Smoked Bacon

[bjcotton]

The Butcher's Block I used to get my meats from is under new owners and frankly their stuff is expensive and it sucks! I was wondering if anyone had used a Lil' Chief smoker and tried to smoke their own bacon? I bought a smoker box for my gas grill, but haven't the foggiest on how to proceed to even try smoking bacon on there. Any suggestions? We have a Lil' Chief, but I know zip about it other than they use it for jerky and smoked salmon [yuk]

[Mare749]

Billy, we bought a Brinkmann smoker this summer and have used it several times for ribs, brisket, and chicken. Hadn't thought of using it for bacon, but that's certainly interesting.

Maryann

[bbally]

Read this Billy if you want to try it on a small batch I can write it up for you to do with the little smoker.

Bacon Makin

[cjs]

Oh Billy, that was the one who did double, triple, etc. smoked bacon???? I remember having some of that - what a shame they are gone.

I grabbed this recipe a while back because I've been wanting to make some myself and thot I'd give it a try this winter - haven't done it yet, but maybe if you don't do some first we can try it when you come up?

Homemade Bacon Recipe - SMOKED

Easy Homemade Bacon Recipe
Making your own bacon at home is a fairly simple process. You have the ability to make a bacon that's leaner than store bought bacon, plus you're able to flavor it the way you like. It can be made heavy on the brown sugar, with lots of cracked black pepper, or even with red pepper flakes. That'll really wake you up in the morning!

In this recipe the bacon is made from a section of boneless pork loin. You'll need...

One 4 pound boneless pork loin
One-half cup dark brown sugar
One-half cup Tender Quick® Meat Curing Mix
One tablespoon coarse ground black pepper

Rinse the pork loin, trim off the excess fat and rub in the black pepper, covering all sides. Next, press the Tender Quick® curing mix onto the loin. And after that, the brown sugar. Place the loin in a large plastic food storage container or food storage bag and refrigerate for four days, turning over once each day.

After the fourth day, rinse off the cure and sugar, then dry the loin off with paper towels. Allow the now-cured pork to air dry while you prepare the smoker.

Smokin' Bacon

The next step of the homemade bacon recipe is to smoke the cured pork loin in a cold smoker for 4 to 6 hours, depending on how smoky you want your bacon to taste. You can smoke the bacon in a hot smoker, but try to keep the smoker temperature below 200 degrees Fahrenheit. And remove the pork when it reaches 140 degrees Fahrenheit. You don't want it to cook in the smoker. It just needs to get some smoke flavor.

After smoking, wrap the bacon in plastic wrap, then in foil, and refrigerate for at least two days before slicing and frying as you would regular store bought bacon.

[Lorraine]

I was thinking of doing it with pork belly.

[cjs]

I think I would also. I sure wish I'd been retired (read had time) when I was raising pigs - this would have been fun to play with.

[Harborwitch]

Thank you for posting that! Sounds like a fun project for the smoker this winter! I'm with the pork belly too, and perhaps a turkey breast for Jennifer. That "turkey bacon" in the store is just plain nasty - and I've never seen a part of a turkey that looks like that! Ick.

OH! Where do you find the curing mix???

[Lorraine]

We use Morton's. I used to buy it online from a company in Calgary, but now the store that sells the pork bellies sometimes carries it.

[Mare749]

Sharon, my hubbie found Morton's cure at a meat store.

Maryann

[vannin]

Check your smoke alarms are not too sensitive before you launch into the exercise. ;Þ Stuff can happen, especially if you have a Grade 7 fire protection system like us.