Wade

I tried several "domestic" models a few years ago and was always disapointed with the results. In the ens I bought a small commercial one - Buffalo CD278 - and it had given good results, is solid and is easy to clean. Ibought mine from Nisbets and they are still a current model. They are not cheap - but you certainly get what you pay for.

Keep it wrapped while it is resting in the fridge. In a ziplock bag, clingfilm or vacuum packed - it does not matter which. Most fridges work by circulating cold air around the inside so If you leave it unwrapped the smoke will start to come off the surface of the bacon and liberally coat everything else that happens to be in the fridge at the time.

Hi Bob

The cure will work perfectly well when vacuum packed. It would be interesting to know where they are getting their evidence from for this claim 

Vac packing helps to ensure that the cure remains in intimate contact with the surface of the meat for longer. If you do not vac pack and just use a ziplock bag you need to try to get as much air out of the bag as you can in order to minimise any space for a brine to form and cure to flow away from the meat. You will still get a brine forming around the meat when vac packing but it will not be as obvious as it will be more efficiently kept in contact with the meat surface so that it can diffuse inwards.

Either way, you should ensure that you turn your meat over in the fridge at least once every 24 hours to ensure any brine that is formed stays in contact with as much of the meat surface as possible.

Another good tip to ensure the even distribution of the cure. If you have one, weigh all of your cure ingredients into a spice grinder or coffee grinder and give it a blitz together before applying it to the meat surface. Dont forget that any cure that does not stick to the meat still needs to be added to the bag before it goes into the fridge.

Cheers

Wade

Hi Bob

This is really a difficult to give a specific answer to as it is down to personal preference and the type of smoke you are using. Hopefully this will help...

If you are using a sweet wood (such as hickory) then you can smoke longer to get a deeper rounded flavour. However if you are using something like Oak then smoking too long can result in quite a harsh edge to the flavour.

I suggest that for your first smoke you go for a happy medium (8 hours of smoke) and then adjust up our down for subsequent smokes. After the smoke dont forget to wrap the bacon joint and leave in the fridge for several days to allow the smoke flavours to mellow and diffuse into the meat. Also be aware that when you slice it, the first couple of rashers at each end will taste much smokier and more salty than the centre of the bacon.

If you are going to use the bacon within a couple of weeks then slice it all and refrigerate. If you want it to last longer (unfrozen) then slice off what you need as you need it and it will keep for about 6 weeks. If you intend to keep it longer then slice and freeze.

Cheers

Wade

Hi Bob - No you do not need to smoke it. Once it is cured it is unsmoked (or "Green") bacon. If you would like "Smoked" bacon then smoke it.

However you prefer to eat it you slice and cook it in the usual way. Sliced it gives you bacon rashers, cut into steaks it gives bacon steaks, Cooked a a joint it becomes a bacon joint.

Cheers

Wade

Hi Bob

You do not need to smoke it all in one go. Most smoke generators struggle to give more tha 6-8 hours continuous smoke. In the summer when its hot it is good to smoke in the cool evening or morning and then put it in the fridge during the day before continuing to smoke. It is not uncommon to do this over 3 consecutive night - depending how much smoke flavour you are looking for.

The answer to your question is yes. You can simply refill and carry on. As @pittmab has said, the joint is already cured and is protected to a dregree from spoilage. Try to keep it at 8 C or below if you can - but it will be fine up to 10-15 C for several hours.

A good starting guide would be "Smoking, Curing and Drying" by Turan T, Turan - ISBN Number 978-1-84543-561-5

I have watched Turan give demonstrations at BBQ events and his teqhniques are sound and easy to follow.

Hi Craig

You only need to leave a few holes at the bottom to allow air and sufficient holes in the body to allow for canes to be inserted to support the food racks. Air will then come in at the bottom to fuel the smoke generator, pass over the food and then out through the lid flue. The smoke generator will need little air so providing you have 3 or 4 holes at the same level or below it will be fine.

On 7/13/2023 at 9:43 PM, negolien said:

I also seen this https://kentrollins.com/home-cured-bacon/

This is what the Americans commonly refer to as "Canadian bacon" as it is cured and fully cooked/smoked before it is sliced. This is delicious however it is different to what we would usually recognise as bacon here in the UK. 

There is a lot of talk about making bacon without using Nitrites however it is the Nitrite that gives bacon its "bacon" flavour. You can reproduce this without using a specific nitrite cure by substituting something like celery powder, however you are still effectively adding Nitrite/Nitrate in a different form - and in a less precise way. Completely Nitrite free bacon that tastes like bacon is now possible to produce commercially however it is difficult to produce at home.

