cooking / smoking bacon

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Re: cooking / smoking bacon

Postby NCPaul » Wed Apr 09, 2014 11:02 am

I like three nights with a full run of the CSG and I'm pretty sure I learned that from Phil. I'm teaching a third person how to make bacon and we'll be doing that starting tomorrow. I'm with the BriCan crusade to train North America. :D
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Re: cooking / smoking bacon

Postby wheels » Wed Apr 09, 2014 11:52 am

I go 3 full runs of the CSG. But I have a fairly quick 'throughput' of smoke in the chamber - it leaves at roughly the same rate as it is produced.

Phil
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Re: cooking / smoking bacon

Postby BriCan » Wed Apr 09, 2014 2:25 pm

NCPaul wrote: I'm with the BriCan crusade to train North America. :D


Thank you grasshopper :lol: :lol:
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Re: cooking / smoking bacon

Postby derekmiller » Wed Apr 09, 2014 2:52 pm

Do you have a problem with humidity there.
I have had problems with damp, and now I preheat an oven to about 100C, turn it off and put my loaded CSGs in for 10 mins. Since then I have not had an issue of getting a full burn out of them.
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Re: cooking / smoking bacon

Postby badjak » Wed Apr 09, 2014 9:05 pm

Thanks all (again :D ).
I will try a slab smoked that amount of time

@Derek
Yes, the humidity is a lot higher at night, but suddenly (yesterday)I realised it night also be a ventilation issue.
We hardly hhave any wind/draught at night, ezp in comparison with daytime.

I know think I should improve the ventiation (putting the smoker of the ground, to improve ventilation
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Re: cooking / smoking bacon

Postby NCPaul » Wed Apr 09, 2014 10:14 pm

The ventilation at the top of a smoker needs to be greater than what is on the bottom if that is any help to you.
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Re: cooking / smoking bacon

Postby badjak » Fri Apr 11, 2014 6:13 am

Thanks NCPaul, I will keep that in mind.
I will try putting the csg in the oven first and see if that makes a difference.
The funny thing is that it runs fine at daytime, that's why it is probably more a humidity/lack of ventilation problem than anything else. But, it could also be the saw dust (I am using what is available locally).
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Re: cooking / smoking bacon

Postby wheels » Fri Apr 11, 2014 1:57 pm

The throughput of smoke is to ensure that the product doesn't sit in stale smoke as this will make it bitter. The CSG appears to need little ventilation as can be seen in their own Eco-smoker which has no specific air vent at the bottom.

Just a thought, I know at one stage ProQ had a problem with their wood as the supplier changed the specification, but that was a while back. Also, some types of their wood burn better than others. IIRC, the beech and oak are pretty good, others may need mixing with one of these, even after additional drying. I'm sure someone else will advise which one of them is the best 'burner' - I invariably use them mixed so can't recall.

HTH

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Re: cooking / smoking bacon

Postby badjak » Fri Apr 11, 2014 3:42 pm

I can get oak, wine barrel oak, whisky oak and maybe some oak :D

Some is a bit too coarse and I have ground some of that in a coffee grinder, some may even be a bit too fine.
I need to get that right and then I can try some of the local woods (cut off some branches, dry them out, plane, grind or whatever way I can get it to the right consistency).
I am thinking of
- tamarind
- acacia
- wild apple
- marula
- masau (jujube)
Wishful thinking: does anyone have any experience with any of those?
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Re: cooking / smoking bacon

Postby yotmon » Fri Apr 11, 2014 10:36 pm

Hi Badjack, the only one on your list that i've heard of being used in the UK is the wild apple (malus). I recently topped up my smoker with some Hazel dust and shavings that I had left over from making a walking stick, It burned okay mixed with 'normal' dust. I would also like to experiment with wild wood as I have loads of Alder, Beech, Hazel, Birch, Oak etc. growing within a couple of minutes walk from home, so easily harvested.

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Re: cooking / smoking bacon

Postby wheels » Fri Apr 11, 2014 11:46 pm

I can't help with those woods. But, I'd love to read about their use and the products made with them.

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Re: cooking / smoking bacon

Postby badjak » Mon Apr 21, 2014 7:03 am

Just a short follow up:
I increased the ventilation at the bottom a bit and the csg runs smoothly now.
My smoker is definitely not airtight, so I don't think stale smoke will ever be a problem :P
At the moment the csg is on the inner spiral and I got some almonds and eggs in the smoker.
Again thanks all, for helping me out
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