# Smoking Bacon, Meats



## Mr A (Mar 31, 2013)

Somehow I got the idea in my head to cure my own bacon. I had a Brinkman charcoal smoker. I only used it a few times, didn't have the patience at the time to get good at it. I just picked up a Brinkman electric smoker on Craigslist for $30 bucks. I was going to try and make a smoker from a steel barrel, or a refrigerator, but I settled on the $30 deal. I have some pork belly curing with Morton's Tender Quick, brown sugar, and chipotle chili peppers. I will probably use apple wood when it ready to smoke. Anyone have suggestions for good wood to smoke bacon? I read a few recipes calling for cherry wood. I have 3 cords of seasoned fruitless mulberry, oak, and some green almond wood. Can green wood be used in smoking food? I know it will smoke, but will it taste good? I have read some bacon recipes say hot smoke to 150 degrees, others say cold smoke. I think I could cold smoke in the brinkman electric by filling the water pan with ice? Thinking about making a cold smoke generator. I could cut a hole in the side, and use threaded pipe with a nut and washer on each side of the smoker wall. Something like this-


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## StihlHead (Mar 31, 2013)

Did someone say bacon? Bacon bacon bacon! 

We used to take old metal refers and make them into 2-stage smokers for salmon in summer. My family used to go to Campbell River in BC every summer and fish our brains out, then later I commercial fished out of Reedsport, OR when I was in HS. We never made bacon, but the smoked salmon was to die for.

I use a pellet smoker (they are spendy, but I got an older Traeger for $200 on CL) and an offset Brinkmann wood smoker ($60 used on CL). I usually hot smoke on low heat, but usually only for about an hour (unless its salmon or jerky) and then I cook it in the oven the rest of the way. The reason for this is that most of the smoke sticks to cold meats and once they het warm and hot the smoke does not do much more to enhance the flavor (so why waste the wood and pellets?). I use cuttings from my apple trees as well as my flowering cherry trees to smoke in the Brinkmann. I also have lots of alder in my wood stacks that I use. I buy competition pellets that are 100% apple, maple, alder and cherry in the Traeger. I use apple for bacon and ham. Its the best for pork and pretty much any pork cuts wind up tasting like ham and/or bacon (depending on the fat content). I use alder for salmon, or a mix of apple and alder. Oak and mesquite are really strong and can make meat bitter if you use too much. It tends to get overused in my view. About the only meat I use oak and mesquite for is beef. Alder is good for chicken and turkey.

Green wood is fine for smoking with, as it adds more moisture to the smoke (same effect as having a water pan in the smoker). As long as you can keep it burning. Mulberry is similar to apple and excellent for smoking. I would use that for making your bacon. Almond (and just about any nut wood) is good, along with just about any fruit wood and alder. I like alder the best, its light and the base-line for PNW smoking. My brother likes apple the best. BTW: avoid smoking with any conifer wood. It has too much resin and creates a lot of black pitch. You must have tons of alder there where you live. Try it, you will like it.


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## lukem (Mar 31, 2013)

I usually mix apple and shagbark hickory bark 75% apple and 25% bark...give or take.

I make bacon by cold smoking.  Fill a SS mixing bowl with wood...cover top with foil...poke a few holes...drill hole in bowl and heat as low as you can go with a propane plumbing torch.  Works great!


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## Mr A (Apr 1, 2013)

lukem said:


> I usually mix apple and shagbark hickory bark 75% apple and 25% bark...give or take.
> 
> I make bacon by cold smoking. Fill a SS mixing bowl with wood...cover top with foil...poke a few holes...drill hole in bowl and heat as low as you can go with a propane plumbing torch. Works great!