You can show that it is the Nitrite cure that gives the bacon flavour by curing a chicken breast with a standard dry cure bacon mix. The chicken takes on a distinctive "bacony" flavour.

For members of the forum who are interested in trying their hand at bacon curing for the first time, please drop me a message as I will be happy to send them some Cure#1 to get them started on their journey.

Many years ago I created insulated sleeves for my ProQ/WSM smokers and they worked well. I used similar materials to those you show in your picture, however I can no longer find the exact materials again online.

Firstly - the most important area to insulate is the smoking chamber - as it is the heat loss along the length here that results in the heat gradient experienced in these smaller smokers. Reducing the heat loss here will greatly improve the internal temperature stability.

I would not worry about insulating the fire box to begin with as this will have less overall benefit. 

The closest I can find is the Vitcas Ceramic Fibre Blanket (£24 on Amazon). This can be stuck on using the VITCAS Ceramic Fiber Adhesive (£15 on Amazon)

The blanket I used has an aluminium blanket covering. In place of this you could use a simple foil blanket (£1.80 each) on the outside - also on the inside if you did not want to glue the fibre blanket directly onto your smoker.

Another option would be to simply use Vitcas Aluninium Coated Insulation Flue Wrap (£24 on Amazon) - which already has an aluminium coating on one side. This could be wrapped around the smoking chamber giving several layers. This can be held in place using High Temperature Aluminium Tape (£6 per roll). If I was doing this again, this would be the method I would probably use.

To help reduce the temperature gradient in the smoking chamber also ensure that you have a heat deflecter where your fire box meets the cooking chamber.

I hope this helps

On 7/10/2023 at 10:29 AM, tina said:

Thank you so much for your replies.

I did try again with the cheese left whole and late evening. I put a tin of ice in chamber with it.  Used smoke generator and beech dust.  Again generator burnt up too fast and was out within 2 hours. 

Cheese didnt melt this time . But has a bitter taste.  Have wrapped it and left for a week, still taste bitter. But i think i will wait until autumn to try again. 

Hi Tina - The ProQ cold smoker cabinet is quite confined and so is easy to overheat. A couple more suggestions...

• When you load the dust in your maze be sure to compact it firmly with your fingers before lighting. This helps to stop it flaring up.
• Try using a larger cabinet - a new garden incinerator works well
• Always leave your cheese for at least a week (preferably more) before tasting - especially after being exposed to heavy smoke. The sharp smoke taste will mellow over time. When selling my smoked cheese commercially it was rested for at least 3 weeks before I would sell it.

This may help... Dont give up

11 hours ago, AdamG said:

I used my old maverick et-732 for a cook at weekend after finding it in the shed. Receiver wouldn't connect so I had to just use the small screen on the transmitter (that's connected to the wired probe's)....no way of connecting to a phone or any device and certainly no graphs.... I used to think it was great a few years ago haha.

Nostalgia isnt what it used to be. Remember the days when Asteroids and Galaxian were the latest in high tech graphics - or even Pong. Just as people are now coming back to play these, the trusty old ET-732s will continue to be brought out for use for decades to come. I have several of them and they get used regularly. I have not yet found anthing that matches the range of the remote.

There is no such thing as "leftovers" - only "saved-to-contine-enjoying-laters"

Last week I was meeting family at Orchard View Farm on Aylesbury (HP17 9UG) and I noticed that work was under way on a new building. We have visited there priodically over the past 3 years and it has been encouraging to see the onging development of their camping and glamping facilities and services. This time there was a lovely smell of smoke and BBQ meat eminating from a large reverse-flow smoker that was standing in the new smokery construction area. Being more than a little curious I asked about what was being smoked and got talking to James (the owner of Orchard Farm View) and Sam (their resident chef).

Having spent some time in the USA James fell in love with American BBQ (doesn't that sound familliar!) and so he decided to add American BBQ to the food that is already available at the Orchard View Farm centre.  

The brisket I could smell was one of their first test cooks in their recently completed smoker and James explained that its big brother was already under construction. The Smokehouse is expected to be complete soon and will include full smoking, grilling and oven cooking facilities. I didnt get to taste the brisket as it still had a while to cook, however talking with James and Sam they are already preparing their full BBQ menu which will include brisket, pulled pork, ribs and links.

What they are doing is fantastic and I look forward to returning in a couple of months to sample their food. If you get a chance to visit and support them I am sure it will be greatly appreciated.

