Mass loss with bacon

[NukeGuy]

Smoked my first pork belly this past weekend. Wish I'd weighed everything at every step but didn't. My question(s) is/are how much mass is lost during the cure? And during the smoke? After slicing some up I gave some away (mistake I know but got friends for life I'm sure) and when I vacuum sealed the remainder this evening I ended up with about 8 lbm. Started the cure with 12 lbm. What % of mass should I expect to lose?

[kmhfive]

I've only done my second batch and haven't weighed anything yet!

[jecucolo]

I started my first 3 3lb'rs tonight. I would be curious myself how much is lost. With that much fat I'd say it sounds about right.

[Mr. Bones]

Haven't cured/smoked any belly fer bacon, yet, but:
I'd haveta reckon', now that ya' give some away, that yer losses will be from 85%-100%

[FireMan]

If ya send just a little to me than it will be 100%.

[Willy]

It's all the fat that melts away. Just like bacon. Weigh your bacon after cooking--there's TONS of lost weight (or mass, as you prefer). BYW, it warms my heart--seriously--to see someone use lbm, although I still think metric is superior.

[texastweeter]

high loss, but worth it.

[HorseDoctor]

You’re gonna loose some fluid weight during the cure, as some more water loss during smoking. Smoking temp isn’t high enough to render much fat so that loss is minimal. You’ll nibble a little and loose some during slicing as just trim loss. Save that stuff for baked beans etc... Next batch you do just take one slab and weigh it at different stages and see
what your losses are. I would expect you’ll end up with about 20-25% weight loss from beginning to final packaged bacon not counting ends & scraps.

[BourBonQ]

It's all the fat that melts away. Just like bacon. Weigh your bacon after cooking--there's TONS of lost weight (or mass, as you prefer). BYW, it warms my heart--seriously--to see someone use lbm, although I still think metric is superior.

I noticed the lbm notation too, and yes, I am a recovering engineer.