Can I smoke frozen raw ham & bacon?
 

This year I finally found somebody to go halves with my on buying
a fresh-killed hog -- and Slaughter Day turned out to be a week after the
day a friend brought me a nice small deer

So we cut & wrapped & froze like mad b*st*rds -- and only managed
by cutting various corners, one of which near the end was just to wrap
and freeze the ham and the bacon just as they were.

That *may* be a benefit -- what I have is a propane-fired smoker,
with a cast iron smokewood box right over the burner, then a water bath,
and the racks above that. I'm hoping that the cold weather will enable me
to operate it at a much lower temperature than in summer.

I'd rather not pre-cook these meats; otoh, with my blood
pressure, I'm sure as shootin' NOT going to brine them. (After all, once
they're smoked and cooled, I'll put them back in the freezer till I want
them.)

So am I better off taking them straight from freezer to hanging
from a rack? Or do I *have* to thaw them beforehand for some reason??

--
Beartooth Staffwright, PhD, Neo-Redneck Linux Convert
Remember I know precious little of what I am talking about.

Can I smoke frozen raw ham & bacon?
 

"Beartooth" wrote

> That *may* be a benefit -- what I have is a propane-fired smoker,
> with a cast iron smokewood box right over the burner, then a water bath,
> and the racks above that. I'm hoping that the cold weather will enable me
> to operate it at a much lower temperature than in summer.

Not really, sorry to say. You need a cold smoker setup for that.

> So am I better off taking them straight from freezer to hanging
> from a rack? Or do I *have* to thaw them beforehand for some reason??

Grin, thaw first or they wont cure evenly.

Can I smoke frozen raw ham & bacon?
 

On Wed, 31 Dec 2008 15:55:38 -0500, Ed Pawlowski wrote:

> If you are going to smoke cook them as opposed to curing it is probably
> OK to just thaw and smoke. If you are talking curing and cold smoking,
> I'm not sure. Used to be a smokehouse here that would not accept meat
> that was frozen. Not sure why, but it may be because the cellular
> structure is changed and it would not cure properly.

Do you mean "was" on arrival, or "ever had been"? If the
former,they'd likely not want it around thawing ...

> Keep in mind, if you are not curing they will not taste like ham and
> bacon as we know it from the store, but will be smoked pork. Not that
> it is a bad thing, but it is a different taste completely.

Well, I did smoke-roast thick pork chops two or three times this
past summer (not previously frozen afaik, but not brined much : our store
pork all is, but I always keep it a few days in the fridge, wrapped in
many paper towels, and changing those often, before I cook it). Anyway,
those all came out tasting very much like good ham -- and at all events
*very* tasty.

So I'm fairly sure of getting something I'll like, as long as I
have no disasters ...

--
Beartooth Staffwright, Neo-Redneck, Double Retiree,
Not Quite Clueless Linux Power User
I have precious (very precious!) little idea where up is.

Can I smoke frozen raw ham & bacon?
 

"Beartooth" > wrote in message
...
> On Wed, 31 Dec 2008 15:55:38 -0500, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
>
>> If you are going to smoke cook them as opposed to curing it is probably
>> OK to just thaw and smoke. If you are talking curing and cold smoking,
>> I'm not sure. Used to be a smokehouse here that would not accept meat
>> that was frozen. Not sure why, but it may be because the cellular
>> structure is changed and it would not cure properly.
>
> Do you mean "was" on arrival, or "ever had been"? If the
> former,they'd likely not want it around thawing ...
>

Don't know for sure. At the time I was not interested in doing it myself
and never asked for clarification. They've since closed.

Can I smoke frozen raw ham & bacon?
 

Beartooth > wrote:

> This year I finally found somebody to go halves with my on buying
> a fresh-killed hog -- and Slaughter Day turned out to be a week after the
> day a friend brought me a nice small deer
>
> So we cut & wrapped & froze like mad b*st*rds -- and only managed
> by cutting various corners, one of which near the end was just to wrap
> and freeze the ham and the bacon just as they were.
>
> That *may* be a benefit -- what I have is a propane-fired smoker,
> with a cast iron smokewood box right over the burner, then a water bath,
> and the racks above that. I'm hoping that the cold weather will enable me
> to operate it at a much lower temperature than in summer.
>
> I'd rather not pre-cook these meats; otoh, with my blood
> pressure, I'm sure as shootin' NOT going to brine them. (After all, once
> they're smoked and cooled, I'll put them back in the freezer till I want
> them.)
>
> So am I better off taking them straight from freezer to hanging
> from a rack? Or do I *have* to thaw them beforehand for some reason??

It's not going to taste anything like bacon unless you cure them.
You can cure them with as little as 1/3rd the normal salt, but you
MUST use the normal amount of nitrite and nitrate.

And to cure them you need to thaw them first.

If you hang frozen pork bellies in your smoker the smoke will only
condensate on it making for a bad case of creosote, not to mention
it's just going to taste like smoked pork ribs with 10x as much fat.
It won't be bacon - not even close. I don't think you'll find it
very tasty at all.

-sw