Homemade Sausage Making

Just going to pull out of brine a 2kg slab of pork belly. The belly is fantastic tasting (I roasted 1 kg of it in wine, coriander and orange zest), I plan to cold smoke it for 4 hrs. I will probably do this Saturday (it is now Thursday evening) afternoon as it is supposed to be dry then. We are in mid spring and the weather is a real mixed bag. I will fry some of the bacon, wrap it around some of my Lincoln sausages to make pig in blankets. As I do not have a spare $$$$$$$$$ to buy a slicer (I am talking of needing about 1K $NZ for a second hand one). How should I store it? Vac pac it and store it in the fridge or freeze it or? I would like to dry it off a bit.

I can slice it for you at a shmall fee!
J

I can slice it for you at a shmall fee!
J

Mark,
You certainly can trace J's ancestry.
Cheers,
Jan O.
By the way, if you ever decide to come for a holiday in Brisbane, let me know, some bargain slicers available. I bought a 250 mm OMAS in good nick for $ 50.--

Hey Jan O! You're back! How does the knee feel?

And, great weekend ahead for Albany, ANZAC Convoy Centenary!

J

Hi Mark,

It all depends on how long you will be storing it. If you are going to consume it in two or three weeks then the fridge should be OK, if longer, I would freeze it. But there is nothing better and tastier than freshly smoked bacon, especially after a day or two out of the smoker!

And if you are freezing bacon or anything else for that matter, it will keep better if you keep it in one piece rather than sliced.

Four hours of cold smoking might be on the low side. Meats absorb smoke better at warm/hot temperatures and in most instances cold smoking is done for longer durations and often in multiple sessions.

And here is a tip. Even if you are going to use your smoker to cold smoke, the smoker should be preheated well or seasoned (and then allowed to cool) before you load it. Old smoke and drippings and other nasties start giving off unpleasant vapours in a smoker that has been sitting for a while. These can transfer to your bacon and give it a bitter or sour flavour. Also if you are cold smoking in multiple sessions, don't leave the meat hanging in the smoker during the rest periods.

Slicing bacon with a sharp knife is easy when the bacon is cold and properly dry.

Thanks redzed. 2 kg is a nice amount of bacon. As may barrell is quite small I strip down the smoker after each smoking session Thus it does not get a build up of tar inside it.



Am thinking of modifying my smoker again. The gas burner tends to blow out when I only have one ring on low (about 50-55) it works better from 70-80 degrees+. I am thinking of increasing the height of the bricks and getting a stainless steel wind break made. This shield would go up into the smoker. This design means that I can cold smoke as well as use the same rig to hot smoke ribs.

I have just started smoking the bacon now. Before refrigeration how of often and for how long would bacon have been smoked for? I wonder if it would bee too smoky for me.