More buckboard bacon pron

smokinbadger

smokinbadger

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I made my first attempt at buckboard bacon today, and I'm pretty happy with the results. I cured two deboned pork butts for 10 days using Hi Mountain's buckboard bacon cure, turning them at the 4 and 7 day marks. This morning, I took them out of the fridge and put them in water to soak. After an hour, I changed the water and soaked for another hour. Finally, before putting them in the smoke, I let them air dry and warm up for about another hour on a rack:



Then, following Hi Mountain's directions, I put the butts in with the smoker temp at 150F. I'm using the Stoker to monitor and control the smoke temperature.



After about an hour, I raised the temperature to 200F and kept smoking. After about 4 hours, they were done. I let the meat rest for about an hour:



Here's what it looked like when I cut the first few slices:



I fried up some slices and made some pretty tasty BLT's:



Also, my wife fried up some greens with some bacon:



Finally, I packed up most of the rest for later enjoyment.



I would really recommend the Hi Mountain cure to anyone who wants to try this. I am planning to make some back bacon (i.e. Canadian bacon) next time I see tenderloins on sale.
 
That looks really good. I sure like the looks of those greens with the BB.

Butts are my favorite for BB, I think tenderloins are my least favorite. Loins come in second, a little less flavorful than butts, but I like the lower fat of them, so actually I make them pretty often.
 
Your food looks awesome.
Wayne I agree with you. Took some loins and made Canadian Bacon.
My friends went nuts over it. My wife loved it. I hated it.

I got two 7 pound bone in butts that I just thawed out. Going to probably bone them out and try the Hi Mountain bb mix and rub them both tomorrow.

Not to highjack this thread here but I need to know? Does it really taste like bacon that I buy at the local grocery store?

I would appreciate any and all thoughts here.
 
bbqbull said:
Wayne I agree with you. Took some loins and made Canadian Bacon.
My friends went nuts over it. My wife loved it. I hated it.

I got two 7 pound bone in butts that I just thawed out. Going to probably bone them out and try the Hi Mountain bb mix and rub them both tomorrow.

Not to highjack this thread here but I need to know? Does it really taste like bacon that I buy at the local grocery store?

I would appreciate any and all thoughts here.
Click to expand...


Butt Buckboard does not really taste like slab bacon .... it's more like ham where as loin buckboard is similar to Canadian bacon.
 
bbqbull said:
Not to highjack this thread here but I need to know? Does it really taste like bacon that I buy at the local grocery store?

I would appreciate any and all thoughts here.
Click to expand...

No worries about hijacking.

The bacon tastes a lot like bacon I have had in traditional English breakfasts--much leaner than American bacon, but with more than enough fat to carry the flavor. Since you only smoke the butts to 140F, there is plenty of fat left in the meat which renders when you fry it.

I'm pretty sure you will like the results of your work. Just make sure to soak the meat for a good couple of hours before you put it on or it will be excessively salty.
 
thirdeye said:
Butt Buckboard does not really taste like slab bacon .... it's more like ham where as loin buckboard is similar to Canadian bacon.[/quote

Thanks Wayne.........we love ham here.

I will definately move forward and bone out those 2 butts and give them the HiMountain BB treatment.:biggrin::biggrin::biggrin:

It will definately make momma happy!
Click to expand...
 
Looks great. I really need to try some this holiday season. What about using a fresh pork belly?
 
smokinbadger said:
No worries about hijacking.

The bacon tastes a lot like bacon I have had in traditional English breakfasts--much leaner than American bacon, but with more than enough fat to carry the flavor. Since you only smoke the butts to 140F, there is plenty of fat left in the meat which renders when you fry it.

I'm pretty sure you will like the results of your work. Just make sure to soak the meat for a good couple of hours before you put it on or it will be excessively salty.
Click to expand...

Yeah, at least a couple of hours.....just as important is a 2 or 3 hour rest. A lot of times I go overnight. The rest lets all of the liquids that were in motion during the soak out settle down and equalize.
 
smokinbadger said:
No worries about hijacking.

The bacon tastes a lot like bacon I have had in traditional English breakfasts--much leaner than American bacon, but with more than enough fat to carry the flavor. Since you only smoke the butts to 140F, there is plenty of fat left in the meat which renders when you fry it.

I'm pretty sure you will like the results of your work. Just make sure to soak the meat for a good couple of hours before you put it on or it will be excessively salty.
Click to expand...

thirdeye said:
Yeah, at least a couple of hours.....just as important is a 2 or 3 hour rest. A lot of times I go overnight. The rest lets all of the liquids that were in motion during the soak out settle down and equalize.
Click to expand...


After reading Jeffs post about the salty meat earlier this evening that was going to be my next question.

Thanks guys for the awnsers.

We have a new camera and I will try and post some pics of the process as well, no promises.
 
bbqbull said:
After reading Jeffs post about the salty meat earlier this evening that was going to be my next question.

Thanks guys for the awnsers.

We have a new camera and I will try and post some pics of the process as well, no promises.
Click to expand...

If there is any concern about saltiness, or if you have to leave the meat in the cure longer than planned, you can soak longer. It's not exact, but you can slice some after soaking a few hours and fry it slow to get an idea of the saltiness.
 
thirdeye said:
If there is any concern about saltiness, or if you have to leave the meat in the cure longer than planned, you can soak longer. It's not exact, but you can slice some after soaking a few hours and fry it slow to get an idea of the saltiness.
Click to expand...


Great advice Thirdeye and I thank you.
 
ok - hijack mode - what about a whole side of bacon? Not sure if that's a pork belly or not. We get a whole side cut it up into 1# increments and freeze them. Putting some cure would do wonders. Anyone ever make their own cure or is that the same as your rubs?
 
thirdeye said:
If there is any concern about saltiness, or if you have to leave the meat in the cure longer than planned, you can soak longer. It's not exact, but you can slice some after soaking a few hours and fry it slow to get an idea of the saltiness.
Click to expand...

I agree. I let mine cure for 13 days shifting and rubbing it (through the vac-u-suc bag) every couple of days. I then soaked it for a little over 2 hours (changing the water twice). I then let it rest in the fridge over night and for an additional hour on the counter before following the smoking instructions...

I also like the idea of slicing & frying it to check the saltyness...

We, Ramona and I (the real one, not my smoker (not that the smoker doesn't have an oppion too)) think the taste is close to regular slab bacon but the texture is close to canadian... I'm going to have to pick up more Boston Butts!!!
 
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