How long do you cold smoke per pound of bacon?  If I understand your post correctly, the SS bowl is your smoke generator? Just get it going and place in your smoker? Do you refill the wood chips or is it done when the chips burn out? How big is your bowl, like 8"-10" or bigger? I put a thermometer on the lid of my Brinkmann. I could take out the electric element and just use charcoal also. There is no temperature control on the heat element. Thought about just using a electric skillet, they come with a heat control. Or getting an infinite switch at Grainger or from some old electric stove someone is throwing away, wire it right into the cord of the Brinkmann element


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## lukem (Apr 1, 2013)

Mr A said:


> How long do you cold smoke per pound of bacon? If I understand your post correctly, the SS bowl is your smoke generator? Just get it going and place in your smoker? Do you refill the wood chips or is it done when the chips burn out? How big is your bowl, like 8"-10" or bigger? I put a thermometer on the lid of my Brinkmann. I could take out the electric element and just use charcoal also. There is no temperature control on the heat element. Thought about just using a electric skillet, they come with a heat control. Or getting an infinite switch at Grainger or from some old electric stove someone is throwing away, wire it right into the cord of the Brinkmann element


 
Yes, the SS bowl is the smoke generator.  I use it, along with my Weber gas grill, for cold smoking.  The bowl isn't very big...maybe 5" or so.  It will make enough smoke for 2-3 hours which is usually plenty for cold smoking 5-7 lbs of bacon.

The propane torch stays on the whole time and puts out very little heat...you basically turn it down as low as it can go without going out.


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## Mr A (Apr 1, 2013)

That is a good idea. I also found a method using a coffee can and a soldering iron. Drill hole in bottom of can, insert soldering iron, fill can with saw dust, plug it in. I haven't seen any smoking wood saw dust for sale, just chunks. I'm going to do some experimenting, maybe just fill the can with chunks and drop a hot coal on top, or bottom, whatever works best. Smoker never went over 200 degrees at night, smoking pork ribs. with fruitless mulberry. A lot people say the Brinkmann electric gets too hot, as it has no temp control on the heating coil. If I get that problem, I'll wire a infinite switch into the cord, or just put a cheapo electric skillet in place of the heating tray.


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## Hearth Mistress (Apr 1, 2013)

I buy pork whole bellies, butcher them myself, cure and smoke, some but not all. I have found that I enjoy the non smoked, just cured version a little more.  I have a really big propane/charcoal/smoker combo I bought from Tractor Supply but I still prefer to smoke in a Brinkmann charcoal/water smoker, aka, ECB, El Cheapo Brinkmann.  A friend of my hubby's gave it to me, looks like a filing cabinet but works well.  I never let the smoker temp get below 200 for long, since I don't cure with nitrates/nitrites, I fear bacteria - meat sitting for hours in a cold smoker = food poisoning! 

While you are prepping you smoker, Be sure to take your bellies out of the fridge and make sure they are dry so a pellicle, a layer of proteins that forms on the surface to aid in accepting smoke.  I take mine out an hour or so before and put them on a cookie cooling rack.

My latest wood chip experiment was with chicken and Jack Daniel chips, they chip up the barrels they age the whiskey in, let's just say YUM! But for my bacon, i use Apple or Pecan, especially if I cured with strong favors such as chipotle peppers.


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## Mr A (Apr 2, 2013)

Do you have nitrite free recipe? I have some pecan I was planning to use to smoke some jalapenos. I might try pecan with the bacon, and smoke the peppers at the same time.  Having peppers in the smoker with the bacon might pit more flavor in it.


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## begreen (Apr 2, 2013)

I tried smoking bacon, but couldn't keep it lit.


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## firefighterjake (Apr 2, 2013)

You had me at bacon.


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## Mr A (Apr 2, 2013)

begreen said:


> I tried smoking bacon, but couldn't keep it lit.


What were you smoking before you tried that?


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## Mr A (Apr 3, 2013)

This is what i have come up with and have been testing it for the last 5 hours. 12oz coffee can. Drill three 1/4 inch holes in bottom in a triangular configuration. Drill one 1/2" hole near the bottom of can, on the side of it. Fill can with water soaked wood chunks. I started the burn on my gas grill, just placed the can on the side burner until lit. It flamed but I blew it out, and it smolder smoked for half hour, then the chunks ignited to flame. I threw some more water soaked chunks on top, put the flame out and still having a hot coal in the can. I just filled the can to the top after a few flare ups. It flares after an hour or two, maybe a tin foil cover would help? Put in some green jalepenos to experiment with, along with the coffee can smoke generator. Real chipotle requires vine ripened jalepeno smoked in pecan. I'm using mulberry, it's what I have


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## lukem (Apr 3, 2013)

Mr A said:


