I hate you.....

That looks GREAT!

looks great where are the samples

Just before smoking.


Just starting smoking


All done!! Internal temp is 150 degrees F.



Tomorrow we will be slicing it up!!!

Hope it's good. I tried the end and it was extreamly salty. Hopefully that was only because it was the end...

Cant wait to see what it looks like after it's sliced but it sure looks good now too

What I have done using Morton Sugar cure is salty. The Morton is mostly salt and brown sugar, Turns out well but is salty.

How did it turn out?

Turned out great! Still too salty but that's fine. It will be good in scrambled eggs or in a taco. Too salty by its self.

Very lean!!!

I have made it a few times. It is very easy to get it over salted. I have found that washing it in warm water and not leaving the curing salt on as long helps a lot. Also I have never hot smoked mine. Actually what you are doing is making ham by getting the temp. up.

So I'm not supposed to heat it to 150degrees internal? I was reading all online about this and everywhere said heat to 150degrees.

I may be wrong but when it is heated to that it is actually partially cooked. That may be the way to do it I don't know. I always just cold smoked mine because you were going to fry it anyway. Like I said maybe I am wrong and that is the proper way to do it. Mine turned out good and I will continue doing it my way. was just curious on the heating part. As long as you like it that is all that counts.

I was thinking about making some that wasn't smoked at all. Then it's not as much work but I was going to put it in my oven. If I don't have to heat it that would be even better.

So you cold smoked yours. I don't understand cold smoking? How much degrees do you cold smoke? No heat? Just smoke? How do you do that?

Tagged for interest. Nice work there.

Looks good, gonna have to give it a shot.

I see someone is waiting on scraps in the second pic.

Yep. He's fast too!!!

Have a small building where we smoke sausage. Have coals in a 5 gallon bucket with a cover over it so the wood placed in it smokes but does not actually burn with a flame. Do it in the winter and it is cold. A large enough area so that it does not heat up to any extent but gets smoky. It may be wrong but that is the way we have always done it.

If im not mistaken, the "Pink Salt" cures it.
The smoke is only for taste.
Great post MM and we are watching for more DIY pork processing.

Rene @ K-Bar

Smoked bacon you buy at the store is partially or fully cooked. Says so on the package.

Cold smoke is just the smoke without the heat. You need the fire farther away from the meat and then pipe the smoke to the meat so it cools in the piping. You can use an electric heat source if you want and force the air through so you control the smoke flow. I've seen it done on Salmon and cheese, never done it myself.

Toxarch, I don't know about you but I always thought bacon needed to be fried. Ham you don't have to.

Man this bacon is very salty. Too salty. I think I'll use it for beans only. I can't eat it and I like lots of salt. Just do y'all know don't use this recipe.

I'm making another recipe now. Only 8 lbs

Pops Brine Recipe from TheSmokerForums.com
2 gallons water
1.5 cups kosher salt
2 cups sugar
2 cups brown sugar
2 flat tbsp cure #1

Mix all then put it in bucket to soak in fridge for 10-14 days.
Stir once a day.
Then smoke it like you want.

I'm not going to smoke this one.

I'll let y'all know how it turns out.

I found pork bellies for $1.99/lb!!!

Going to be some cheap bacon!

What both of you are doing is cold smoking, same process applies for smoked sausages. You are giving your product a smoke flavor & the smoke itself also helps to cure the meat (creates external barrier that slows down bacterial intrusion), but in order to get that smoke flavor in your meat it takes a little time in the smokehouse. During the "cold smoke" process your meat product will fall into the "danger" zone for bacteria to grow (botulism) that is why most (not all) people use the pink curing salt #1 (sodium nitrite). It will prevent bacteria from growing during the cold smoking process. 150-155 degrees is the target temperature most folks pull their product from the smokehouse because that is considered the safe temperature (bacteria cannot live), and if you bring up the temp much hotter than that then you will start to render your fat and then you will be "hot smoking" and you don't want that because that is cooking. It will be safe to eat when it comes out but I prefer to then cook it to render the fat (you have to with bacon) and crisp it up.

Skinnerback, you are very wise

I love this stuff! I'm learning myself. I've always processed my own meat but just got into processing my own smoked meats last year. I've done a TON of research on this stuff because I wanted to try and get it right the first time, which I did I don't have a lot of experience under my belt yet. So far, in my new smoke house I have processed 3 batches of Hickory Smoked Pork Sausage and 1 batch of Jalapeno Cheese Venison Summer Sausage. These were large batches after I ran one small test batch and they all turned out great. HOMEMADE BACON is the next thing that I'm doing so I'm sure I'll be doing some learning too. I can't wait!

BTW Math Man that bacon looks AWESOME!! Sorry it turned out too salty. From what I've read, that has happened to a lot of people.

Yep. I've learned now to test fry and if too salty, soak it in some water for a while. Also it's very tough and I've learned that's due to too much curing salt.

My next one I think will be perfect!!!