What’s big, green and looks like an egg? A smokehouse, of course!
The more you use the Big Green Egg, the more you’ll want to try new things. Smoking cured meat is one of those new things. You cure meat using dry or wet curing methods. For dry curing, you apply a dry rub containing curing agents to the raw meat surface. You wrap the meat in plastic wrap and either vacuum seal it or put it in large, resealable plastic bags and refrigerate it for several days, turning and massaging daily. Wet cure means “water and a curing agent.” Wet curing is the process of submerging the meat for several days in a refrigerated brine containing curing agents. A brine by itself does not cure, but it adds flavors and helps the meat retain moisture. With a cure brine, the meat is cured and flavored at the same time.
After curing, meat can be refrigerated or frozen until you’re ready to cook. Alternately, it can be smoked to add flavor; and, if desired, smoked to the internal temperature of fully cooked meat. In cold smoking, you smoke the meat or cheese for a few hours, but you never let it get to an internal temperature over 100°F (38°C). Cold-smoked meat is not fully cooked and therefore needs to be refrigerated or frozen until ready to cook. In hot smoking, you smoke the meat for several hours at a higher temperature until the internal temperature reaches about 160°F (71°C). Hot-smoked meat is fully cooked.
The setup I use for cold smoking utilizes an empty firebox and the A-Maze-N Pellet smoker (see Resources), which is a perforated maze that holds food-grade smoking pellets. I want to keep the meat or cheese temperature below 90°F (32°C) internal, so I use only smoke, no charcoal. I set up the Egg for direct cooking because there is no flame and I want the smoke to circulate around all the food.
Making your own pork belly bacon is easy to do, and you can control the flavors you add to it. You can add spices to your dry cure to make it spicier or more savory. This recipe is for sweet bacon. Fresh pork belly can be found at Asian markets, or your supermarket’s meat manager may be able to order it for you. Making your own cured, smoked bacon will elevate your neighborhood culinary stature with minimal effort You will be a bacon bigwig in no time!
3 pounds (1361g) fresh skinless, boneless pork belly
3 tablespoons (45g) quick-cure salt, such as Morton’s Tenderquick®
1 tablespoon (15ml) grade B maple syrup
1 tablespoon (12g) brown sugar
1 tablespoon (6g) fresh ground black pepper
Rinse the pork belly in cold water and pat dry. In a small bowl, mix the remaining ingredients together to form a paste. Rub the paste on all sides of the pork belly. Place in a resealable plastic bag or vacuum-sealed bag. Refrigerate between 36°F and 40°F (2°C and 4°C) for six days, flipping and massaging all the sides once a day. When curing is complete, remove from the bag and rinse off thoroughly, rubbing the water into the belly.
Set up the Egg for 200°F (93°C) with a drip pan. With the top and bottom vents wide open, light the fire and close the Egg. When the dome temperature gets up to about 150°F (66°C), about 5-10 minutes, close the bottom screen. When the dome temperature approaches 200°F (93°C), about 5 minutes, slide the top of the daisy wheel closed, keeping the petals slightly open. Use only a small pile of charcoal. The firebox can be one-quarter to one-third full. Add three fruitwood chunks.
Place the pork belly on a raised grid in the dome. Smoke until the internal temperature of the pork reaches 160°F (71°C), about 2 hours. When the pork belly is cooked, let it rest for about half an hour before refrigerating or freezing.
Your homemade bacon will be easier to slice after it is refrigerated. You can slice it before freezing it in bags.
Smoking adds another dimension to the flavor of cheese. It is best to use hard cheese such as Gouda, Swiss, cheddar, pepper jack or Colby. The smoking woods are usually fruitwoods, and the cheese is cold smoked until it gets no hotter than 90°F (32°C). After it has smoked for an hour or two, and before it reaches 90°F (32°C) internally, it is removed from the smoker to rest for about an hour. You may be tempted to eat it right away, and you can, but it will acquire a more balanced flavor if it’s wrapped in plastic wrap and refrigerated for three days. After refrigeration, it can be eaten or it can be vacuum sealed, refrigerated or frozen.