> This is what i have come up with and have been testing it for the last 5 hours. 12oz coffee can. Drill three 1/4 inch holes in bottom in a triangular configuration. Drill one 1/2" hole near the bottom of can, on the side of it. Fill can with water soaked wood chunks. I started the burn on my gas grill, just placed the can on the side burner until lit. It flamed but I blew it out, and it smolder smoked for half hour, then the chunks ignited to flame. I threw some more water soaked chunks on top, put the flame out and still having a hot coal in the can. I just filled the can to the top after a few flare ups. It flares after an hour or two, maybe a tin foil cover would help? Put in some green jalepenos to experiment with, along with the coffee can smoke generator. Real chipotle requires vine ripened jalepeno smoked in pecan. I'm using mulberry, it's what I have


 
If you cover the can with foil and poke some holes in the top that should keep it from flaming up...and it will smoke a lot longer.  You may need to add some holes to the bottom of your can to give it enough air to keep on smoldering.


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## lukem (Apr 3, 2013)

Mr A said:


> Do you have nitrite free recipe? I have some pecan I was planning to use to smoke some jalapenos. I might try pecan with the bacon, and smoke the peppers at the same time. Having peppers in the smoker with the bacon might pit more flavor in it.


 
The recipe I use doesn't use any nitrates.  Technically this isn't "real" bacon, but it tastes just as good.

I usually have two hogs butchered/year.  I have the bellies pre-sliced about medium thick (3/16" or so).  I make a brine with 4 cups water, 1/4 cup kosher salt, 1/4 cup brown sugar, 2-3 whole jalapenos and 1/2 head of garlic run thru the food processor.  I usually double that for 5-7 lbs of bacon.

Lay the bacon slices in a bowl in alternating directions (weave) cover with the brine and refrigerate for 3-4 hours.  Dump the brine, stack up the slices on a rack, and let them sit uncovered in the fridge for another couple hours or more to dry.  Put a drip pan under the rack.  I usually do all this on day 1.

The next day, usually early in the AM when it is still cool, I set the rack in the grill and get the cold smoke going for 2-3 hours.  Then I bag it into ziplock bags and freeze until I'm ready to eat it.

Technically this isn't cured (nitrate cured anyway) so the shelf life isn't as high.  Pre-slicing cuts down on the brining time dramatically.  Hands down the best bacon I've ever had.


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## Brokenwing (Apr 4, 2013)

I cure and smoke bacon as well as sausage. The best way I have found is using Todds amazen smoker. fill it up with dust and it burns for hours. Gives you a nice even smoke, and once the bacon is dry and the pellicle forms, the smoke sticks nicely. I am a member at the smokingmeatforum, and a lot of members have this and love it! Before I found this I used a can and what a pain in the butt it was!

http://www.amazenproducts.com/SearchResults.asp?Cat=12


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## Mr A (Apr 4, 2013)

Brokenwing said:


> I cure and smoke bacon as well as sausage. The best way I have found is using Todds amazen smoker. fill it up with dust and it burns for hours. Gives you a nice even smoke, and once the bacon is dry and the pellicle forms, the smoke sticks nicely. I am a member at the smokingmeatforum, and a lot of members have this and love it! Before I found this I used a can and what a pain in the butt it was!
> 
> http://www.amazenproducts.com/SearchResults.asp?Cat=12


How long does it take to get a pellicle? After 7 days, I took the bacon out of the ziplock bag, rinsed it and soaked it for 2 hours. Pat dry and let it sit in the fridge all day, about 12 hours now. I dont see anything . Is a pellicle visible, or you just know it's there after a day in the fridge?


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## Brokenwing (Apr 4, 2013)

Mr A said:


> How long does it take to get a pellicle? After 7 days, I took the bacon out of the ziplock bag, rinsed it and soaked it for 2 hours. Pat dry and let it sit in the fridge all day, about 12 hours now. I dont see anything . Is a pellicle visible, or you just know it's there after a day in the fridge?


 
I went over to the fourm to see if I could find a good post for you to read! I found this thread which should really help you out!. When I was getting the pellicle to form on bacon before I smoked it, I just sat it in front of a fan for 2 to 3 hours!   After 12 hours sitting in the fridge you should be fine to go ahead and smoke it,  All your doing is drying out the surface of the bacon, so the smoke will stick better to the bacon!


http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/122052/pellicle


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## Mr A (Apr 4, 2013)

That amazen smoke generator looks like it would pretty easy to make your own. Maybe out of some stucco lathe, or a piece of stay-form but it is galvanized, so probably not. what guage metal would you say it is made of.


