I just did my first batch of bacon last week, and I think it turned out pretty great! Here's what I did:
I tried it out on a couple pieces of pork belly. So I had some slabs about an inch and a half or so thick. I put the pork on racks with a pan underneath, to let the liquids drip off. Then I coated one side (fairly consistent coverage, and a medium heavy coat) of kosher salt. This is more coarse than table salt. Some people like to put some sugar or maple syrup on at this point, but I just wanted mine to be salted and smoked. I let it sit for 24 hours in the fridge, and drained all the liquid off the top. Then I re-coated it (only lightly this time, as most of the salt is still on there), flipped it, and coated the other side. Let it sit for another 24 hours, and did both sides again (even lighter with the salt this time).
After I let it cure for three days (I heard some guys say I should do way more, but I was and still am happy with it at 3 days), I pulled it out of the fridge. Wash all the salt off, then rub it down really good under running water. If you think you'd probably done washing it, that means it's time to wash it again. This stuff gets SALTY. Next, I'd reccommend letting it sit for a couple hours in a sink full of fresh water.
Pull it out, let it sit on the racks in the fridge for a day (to somewhat dry out again), and then pull out the smoker.
I put the meat in the smoker, and brought it up to 150 degrees (I have a Bradley smoker, but if you can monitor your heat decently, do it as you require). Do not introduce the smoke right now unless you want a really powerful smoke flavor. Let it sit that way for about 45 minutes.
Next, get the smoke going. I used hickory, apple, mesquite, and a small handful of oats. The mesquite makes a powerful flavor, so I think I'll skip that next time, and see how that goes. alternatively, you could introduce the mesquite near the end. Now raise the smoker to the 200 degree mark, and let it smoke until the meat hits an INTERNAL temperature of 155 degrees.
Shut the heat down, and let it sit in the smoker for an hour or two to cool down. Slice it up however you prefer, then either eat it as it is or fry it up for your breakfast! If the smoke or salt flavor is too strong for you, throw it back in a sink full of water (in it's sliced form) for 10 or 15 minutes. That should take enough of the bite out to make not only reasonably good, but downright and utterly delicious!
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Today's Featured Article - Listening to Your Tractor - by Curtis Von Fange. Years ago there was a TV show about a talking car. Unless you are from another planet, physically or otherwise, I don’t think our internal combustion buddies will talk and tell us their problems. But, on the other hand, there is a secret language that our mechanical companions readily do speak. It is an interesting form of communication that involves all the senses of the listener. In this series we are going to investigate and learn the basic rudimentary skills of understanding this lingo.
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