Making cold smoked bacon at home

[Smoking77]

Has anyone here tried it with success? I know Meathead strongly advises against it (and I understand his reason), but I want to try it if a lot of the Pit has done it. Made the hot smoked bacon from the free site, and it was delicious. Thanks.

[Oakgrovebacon]

I only do it in cold weather - and I mean cold - below freezing is my normal. I have a large smoker, in winter months I leave it outside at night and build a tiny fire with about 8 charcoal briquettes in the corner of the firebox. 1/2" thick slices of an apple limb about 3" in diameter on top of charcoal - close all vents, smoke 3-4 hours - keeping cook chamber below 40° Once last winter it was about 20° and I did not melt the frost off of the cook chamber

[Mr. Bones]

Yup, I don't often do meats this way, save fer like salmon, or summat, but that is dang dang good cheese smokin weather...

[Smoking77]

I only do it in cold weather - and I mean cold - below freezing is my normal. I have a large smoker, in winter months I leave it outside at night and build a tiny fire with about 8 charcoal briquettes in the corner of the firebox. 1/2" thick slices of an apple limb about 3" in diameter on top of charcoal - close all vents, smoke 3-4 hours - keeping cook chamber below 40° Once last winter it was about 20° and I did not melt the frost off of the cook chamber

Thanks for the info. I'm guessing that means living in Los Angeles where it never goes below 45 degrees will make it tough for me.

[mountainsmoker]

I have always done very slow smoking in winter where I can get my Weber and Smokenator down to 160 or so and take the bacon up to 150. You need cold winters to do real cold smoking which is why it was brought here from the Germans, Poles, and the other people of that part of Europe.

For those of European farm decent, the hog slaughter was always held off until there was ice on the river for the cold house, it got earlier with electric freezers It also allowed for cold smoking the meats, as the air temp was lower. Basically bacon and sausage. With names like Steiner, Basinger and Wolery we had plenty of relatives who butchered there own animals, or we had a butcher day.. My dad had a 36 x 72 x 4 inch butcher board that he used when I was younger.

It was a fun day, us kids carried the liver and heart and brains from the butcher block to the women inside where they would process them. No one ever knew what came out of the kitchen. LOL. We just carried it.

The same with the goat my grand parents raised and the beef.

[Meathead]

As you should know, this website, probably more than any culinary website in the world, stresses safety. I have serious concerns about cold smoking because there are grave risks if proper temperature control, sanitation, and curing ratios are not controlled. I discuss this in this article
https://amazingribs.com/more-techniq...ats-dont-do-it

Please understand that the risk is not yours alone, but you risk the health of the people you serve cold smoked food to, family, loved ones, especially young, elderly, and immune compromised which includes people being treated for cancer. For this reason I cannot answer any questions about technique or methods, nor will I our moderators participate in this discussion.

[mountainsmoker]

I totally agree. If I was not clear in my post above. Slow cooked until the proper temp is reached is the way to go. I just use a temp on the lower end of the slow cook range.

I do not condone cold smoking for the reasons Meathead describes.

[BriggsBBQ]

I have cold smoked using a temp controlled fridge. However I think it’s better to hot smoke because the end product is more tender. My bacon came out a little tougher than hot smoked.