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## Hearth Mistress (Apr 4, 2013)

You don't have to re-create the wheel. You can get a charcoal Brinkmann water smoker for about $70 at Walmart and use rib racks, like $10 instead of the hanging contraptions. Prefer this over all my other set ups


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## Brokenwing (Apr 5, 2013)

Hearth Mistress said:


> You don't have to re-create the wheel. You can get a charcoal Brinkmann water smoker for about $70 at Walmart and use rib racks, like $10 instead of the hanging contraptions. Prefer this over all my other set ups
> 
> 
> 
> ...


 
When you are curing bacon, you do not want to even turn the smoker on, It is a cold smoke. So no reason to invent the wheel, he has a smoker which will work fine, and what ever smoke device he chooses, and he is good to go. No reason to spend money. Heck you could take a cardboard box and smoke bacon in it, all you need is a cold chamber and a little smoke. the amazen smoker is made from stainless steel I would say! Also no reason to spend money on bacon hangers or ribs racks, punch a hole throught the bacon, thread some butcher twine through the bacon and hang it off a dowel rod. Not saying your way is the wrong way, but when smoking and curing meats, we are doing it cheaper then what the grocery store sells by the pound, so I do my best to keep the price down!


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## Mr A (Apr 5, 2013)

Bacon is done. I used the coffee can and apple chips for a cold smoke. It came out too smoky. My first time. I had the smoke going like the pics above. I read on the smokingmeatforum, you really don't need that much, just a light wisp of smoke.


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## lukem (Apr 5, 2013)

Mr A said:


> Bacon is done. I used the coffee can and apple chips for a cold smoke. It came out too smoky. My first time. I had the smoke going like the pics above. I read on the smokingmeatforum, you really don't need that much, just a light wisp of smoke.


 
Yup, otherwise your meat is going to taste like an ashtray.  Hard to get it right on the first try.


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## Hearth Mistress (Apr 5, 2013)

lukem said:


> Yup, otherwise your meat is going to taste like an ashtray.  Hard to get it right on the first try.


My bacon has never, ever tasted like an ash tray in any of the variety of smokers I use. Not sure what your methods are but we obviously are doing things very different.  I use the traditional Charcuterie methods taught to me by the owner of PorcSalt (google him-great guy) which hot smokes. I can't comment on cold smoke methods as I don't chance meat sitting in a smoker around 100 degrees for a few hours which can be prime temps for food borne illness and bacteria.  I hot smoke between 150-200 for only a few hours until the slab of bellies are about 140. Then, once cool, I cut it into a few chunks, throw them in my vacuum sealer and into the freezer they go.  when we want it, we thaw slightly to thaw, slice, cook and eat.  I have found that we prefer it not smoked, just cured which is often referred to "english style" bacon anyway. It's "french style" that is cured then hot smoked for hours above 200 degrees but even doing that, it was still really good bacon, never an ash tray


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## Brokenwing (Apr 6, 2013)

Hearth Mistress said:


> My bacon has never, ever tasted like an ash tray in any of the variety of smokers I use. Not sure what your methods are but we obviously are doing things very different. I use the traditional Charcuterie methods taught to me by the owner of PorcSalt (google him-great guy) which hot smokes. I can't comment on cold smoke methods as I don't chance meat sitting in a smoker around 100 degrees for a few hours which can be prime temps for food borne illness and bacteria. I hot smoke between 150-200 for only a few hours until the slab of bellies are about 140. Then, once cool, I cut it into a few chunks, throw them in my vacuum sealer and into the freezer they go. when we want it, we thaw slightly to thaw, slice, cook and eat. I have found that we prefer it not smoked, just cured which is often referred to "english style" bacon anyway. It's "french style" that is cured then hot smoked for hours above 200 degrees but even doing that, it was still really good bacon, never an ash tray


 
I will have to look that up, I have not hot smoked bacon!  My grandfather was a hog farmer, so cold smoking is all that I know about!


