I haven't seen any tales of cooking bacon in the PBC, so here are two. My first try at bacon was regular, side, bacon. I started with 3 pieces of pork belly, each about ¾ lb. I brined them 9 days using the recipes here at AR, 2 pieces maple, 1 Asian. After rinsing and drying I hung them in the PBC with a probe in the bottom of one of the strips to get a good central location. 
I used a good bit of hickory wood. After only 45 minutes the internal probe read 149, but my hand held probe said only about 135 deg, so I continued the cook. At a little over an hour my hand probe read 155, a little high and I took the meat out. A quick tasting indicated it was very good.
The internal probe temp was off probably because it was sticking out the bottom of the strip of belly. Thus, it was nearer the coals, conducting heat up. This is a bad position for that reason, and also because juices drip down onto the cable-probe junction and the cable. As an engineer, I should have anticipated both problems.
After refrigeration, I sliced the bacon with a machine. After pan cooking, I found the Maple version a little bland, perhaps needing more pepper. The Asian version had too strong a taste of Hoisin for me, but my spouse really liked it. Later I cooked up the whole batch in the oven at about 375 deg on a parchment covered sheet pan. I found I liked the flavor a lot more after that, even when reheated in a pan or the microwave. I think the flavors mellowed and blended. None of this went to waste, of course, and I continue to experiment with the brine recipes.
Canadian Bacon
I started with a 2 lbs boneless pork loin, and cured it with my latest experimental version. I don't care for sweet ham or bacon, maybe I'm spoiled by the commercial stuff, so I've been reducing the sweetening agents in the AR cures. This one (for 2 lbs) was:
1.5 Tbs Table salt
1 tsp Prague #1
1 Tbs Black pepper
1 tsp Garlic powder
1 tsp Sage, thyme, bay leaf, (S&G blend works well here for green tones)
1 Tbs Sweet soy glaze, a very thick & sweet teriaki sauce
4 Tbs Brown sugar
½ C water
I cured it for about 3-1/2 weeks, and then cooked it on the PBC GreatGrate so I could easily keep throwing in wood. It shared the grate with a piece of pastrami. I cooked to an internal temperature of 150 deg, about 1hr 45min. (The pastrami continued to cook with smoke all the way.) I tasted an end slice and found it tender and good, but very salty. After chilling and machine slicing (about like thick bacon) the salt level was fine, and the flavor very good. Still, I think a little more conventional sweetener, brown sugar, maple, etc., might be a better choice than the soy glaze. But one has to experiment. I vacuum sealed it in 6 oz packages and froze them. Generally I briefly heat a (thawed) slice or two in a frying pan for breakfast. A success, but I'll continue to experiment.
As an end note, when I wanted to make this in Maui, I couldn't find a single pork loin on the island, for a number of weeks. I found out there was only one supplier, and he wasn't supplying, for some reason. So I used a pork sirloin roast, with a slightly different brine version. When you're isolated in the middle of the Pacific, you have to take what you can get. (It is easier and cheaper to get pork belly than in Houston, however.) The sirloin was very good, too, so if you see a good deal, try it.
The internal probe temp was off probably because it was sticking out the bottom of the strip of belly. Thus, it was nearer the coals, conducting heat up. This is a bad position for that reason, and also because juices drip down onto the cable-probe junction and the cable. As an engineer, I should have anticipated both problems.
After refrigeration, I sliced the bacon with a machine. After pan cooking, I found the Maple version a little bland, perhaps needing more pepper. The Asian version had too strong a taste of Hoisin for me, but my spouse really liked it. Later I cooked up the whole batch in the oven at about 375 deg on a parchment covered sheet pan. I found I liked the flavor a lot more after that, even when reheated in a pan or the microwave. I think the flavors mellowed and blended. None of this went to waste, of course, and I continue to experiment with the brine recipes.
Canadian Bacon
I started with a 2 lbs boneless pork loin, and cured it with my latest experimental version. I don't care for sweet ham or bacon, maybe I'm spoiled by the commercial stuff, so I've been reducing the sweetening agents in the AR cures. This one (for 2 lbs) was:
1.5 Tbs Table salt
1 tsp Prague #1
1 Tbs Black pepper
1 tsp Garlic powder
1 tsp Sage, thyme, bay leaf, (S&G blend works well here for green tones)
1 Tbs Sweet soy glaze, a very thick & sweet teriaki sauce
4 Tbs Brown sugar
½ C water
I cured it for about 3-1/2 weeks, and then cooked it on the PBC GreatGrate so I could easily keep throwing in wood. It shared the grate with a piece of pastrami. I cooked to an internal temperature of 150 deg, about 1hr 45min. (The pastrami continued to cook with smoke all the way.) I tasted an end slice and found it tender and good, but very salty. After chilling and machine slicing (about like thick bacon) the salt level was fine, and the flavor very good. Still, I think a little more conventional sweetener, brown sugar, maple, etc., might be a better choice than the soy glaze. But one has to experiment. I vacuum sealed it in 6 oz packages and froze them. Generally I briefly heat a (thawed) slice or two in a frying pan for breakfast. A success, but I'll continue to experiment.
As an end note, when I wanted to make this in Maui, I couldn't find a single pork loin on the island, for a number of weeks. I found out there was only one supplier, and he wasn't supplying, for some reason. So I used a pork sirloin roast, with a slightly different brine version. When you're isolated in the middle of the Pacific, you have to take what you can get. (It is easier and cheaper to get pork belly than in Houston, however.) The sirloin was very good, too, so if you see a good deal, try it.
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