With its fairly central location and the camping/glamping/pods on site, Orchard View Farm could well be a good venue for a national smokers weekend - should there be sufficient demand from the forum. 

www.facebook.com/OrchardViewFarmCamping/

That looks delicious - I will give it a try for our next BBQ as we will have several vegetarians there. I will substitute the sausage of course.

https://www.tesco.com/groceries/en-GB/products/304368946

6 hours ago, negolien said:

I also do more than I need I purchased a vacuum sealer for bags and it's saved me a ton of money

My vacuum sealers are probably one of the most used tools in my kitchen. I mostly use them commercially but like you, I also use them to save/freeze leftover food. They are also good when applying overnight rubs and also when cooking sous vide.

Among the main advantages of vac packing food for the frezer

• It reduces the air (oxygen) around the food and so reduces the rate of spoilage
• It prevents the loss of water through evapouration (especially when in the freezer) and prevents freezer burn
• It allows you to pack and freeze liquids (soups, sauces, marinades etc.) flat in bags which will then stack more efficiently in the freezer
• Split up large bulk packs of food (e.g. chicken pieces, sausages etc.) into portion size quanties before freezing

If you can stretch to a chamber vacuum sealer then that is great however there are some really good side-suck ones available now for around £100

Here is a similar recipe I use regularly that produces excelent results. It is inspired by the Chefsteps Web site. 

1 Red onion(s), large
300 g Red wine vinegar, or vinegar of your choice 
300 g Water
60 g Sugar 
20 g Salt 

The following can also be included, however I don't generally use them
2 g Chile flakes 
2 g Caraway seed 

Slice the onions into thin strips. Use a sharp knife so your eyes won’t sting.
Combine all of the other ingredients and add to the onions
Allow to stand for between 10m to 1 hour
Drain and serve

Will keep in the fridge for a week or so

Great on burgers, in a salad, as a relish on fish, jusy on their own.

Looks like a fun cook. Probably not so good for diabetics with high colersterol though... 😷

Scott used to amaze us at the Smokingmeatforum cookoffs. He would raid local skips to salvage old rusty kettle BBQs which he would bring along. He would then use them to prepare some of the best BBQ that rivalled many of the other more expensive smokers.

👍

Thet don't need to be in the freezer for long. 30 minutes is usually sufficient so the outside is hard and the centre is chilled.

Whether to soak chips before using is an interesting debate.

If I am using chips directly on hot coals I have found that when soaked they do tend to release the smoke over a slightly prolonged (though this is marginal) period if time. Soaking is more effective when using wood chunks directly on the coals as the outside of the wood will dry quickly and start to smoulder before the centre of the wood is dry enough to catch.

However when using chips in a gas BBQ I have found that soaking them first makes them less effective. In order to produce smoke the chips need to be smoldering and to do this in a smoke box/pack/tube they have to be fairly dry. Unless you are trying to impart a specific flavour e.g. by soaking in Jack Daniels (other whiskeys are available) then soaking the chips simply delays the time before the chips start to smoulder and produce any smoke. Unlike the example of using soaked wood chunks on direct coals, in a gas BBQ the heat onto the chips is indirect and is comparatively much gentler. In this case the temperature in the whole of the soaked mass of chips has a chance to increase to the point where the water starts to boil and so, as the outside chips dry out, they are then rehydrated by the steam/vapour coming from the soaked chips in the centre. This just increases the time before they can start to smoulder and generate smoke.

We all have our preferred methods... I find that I get a better flavour and have more control of the end result if I sear first as there is less chance of the meat becoming overcooked. I find this especially important when cooking burgers and chicken.

When I make burgers fresh (or even if I buy them) I will always chill or freeze them first before cooking. When you then place them over the high heat the meat does not immediately start to char and you have more control over the colour produced by the sear and also the depth if flavour that is produced through the maillard reaction. The sear then seals the surface of the meat keeping the juices inside. At this point the inside is still raw/chilled/frozen. When you then complete the cooking by convection on the "cool" side of the grill the flavours of the sear have time to penetrate the patty and also less of the juices are lost. As soon as the patty is up to temperature then is is ready.

I like my burgers to be moist and on the "rare" side. If i have ground my own meat i will cook them to 65C but if i have used shop bought mince or ready made patties I will cook them to 73C. I found that by cooking indirectly first and then searing after, it was too easy for them to become overdone - as the sear continued to raise the internal temperature. More of a problem when cooking relatively thin burgers.

Great looking food as always Justin 👍

I too have multiple chimneys, however they do come in different sizes. I find the large one is sufficient to give graduated coals over one half of the grill - which is ideal for most of my grilling. I sear the food over the hot side and then move it to the "cool" side to finish cooking with the lid closed.

What kind of things are you grilling that require hot coals over the entire grill?

That's great Scott, thanks. Will discuss with Steve.

I have now set the new user registration to require the normal email confirmation but then now also need to be further authorised by an administrator before they can post.