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## Brokenwing (Apr 6, 2013)

Mr A said:


> Bacon is done. I used the coffee can and apple chips for a cold smoke. It came out too smoky. My first time. I had the smoke going like the pics above. I read on the smokingmeatforum, you really don't need that much, just a light wisp of smoke.


Yup TBS, thin blue smoke, if it is pouring out like a house on fire thick and white, this is no good!  But hey it is your first try, you will get it!


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## StihlHead (Apr 6, 2013)

I never had any meat, cheese or veggies, bread or anything else taste like an ashtray from being over smoked. With a pellet grill that is really hard to do. The BBQ from them tends to have light smoke and good flavor. I also hot smoke, as bacteria can be an issue as pointed out by the Hearth Mistress above. Also just about any fatty smoked pork will taste like bacon, and more lean smoked pork will taste like ham. I am making a batch of split pea soup now with some alder smoked pork chops. Its _dead good_, as my Brit friends say. I smoked up a whole rack of chops and bagged and froze them a few weeks ago, and I thaw a few out at a time and use them in all kinds of secondary culinary delights. The only thing that I thought was over the top from the smoker were bacon bomb fatties (bacon wrapped sausage). I smoked up a few and they were intense, and dense. My niece loves them though.

I am also thinking of getting one of the box Brinkmann's as the Mistress posted the photo of above. They used to make an offset smoker with that kind of box attached that I was looking to get, but they quit making them for some reason. The Brinkmann above is said to be greatly improved with several upgrades though, like some door rope to make it more air tight, and putting in a bigger charcoal pan with holes in it so that it will get hotter. I was thinking of using pellets in it, or using apple and alder wood. I have a pile of fresh apple branches from pruning my larger apple tree here last week. I also have a lot of alder branches from a tree I cut last year, and I have been avoiding burning my alder to heat the house to smoke food with it.

Once you get this smoked food in your blood you do not want to live without eating it. It is THAT good. Or addictive... moist chicken, bacon bacon bacon, deli style meat cuts, jerked meat, smoked mozzarella, summer sausages (I make them with ground lamb), alder smoked salmon to die for, baby back ribs that fall off the bone and melt in your mouth, pulled pork to pile on smoked breads, and even smoked salsa with smoked tortilla chips... oh, and smoked corn on the cob that is the best. Yah, its THAT good


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## Brokenwing (Apr 6, 2013)

I do not understand why everyone is worried about bacteria, as long as it is cured properly, it can sit in that smoke house for a week if you wanted to , and cold smoke it!


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## ewdudley (Apr 6, 2013)

StihlHead said:


> moist chicken, bacon bacon bacon, deli style meat cuts, jerked meat, smoked mozzarella, summer sausages (I make them with ground lamb), alder smoked salmon to die for, baby back ribs that fall off the bone and melt in your mouth, pulled pork to pile on smoked breads, and even smoked salsa with smoked tortilla chips... oh, and smoked corn on the cob that is the best. Yah, its THAT good


And don't forget smoked corned beef brisket!


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## StihlHead (Apr 6, 2013)

ewdudley said:


> And don't forget smoked corned beef brisket!


 
Oh, my brother is all over that. He smokes those up and serves it sliced thin at his bar as a special in a Reuben sandwich. He always sells out pretty fast.


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## StihlHead (Apr 6, 2013)

Brokenwing said:


> I do not understand why everyone is worried about bacteria, as long as it is cured properly, it can sit in that smoke house for a week if you wanted to , and cold smoke it!


 
Curing meats property means using a ton of salt (causes high blood pressure) or adding nitrates/nitrites (causes migraines in people like me), or adding a lot of sugar (not what I like to use in many foods). Salt alone does not kill bacteria, it simply slows them down. To be effective in wet brining the salt concentration has to be 10% or higher. I use a lower amount of curing or kosher salt and so I hot smoke my foods. Smoking for a week also uses up a heck of a lot of wood or pellets.


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## NW Walker (Apr 6, 2013)

Brokenwing said:


> I will have to look that up, I have not hot smoked bacon! My grandfather was a hog farmer, so cold smoking is all that I know about!


