a 12" Messermeister hollow ground flexible carving knife that also works great if I don't feel like cleaning the slicer (slicer is easy to use but sucks to clean).

Chubbs

nolaegghead said:

I used the slicer after smoking a huge Duroc belly.  I have a 12" Messermeister hollow ground flexible carving knife that also works great if I don't feel like cleaning the slicer (slicer is easy to use but sucks to clean).

Man. Looks great Nola. Exactly what I am going for.

nolaegghead

Thanks.  I've heard a few people say it's a lot of work and not worth it.  It really is worth it, but my best advice is to make a lot of it at once, slice it up and freeze it.

Chubbs

@nola, how many lbs is that in the pic? Did I miss that? My first go is 10 lbs. split in two. Doing two recipes from charcuterie. I still need a vac sealer.

nolaegghead

It started off 11.7 pounds.  After removing the skin and probably a little moisture loss, I got 9 pounds.

Focker

Beautiful bacon MQ, looks perfect.  Thanks for the comparison of hot/cold.  Savory is next on the list here.  Put in a order for Berkshire belly, should be available at the end of the month.

What were your ambients the next day? 

Chubbs

nolaegghead said:

It started off 11.7 pounds.  After removing the skin and probably a little moisture loss, I got 9 pounds.

Did you go skin off before the smoke so it could penetrate belly more or skin off after smoke?

nolaegghead

I smoked with the skin on.  It's still was plenty smokey.  This skin is a lot easier to remove after hot smoking.  If you cold smoke, might as well remove it first cause it won't be any easier after smoking.

I cold smoked for about 5 hours then hot smoked.  Apple and cherry.  Great flavor - I went savory....added a little sweet to one half of it, but just a little to mix it up.

Mighty_Quinn

Focker said:

Beautiful bacon MQ, looks perfect.  Thanks for the comparison of hot/cold.  Savory is next on the list here.  Put in a order for Berkshire belly, should be available at the end of the month.

What were your ambients the next day? 

thanks!! It was a balmy 35*.

Little Steven

Looks really good Quinn!

Mighty_Quinn

Thanks LS!

Hoss

[IMG]http://i562.photobucket.com/albums/ss70/Hoss_o1/Ipad/image-17_zpsf4a3417e.jpg[/IMG] Love some cold smoked pig belly.

Hoss

Try again.... [IMG]http://i562.photobucket.com/albums/ss70/Hoss_o1/Ipad/image-17_zpsf4a3417e.jpg[/IMG]

Hoss

Last try.

nolaegghead

Nice. Hot plate cold smoker?

Hoss

Soldering iron and a bean can full o chips.The hot plate is just to keep the hot bean can of chips off the wooden floor of the smoke cabinet.

nolaegghead

Nice!

Here's my setup...

smokesniffer

@MQ how did you attach the dryer vent to the lower vent on your large egg. I have hot smoked bacon and may want to try the cold smoke idea. Any help would be appreciated.

Mighty_Quinn

NIce Hoss!! @smokesniffer- Petty much I just squeeze it in the lower vent and set it up so the support wire in the vent hose 'clips' into the channel the vents door and screen slide in....if that makes any sense. That by itself is a decent seal, but I tape around that anyway with the foil tape so no leaks. Once you start squeezing the hose into the vent, you'll see what I'm taking about...there might be an easier way, but that works for me. let me know if I can help once you get going.

rtt121

Would the soldering iron bean can idea work at the bottom of an egg?  No secondary smoking unit?

Mighty_Quinn

rtt121 said:

Would the soldering iron bean can idea work at the bottom of an egg?  No secondary smoking unit?

I've never tried but has been documented to work...I think there are some tutorials on the naked whiz site.

smokesniffer

Thanks Mighty Quinn. I am slowly gearing up to try my first cold smoke. Gotta eat some of my hot smoked first. Had some this am and my wife commented how good it was. Wont be buying much bacon from the grocer from here on in.