Buckboard Bacon

[hamiltont]

I cured two Pork Loins last week and then gave them a light smoke last night. They turned out really good! Here are a few pics.

The two on the left got a healthy dose of coarse pepper:


Ready to take off:


All wrapped up:


Thanks for looking! Cheers!!!

[nicneufeld]

I've made that quite a bit meself!  Good use for a meat slicer...I then pack and freeze bags of the stuff.  Sure it may be packed with salt and nitrates, but at least I was the one to pack it with salt and nitrates! 

[tschmidlin]

I've been making my bacon with no nitrates/nitrites.  I just use salt, sugar, and some other flavorings, smoke it to 150F, slice it, vac seal, and freeze it.  I picked up some pink salt though, for making some cured/dried meats.  I can't wait to do it

[bluesman]

This reminds me...I need to get some pork belly for making some bacon.

What temp did you smoke the loins?

[tschmidlin]

I hold it around 200-225F, it doesn't take that long because the belly is flat.  A couple of hours.

Take the skin off while it's hot, it's much easier than after it cools!

[hamiltont]

What temp did you smoke the loins?

I smoked the loins @ 225F until the hickory petered out, about 45 minutes. I used a couple small chunks. Just looking for a subtle smokiness.  Then 275F for the remainder. In total it took about 2.5 hours. The loins were pretty flat 'cause I had them stacked in a bowl (2 loin hunks per gallon ziplock bag = ~3.5 lbs.) and the weight from the bags above flattened them out pretty good.  They cured seven days in ziplock bags, a one day soak in fresh water to draw out some of the salt & then one day uncovered on a rack to dry and form a film/skin.  All of the above was done under refrigeration @ 34F. Cheers!!!