 
Here's a great blog post about hot smoking bacon.

http://playingwithfireandsmoke.blogspot.com/2002/10/lynnes-breakfast-bacon.html

He also has a recipe for buckboard bacon, which is pretty much the same process but using pork shoulder instead of belly, which is nice since shoulder is so readily available and inexpensive.  I've done both of these and they come out great, smoked on my own contraption that doubles as a fire pit with heated seating.  Due to that thing, I smoke stuff a couple times a week.  I don't need to explain to this crew the attraction of sitting around a fire!  Smoking meats is a great way to continue your burning season outdoors.


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## StihlHead (Apr 6, 2013)

Now that's what I call...

 BACON!


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## Boom Stick (Apr 7, 2013)

I have cured and smoked pastrami, cheese, almonds, steelhead, bacon, corned beef....I am getting decent at it.  I have always hot smoked my bacon skin on, after curing I rinse, pat dry, let pellicle for for 24 hours and then hot smoke to 155 degree......let cool and cut skin off and slice.  I have never cold smoked my bacon.  I did cure and cold smoke steelhead using a recipe for salmon......was great.  Smoke em if you got em.


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## Hearth Mistress (Apr 8, 2013)

Brokenwing said:


> I do not understand why everyone is worried about bacteria, as long as it is cured properly, it can sit in that smoke house for a week if you wanted to , and cold smoke it!


Cured how? Cured meats reduce the risk if bacteria yes but unless you are super duper sure your brine is AT least 20% salt, it can still produce bacteria. Put that in a smoker, sitting around at 100 degrees, it won't ever get hot enough to kill any bacteria that may have formed, sick city.

I don't use sodium nitrate or nitrite to cure before I smoke so I prefer the tried and true methods of just salt as they did it in the "old" days but using the scientific proven method of 20% is too much salt for me so everything is hot smoked.

Not saying my way is right by any means, cold smoke away, I just don't know enough about it.

I hot smoke because I know that I spend too much time  curing and smoking to puke it up


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## Hearth Mistress (Apr 8, 2013)

StihlHead said:


> I never had any meat, cheese or veggies, bread or anything else taste like an ashtray from being over smoked. With a pellet grill that is really hard to do. The BBQ from them tends to have light smoke and good flavor. I also hot smoke, as bacteria can be an issue as pointed out by the Hearth Mistress above. Also just about any fatty smoked pork will taste like bacon, and more lean smoked pork will taste like ham. I am making a batch of split pea soup now with some alder smoked pork chops. Its _dead good_, as my Brit friends say. I smoked up a whole rack of chops and bagged and froze them a few weeks ago, and I thaw a few out at a time and use them in all kinds of secondary culinary delights. The only thing that I thought was over the top from the smoker were bacon bomb fatties (bacon wrapped sausage). I smoked up a few and they were intense, and dense. My niece loves them though.
> 
> I am also thinking of getting one of the box Brinkmann's as the Mistress posted the photo of above. They used to make an offset smoker with that kind of box attached that I was looking to get, but they quit making them for some reason. The Brinkmann above is said to be greatly improved with several upgrades though, like some door rope to make it more air tight, and putting in a bigger charcoal pan with holes in it so that it will get hotter. I was thinking of using pellets in it, or using apple and alder wood. I have a pile of fresh apple branches from pruning my larger apple tree here last week. I also have a lot of alder branches from a tree I cut last year, and I have been avoiding burning my alder to heat the house to smoke food with it.
> 
> Once you get this smoked food in your blood you do not want to live without eating it. It is THAT good. Or addictive... moist chicken, bacon bacon bacon, deli style meat cuts, jerked meat, smoked mozzarella, summer sausages (I make them with ground lamb), alder smoked salmon to die for, baby back ribs that fall off the bone and melt in your mouth, pulled pork to pile on smoked breads, and even smoked salsa with smoked tortilla chips... oh, and smoked corn on the cob that is the best. Yah, its THAT good



I made 2 mods to my Brinkmann:

1- if you are handy, Punch 1/2" holes in one of the water bowls for charcoal, otherwise, the ash piles up and smothers the hot coals  I bought a veggie steamer bowl from Cabelas for $9, works like a charm.

2- I had my smoker before knowing about woodstove door gasket but you will need to close off the door seams as it is a crappy seal. I went to Staples and bought magnetic rolls and cut it to size on each side of the door. It gets hot and you have to adjust it when you open the door to add charcoal or water but that's my rig 

3- buy a remote dual thermometer, one for the smoker temp, one for the meat. The gauge on this is no where in the ball park. Plus, I like to set the temps to the high/lows I'm managing and let it beep at me when the smoker is cooling down or the meat is near done. I like the wireless so I don't have to keep going outside but the ranges, even on the $100 model are short, half of what they say the reach for.

