salumi512 wrote:Any other practical thoughts as to why we would have strayed from cold smoking bacon?
The real reason (I think and have strong indication) that due to "mass" production as everyone wanted the bacon now and was not willing to wait for a "quality' product smoking operations had to change.
Hot smoking takes 2 ½ - 3 hours (depending on the smoker) where as cold smoking takes four days plus one day at the end to rest.
In 1990 I was approached by people in California to produce English Gammon bacon, by time the project was close to being finished there was Boston as well as Huston looking for one hundred thousand pounds of bacon -- a week
I'm working out of 600 sq feet
so I talked to a friend who was well you the ladder for J. M. Schneider, he brought his boss along for discussions and it was at that meeting I learned the process of making bacon North American style --- twenty four hours from coming in the door to going out the door, they told me that time is money
and yes they wanted the recipe as they saw the potential $$$$$ the rest is another story.