Another Bacon question for you.

[holehogg]

I've become so devoted to my bacon making that it feels more like an entanglement. I love pork belly and it's a difficult toss-up between whether bacon or burnt ends win the romance. At the end of the day it stays a win win for me whatever I produce.

Latley while slicing the bacon aInd find I cannot help myself eating it as is without any heat. I smoke my bacon to 150F so it's safe to eat. The thinly sliced rashers taste so good cold on a Sammie with some hot English mustard.
I have been wondering if I had to pull it off earlier @ say 135F, would it make any difference or is it unsafe for consumption and if it would make any difference to how the bacon would turn out if cooked as normal. This is after having rested in the fridge overnight
The main reason for wanting to cook to lower temp is to get a more tender slice for sammies. The bacon is not tough at 150F just has more chew than say sliced deli meat. If I had a meat slicer and sliced it wafer thin I imagine it would have a similar feel.

I am going to pull a slab early when I do my next batch and give it a test unless someone advises me otherwise.

[pkadare]

I would say that is about 10 degrees too low to be safe. The accepted temp in North America for pork is 145 degrees F, I personally would not likely go lower. Some may argue that with the curing and smoking, lower maybe acceptable, but I wouldn't risk it. I'd either invest in a slicer or see if you can find a friendly deli owner/butcher who will slice it thin enough for you.

[texastweeter]

I would go ahead. The curing helps a lot, think prochutto. On top of that, as long as your countries standards are as stringent as us, pork is a very clean meat. I like the raw bacon wrapped around melon...

[IowaGirl]

Meathead has often explained that pasteurization is not just about temperature, it's also about sufficient time at that temperature. If you wanted to cook to a lower temp, that might be reasonable if you measure the temp accurately and hold the meat at that temp for a long enough time. I'm no expert on this subject, however, so I'll leave it at that.

[jfmorris]

That's 100% right - pasteurization is about time and temp, and there are a lot of charts around to help with that. Not sure how you would hold the meat at low temperatures without a very well controlled method such as sous vide though.

[Murdy]

I don't know the exact protocol, but if you freeze pork below a certain temperature for a certain amount of time, it kills any parasites. Here, that's referred to as certified pork.

[holehogg]

Wonder what affect it would have on the quality of the product if you go this route.

[Red Man]

Pork belly is a tough cut of meat. If you want it tender, cook it to a higher IT.

[holehogg]

I cook my bellies @ 135C and they turn out very tender. For bacon I cook at a lower temp to give it more time to get to IT of 150F.

[mountainsmoker]

holehogg we have to follow a different set of standards here in the states. My recipe calls for smoking it at 170 degrees and taking it to 150 for a nice tender bacon. Once pork belly fat reaches 175 it begins to change its consistency. Meathead recipes require smokes at 225 which changes the fat consistency. 170 is hot smokiing and works very well, But new smokers should use Meathead reci[es/

[Meathead]

mountainsmoker is right. You CAN smoke at lower temp. We recommend 225 because that is the standard temp we use for all smoking recipes other than poultry. We want to teach users to get control of temp. MANY newbies can't control temp, don't have thermometers, and as a result they drift into the danger zone. If you have good thermometers and control of temp, then you can smoke at lower temps. Just try to keep it safe, above 170.

[holehogg]

Many thanks. Appreciate the response.

[mountainsmoker]

Yes please be sure you can control your temps and have thermometers and controllers that will work for you. It is much easier to do now than when I started many years ago. You now have Fireboards and the Digi series even the Maverick's and Smoke. Anyone new to smoking please I fully incourage that you use Meathead recipe. I posted my recipe at some point some place on here for smoking at 170. You want to cook in what is called the high heat range which 170 is.

[mountainsmoker]

Please note that whether you smoke bacon in the hot range of 170 or 225, you still take the bacon off at 150-155. It is just a matter of time till it gets to 150.