Makin Bacon
 

My first stab at buckboard bacon.

Fresh off the smoker
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On the Hobart
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Money shot

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Thanx for looking

Looks good. Something I'd like to try someday. So need more details if you don't mind sharing. recipes, methods of curing, time, temp in smoker and your overall impression with the finished product. Would you do it again? NOt too much just the whole process.


Thanks,


Robert

Looks nummy. If this your first time careful on the frying. Way drier then regular bacon. Had to add grease to fry mine.

I started with 2 butts, deboned and sliced in half. Start your cut where the bone was and cut with the grain so you can slice against it.

I used this calculator for the cure but I upped the salt to 3%

http://www.diggingdogfarm.com/page2.html

Applied as much of the cure that would stick like a rub then threw the rest in the 2 gallon Ziplock. This is important: no more than 1 slab per bag and ALL of the cure must go in the bag. in the fridge for 14 days, flip and massage the bags every couple of days.

Some folks soak their slabs in cold water for an hour or more to reduce the salt level, I rinse mine and that's it. At this point you can fry a small slice to see if you want to soak.

Pat dry and hang in the fridge overnight to form a pellicle, this helps the smoking process.

Smoked at 160° 4 hrs, put a tube smoker in with it. Upped temp to 200° and pulled slabs @ 150° IT. 24 hours wrapped in the fridge to let the smoke sink in. Not sure this is necessary, but it couldn't hurt.

In the freezer 'till slicing stiff and that's it.

Definitely doing this again, no more store bought bacon in this house.

Next time I'm going to only use 1/2 of the butt for bacon, the rest will be sausage. When you debone, the half that has most of the bone in it doesn't make nice looking full slices, one end of them looks like it was chewed. I'm also going to throw some pepper in with the cure, I dunno if it will make a difference or not. Oh, don't give any away to friends that don't have a smoker, I've already got orders up to my ear holes.

That is what you call good eats

Thanks for the post with the info. Was the bacon very salty with the increased salt?

The last time I made BBB, I used boneless butts from the butcher. I used meat glue to keep the halves together, tied them and then applied the cure. I let it go for 10 days in the fridge, then smoked at a temp of 180. IT was around 140 or so. The meat glue held the pieces together, and I got beautiful slices out of them.

I don't think it came out too salty, but I generally like more salt than most people. No complaints from the friends I gave some to.

Anyone who would complain about free bacon is not, nor is worthy of being, your friend! :biggrin1:

Looks fantastic. Thanks for sharing!