My cold-smoking setup for the Egg include an A-Maze-N Pellet smoker (see Resources). This is a perforated tray with maze for the food-grade pellets to sit in. I clear all of the charcoal out of the Egg and place the A-Maze-N pellet smoker on the cast iron fire grate. For smokier cheese, I start the fire at both ends, and it slowly burns and smokes its way through the maze. I light one end of the maze then blow out the flame.
Place one-inch (2.5-cm) pieces of cheese on a multilevel grate. Open the top vent one quarter of the way. You may decide to let the cheese smoke longer if you like more smoke flavor. Remember that the flavor will improve the longer it is refrigerated after smoking.
If you are having trouble keeping the temperature down below 90°F (32°C), place hard plastic ice packs off to the side so no condensation drips into the Maze. Obviously, if the temperature outside is 80°F (27°C), you won’t get as much smoke time before the interior gets to 90°F (32°C). Try cold smoking in the evening or in the early morning before the sun comes up. You can also keep your Egg in the shade.
As you may know, Canadian bacon comes from the pork loin, not from the belly like American bacon. Pork loin is very lean and can be dry. Wet curing and smoking put moisture back into it, the spices season it and the smoke adds a third flavor. Canadian bacon goes well with breakfast, in a sandwich for lunch or added to some of your own smoked cheese.
1 (4-pound [1814g]) boneless pork loin
1 gallon (8L) cold water, 36°F to 40°F (2°C to 4°C), divided
4 cups (965g) quick-cure salt, such as Morton’s Tenderquick®
½ cup (115g) brown sugar
2 tablespoons (19g) minced garlic
¼ cup (38g) chopped onion
1 tablespoon (8g) black peppercorns
Trim the loin of most of the fat and all of the silver skin. Keep refrigerated until ready to cure. In a large, nonreactive container, add about 1 quart (1L) of the cold water and stir in all of the other ingredients until well mixed. Add the remaining cold water and mix well. Submerge the cold loin in the curing brine. If necessary, put a plate on top to keep it from floating. Brine for 24 hours, stirring once. When fully brined, wash off the loin under cold running water, then pat dry.
Set up the Egg for 200°F (93°C) indirect with a drip pan. Use only a small pile of charcoal, with the firebox one quarter to one third full. With the top and bottom vents wide open, light the fire and close the Egg. When the dome temperature gets up to about 150°F (65°C), about 5-10 minutes, close the bottom screen. When the dome temperature approaches 200°F (93°C), about 5 minutes, slide the top of the daisy wheel closed, keeping the petals slightly open.
Add 3 fruitwood chunks and place the loin on a raised grid, up in the dome. Smoke until the internal temperature of the loin reaches 160°F (71°C), about 2 hours. Let it rest for half an hour before refrigerating or freezing. To serve, slice into ⅛-inch to ¼-inch (3 to 6-mm) slices. You can also slice before freezing.
Buckboard bacon is a great way to use a boneless pork butt. It’s a treat to fry up for breakfast, and awesome on a BLT. You can also add pieces to baked beans or omelets. The butt is butterflied to a uniform thickness and rubbed with a cure. Depending on the size of the butt, it will cure for about 10 days. After it is cured, it can be hot smoked. When cooled down, it can then be sliced and refrigerated or frozen until ready to use. It is less lean than ham and meatier than pork belly bacon, and it is so easy to make! The hardest part is waiting 10 days for curing, but it is more than worth the wait. The following recipe is for one pound (450g) of pork shoulder and should be adjusted to the amount you have.
CURE
1 tablespoon (15g) quick-cure salt such as Morton’s Tender Quick®
½ tablespoon (5g) garlic powder
½ tablespoon (3g) fresh ground black pepper
1 teaspoon (2g) allspice
1 tablespoon (15ml) maple syrup or molasses
1 pound (454g) of pork shoulder
To make the cure, mix all of the dry ingredients together, then add the maple syrup or molasses to form a paste.