Good Luck!


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## StihlHead (Apr 9, 2013)

Yah, I have read that the Brinkman box smoker therms are 20 or so degrees off. I have some good ones that I got on Fleabay that are far more accurate.

The reason that I want one of these is that I am doing more of a 2-stage type of 'smoking'. I am starting to smoke some meats for about an hour at moderate temps and then conventionally roast them in a convection oven. Its not for making bacon or ribs, but for chicken and roasts it works well. Far faster, less use of pellets and smoking wood, and no bacteria get in on the process. The chicken is not as moist though, so for cold deli chicken I slow cook it on the smoker. But for hot chicken that will be consumed hot, I like the two-stage roasted finish effect. Generally the research I read about smoking says that the smoke adheres best to cold and cool meats, and once its heats up the meat does not attract the smoke that much. So I am looking at the Brinkman box as a one hour meat pre-smoker. Pork roasts, chickens, wings, chops, etc.

I think that smoking is still in its infancy in terms of culinary arts. Pellet smokers are just a small fraction of the BBQ device market, but they crank out really good BBQ. I may be jaded in the fact that Traegers were invented and made here at Mt. Angel for many years, but I think that they may take off as they come down in price and people realize what they are capable of turning out. Barrel type smokers are not the best for making jerky and roasting many meats though, and square boxes make far better ovens. I think that Fast Eddy has the right idea with a square box smoker fed with pellets by an auger. They are in the many thousands of dollars though, and beyond my price point.


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## Brokenwing (Apr 9, 2013)

Hearth Mistress said:


> Cured how? Cured meats reduce the risk if bacteria yes but unless you are super duper sure your brine is AT least 20% salt, it can still produce bacteria. Put that in a smoker, sitting around at 100 degrees, it won't ever get hot enough to kill any bacteria that may have formed, sick city.
> 
> I don't use sodium nitrate or nitrite to cure before I smoke so I prefer the tried and true methods of just salt as they did it in the "old" days but using the scientific proven method of 20% is too much salt for me so everything is hot smoked.
> 
> ...


 
I hope you do not think I am being argumentative, I just have a safe way that I have been doing it and feel comfortable.  What makes me laugh, and it is not towards you at all is people say oh that cured stuff has nitrates, and nitrites, and salts and that is no good for you.  My grandpa is 80 years old, and as a farmer had tons of cured products, and he can run circles around most people i know.  The stuff they put in food products now days are ten times worse for you, when you go to the grocery store, and pick up a product god knows what they put in it.  I am kind of old fashion, and like to make things from scratch so I know what I am eating.  That is what I like about these threads very informative to see the way people do things different.  I am going to look into hot smoking and try it out, and see If I like it,  I am always up to trying something new.


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## Mr A (Apr 10, 2013)

Brokenwing said:


> I hope you do not think I am being argumentative, I just have a safe way that I have been doing it and feel comfortable. What makes me laugh, and it is not towards you at all is people say oh that cured stuff has nitrates, and nitrites, and salts and that is no good for you. My grandpa is 80 years old, and as a farmer had tons of cured products, and he can run circles around most people i know. The stuff they put in food products now days are ten times worse for you, when you go to the grocery store, and pick up a product god knows what they put in it. I am kind of old fashion, and like to make things from scratch so I know what I am eating. That is what I like about these threads very informative to see the way people do things different. I am going to look into hot smoking and try it out, and see If I like it, I am always up to trying something new.


 
I agree.I grew up eating my grandfathers, nitrite cured smoked meats and fish-delicious! curing and smoking has been the way for people to preserve meat for generations pre-refrgeration, freezing. Cured and smoked meat is claimed to last longer than frozen. Probably why hogs were killed in winter, and smoked all winter? Makes sense to me. but what about using frozen meat? I read it is not
best to freeze the meat before smoking? My source of belly is frozen, as is probably most sources unles you get right after the hog kill. Doing a pork shoulder, brined for 24 hours, going to smoke it overnight with pecan wood.


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