Chae

I've used Grid Iron the last couple of times as I wanted outdoor reared pork to make bacon, and I know the butcher I use locally doesn't guarantee that, and had been let down a couple of times with the quality of pork belly from him. I haven't been disappointed so far with Grid Iron. It all depends on what you want from your meat and what your local butcher can provide. I've also bought meat from Costco, I know a lot of people on here use Bookers, and you can still pick up decent cuts from supermarkets as well. I suppose with online buying you can always let them know if you're unhap

Also, re butchers - there are a lot of online ones that deliver depending on where you're based so might be worth trying that if you're not happy with things in your local area.

Report back if you use them - I'm always interested to find out! I do love a hot dog! 😋

If I hadn't already got rid this would be a great idea! Oops! 😄

I've had good hot dogs from Grid Iron, I just add them in with whatever else I'm ordering. I haven't used this yet but there's a website called the Sausage Man that does a variety. Like I said I've not used before but seen a few people talking about it: https://sausageman.co.uk/

Thanks @Icefever- so if I do a wet cure van I still cold smoke or does it have to be hot smoked?

Hi all! I'm waiting on a pork belly order coming in so I can make some more bacon as my freezer is looking rather empty of bacon which is always disappointing. 😕 I'm very new to making my own bacon and so far I've tried Treacle bacon, Maple bacon and a Honey & chilli bacon and all have been lovely! I started wondering - have any of you ever done a rum or bourbon dry cure? I've obviously added honey/maple syrup to a dry cure so would adding rum/bourbon be the same? Has anyone ever tried it?

Thanks for the link! I also had one delivered next week as I had a cheap-o nasty one before that took about 2 minutes to get to temperature. 😬 This one is so much better!

Thanks Wade, I'm waiting on an order from Grid Iron and just wanted to get an idea of what other folk do. Do you always use hickory for bacon?

Just wondering - how long does everyone cold smoke their bacon for? I did a maple smoked maple bacon (smoked for 12 hours) and a cherry smoked treacle bacon (smoked for 9 hours) and both turned out really nice, but I'm wondering how long everyone else smokes theirs for? I was reading some people smoke for 7 nights in a row for hours and hours at a time, whereas others think 8 hours total is enough. I'm just wondering what other people's preferences are?

I'll be brining my whole turkey and then probably on the kettle (I reckon it'll be too big for my wee Pro Q) and that'll be come rain or shine (or snow!). Beef cheeks also for Christmas Eve, and getting a rib roast for New Years day... I don't sound as organised as Wade though! 😄

Thanks Wade, it's been a great help - glad this forum is here to help keep me right! 👍

Haha! This is true! I don't have sugar in tea but do have a rather sweet tooth otherwise 😀 That's perfect - thanks for the help Wade. I smoked them both so will be checking the first one tonight... fingers crossed it's all looking good! Really appreciate all the advice ☺️

Thanks for the reply Wade. So does that mean I can't use it due to the amount of sugar I've used in the cure? I have a couple of books that say I can add extra sugar (like treacle/maple/honey) to the basic cure on top of the sugar that's added, and found a few things online that added treacle as an extra on the sugar as well. Would it make it unsafe to eat if it's cold smoked? Sorry, I'm still trying to get my head round all the correct terms for things. 🙂

That’s per kilo, is it too much sugar? I used a calculator for the salt & pink salt and that was the numbers it gave me, and had read that you can double up on sugar content if you wanted sweet.