Remove the fat cap from the deboned pork butt and butterfly or slice it so that it is 2 to 3 inches (5 to 7.5cm) thick. Make two separate pieces, if necessary. All cuts should be made horizontally along the length of the butt; don’t slice down or vertically. When you are done, you will have what looks like 2 or 3 layers of sliced pork butt.
Rub the cure mixture all over the surface of the meat. Make additional cure mixture if necessary to cover the pork fully. Place the meat in a heavy plastic bag, or vacuum seal it, and date the bag. Place the bag in the refrigerator for 10 days for a 3-inch (7.5-cm) thick piece, turning and flipping the bag daily. The cure mixture will create liquid brine. It is best to cure longer rather than shorter, because you want the cure to go all the way through the meat.
After the bacon has cured, remove it from the bag and rinse it under water. Place it in an ice water bath for an hour.
While the bacon is bathing, set the Egg to 225°F (107°C) indirect with a drip pan. With the top and bottom vents wide open, light the fire and close the Egg. When the dome temperature gets up to about 200°F (93°C), about 5-10 minutes, close the bottom screen. When the dome temperature approaches 225°F (107°C), about 5 minutes, slide the top of the daisy wheel closed, keeping the petals ¼ open. Add 3 wood chunks of your choice; fruitwoods are the best. When the smoke is reduced and is a bluish gray, add the bacon and smoke until an internal temperature of 150° (66°C) is reached, about 30 minutes per pound.
When the bacon is cooked it can be eaten right away, but it is much easier to slice if you refrigerate it overnight.
Brisket jerky was one of the first meats I routinely cooked on the Big Green Egg. It smelled so good as it cooked that there was seldom much left afterward! This jerky isn’t true jerky because it hasn’t been completely dehydrated. As an alternative to the seasoning below, the brisket can be marinated in teriyaki (here).
4 pounds (1814g) brisket flap meat, ¼-inch (6mm) slices
2 cups (475ml) soy sauce
2 cups (475ml) Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons (19g) minced garlic
2 tablespoons (8g) crushed red pepper flakes
1 cup (230g) brown sugar
1 tablespoon (9g) salt
1 tablespoon (6g) fresh ground black pepper
1 (7-oz [207-ml]) can chipotle in adobo sauce, puréed
1 cup (240ml) water
Mix all ingredients together except for the brisket and chipotle. Trim all visible fat from the brisket and slice in ¼-inch (6-mm) slices with the grain. The slices can be up to 8 inches (20 cm) long. It will slice more easily if it is partially frozen. Place the marinade and slices in a 2-gallon (7.5-L) resealable freezer bag and mix well by massaging the bag to cover all the slices. Lay the bag in a large casserole dish and refrigerate for 12 to 24 hours, turning and massaging often.
Set up the Egg for 250°F (121°C) indirect with a drip pan. With the top and bottom vents wide open, light the fire and close the Egg. When the dome temperature gets up to about 200°F (93°C), about 10 minutes, close the bottom screen. When the dome temperature approaches 250°F (121°C), about 5 minutes, slide the top of the daisy wheel closed, keeping the petals halfway open. Fill the Egg with charcoal to the top of the firebox. Set two grates on top of each other, offset by 90°, to reduce the gaps in the grates. You can also use perforated or disposable grill toppers.
When the Egg is up to temperature, remove the brisket slices from the marinade. Do not dry them or shake off any marinade. Pile the slices in the center of the grate so that all of them are above the drip pan. Discard the bag with the marinade.
Every hour or so, move the jerky around with a pair of tongs. As the jerky cooks, the pieces will shrink and the pile of meat will become smaller. (Pieces will also be disappearing every time you open the Egg!) Cook it for up to 6 hours (or until all the pieces have been eaten). Store the jerky in the refrigerator for up to a week.
