Buckboard "butt" Bacon question?

[Bill-Chicago]

okay, I'm sold.

Adding this to my to do list too.

Thanks Midnight!!

[Solidkick]

Looks good to me! Happy Eating!

[parrothead]

Adding this to my to do list too

Careful Bill. Don't want to lose to much of that city in you.
You are slowly becoming countrified.

[The_Kapn]

I am convinced, at least enough to try
Everthing I read says it tastes somewhere between bacon and ham.
Mostly compared to Canadian Bacon.
I love all three, so can't loose

6.5# Butt into cure today--the 12th is "smoke-it-up and eat it" day.
Gonna be a long 10 days

I have $11.63 invested to include meat, cure, charcoal, and a 2 gal ZipLock bag. Will see how it prices out per # at the end

Oh Yeah--"Ordering Cure 101".
Cure from Hi Mountain costs $3.50 for each box. Each box cures 25# of Butt and has three individual packs to make it perfect for one butt/pack. Shipping was $4.95. I "bumped" the quantity up and shipping stayed at $4.95 till I reached three boxes. So, I got enough cure for 75# of Butt for $15.45--Total.
Cheap cost per butt
Just like ordering chopsticks

TIM

[jgh1204]

You convinced me to try, my order is on its way.

[Neil]

Coppied this (first time I have ever coppied and pasted! Woo Hoo!!!) from the BBQ Board web site. Been meaning to try it for over a year but keep forgetting. Need to get started on a Wednesday if your going to cook it on Satruday.


Buck Board Bacon....by Jim Morgan


As I write this, I am curing my first buckboard bacon, a homemade bacon made not from the pork belly, but from the pork shoulder. I haven't tried it yet, but from reading many other's opinions, it is divine.

A little history first, then the process of makin' bacon!

We travel back in time to the old west, where pioneers used every part of the pig except the squeal. One of the most important parts of the pig was lard, used for cooking and making soap. This came mainly from the pork belly, which of course is where bacon comes from today.
Ever notice how much fat is in each strip of bacon that you buy at the store? Now you get the picture. That valuable pork fat (which rules, as Emeril says), was necessary for survival. However, curing a pork shoulder, then smoking it to 140 degrees, could deliver a lean, tasty bacon! And the pioneers needed hearty breakfasts, with big, thick slices of bacon. Some of my internet friends who made this swore by it, saying I'd never go back to store-bought bacon again. So I ordered some cure from www.himtnjerky.com. The directions were fairly simple except they called for a ten day curing process! Basically, you rubbed a butt with the cure, put it in a plastic bag for 10 days, and waited. And waited. I had never anticipated a breakfast so much!

Here's the directions, using the Hi Mountain cure, followed by a homemade cure with directions...


Debone a Boston Butt, or use a boneless butt, weighing about 5 pounds. Slice in half lengthwise so that each
piece is about 3 to 3 and half inches thick. This allows the rub to cure the meat properly. Rub the cure in thoroughly, and don't forget the sides.

Put the butts in plastic ziplock bags and put in the refrigerator for 10 days. Turn every few days.

Now we're ready to smoke. Rinse well and pat dry. If it's not dry, the color won't be as appealing. Let the meat stand at room temp for an hour while preparing the smoker. Heat smoker to 150 degrees for 45 minutes without smoke. Increase the temp to 200 and add the smoke woods ( your choice here..apple sounds good).
Smoke until the temp hits 140 degrees. Let the bacon cool.

It's easier to slice thin if you refirgerate it. And as Hi Mountain says, you now the leanest and most flavorful bacon you ever ate! It will cook twice as fast as regular bacon without all the fat, so keep and eye on it while you fry it up.


Now heres a homemade cure, although I've never tried it.

1/2 cup of brown sugar
1/2 cup of tender quick

The recipe for this one called for a 7 day curing period, then rinsing and drying, and brushing with maple syrup, honey or molasses.

Smoke at 200 degrees until the meat hits 140.


It is now the day after I smoked the bacon. I removed the two butt halves, rinsed well, and soaked in water for just over an hour. I then smoked at 200 degrees on
my WSM using Kingsford Charcoal, apple chunks and cherry chips. After a matter of hours the temp got to 140 degrees so I shut down the smoker and let the meat cool down for an hour. I then brought the meat inside, let it cool for another couple of hours and bagged them and put them in the fridge. Normally I wouldn't let them sit out so long but I fell asleep on the couch!

The next morning I pulled the meat out and began to slice. The refigerated meat cuts a lot easier than the warm meat, so I was able to make fairly thin slices with my Henckel knife.

The result was a lot of strips and some left over chunks and pieces.

I fried up two lean pieces. They tasted like a bacon flavored ham. The crisp texture of thin storebought bacon was not there. It was more like the texture of ham. I plan on frying up some of the fattier pieces and seeing how that tastes.

I would call the taste something of a mix between country ham, city ham, and bacon. It's pretty dang good. However, if I told folks I was serving them bacon they would probably call this ham. Still, all reviews have been very positive. I took biscuits with buckboard bacon to work on Monday and everyone loved them. Also gave the neighbors some for them to try.

The cost of making this is slightly over a dollar a pound, depending on what you paid for the boston butts.
The cure is really cheap. Bacon can go for three dollars a pound to over six dollars a pound in the stores. Same with ham. I consider this a really
cost effective, fun way to come up with a smokey breakfast meat. Tastes great, and is cheap to make!

[Neil]

I will be buying a butt and some tender quick today to celebrate my first ever copy and pasting!

[The_Kapn]

Neil,
I read that whilst researching Buckboard Bacon.
Pretty interesting and consistant with the other stuff posted around.
I question his pricing--I paid about $1.20/# for the butt. He may have found his for 60 cents/# or something. Or he is ignoring fuel cost, bags (if used), etc. Even smoking to only 140, I expect some real shrinkage.
I am expecting somewhere in the mid to upper $2 range/# when I weigh it out after smoking. I figure it will be about double the meat cost. Just my guess.

At the cost of Hi Mountain--really cheap at $1.74 per butt--I decided to rely on their proven product before I experimented. Just me

Let us know how it comes out.

Most of his input is a cut and paste from the Hi Mountain site.
Nice job on your first "cut and paste". Congratulations. We have some experienced experts around if you ever need help

TIM

[Ron_L]

My attempt at canadian bacon ising TQ and brown sugar tasted very good, but i screwed up in the smoking process and cooked it too long, so it was dry. A fattier cut. like a butt, would probably have been mor forgiving.

The info the Neil cut and paste (nice job!) talks about cutting the butt into pieces. I wonder if using pre-cut boneless country-style ribs (usually cut from a butt) would work?

[jgh1204]

Just deboned my butts, sliced in half, applied the cure, rolled them back up. They are now in the fridge curing. My question is, they are about 2 inches thick. I think I will cut the curing time back to 7 days since they say 10 days for 3 to 3.5 inches.

[The_Kapn]

Originally Posted by jgh1204

Just deboned my butts, sliced in half, applied the cure, rolled them back up. They are now in the fridge curing. My question is, they are about 2 inches thick. I think I will cut the curing time back to 7 days since they say 10 days for 3 to 3.5 inches.

I really don't think this is rocket science here.
I have almost exactly the same "profile" curing in the frig--due to cook on Thursday at a full 10 days curing.
I will post when I am done (probably Friday to cool and cut) and let you know if 10 is the "magic" number
Kinda like wet aging beef or smoking temps--never felt like the product knew the difference of a week or so either way or a 10 degrees variation of temp--just start with the concept and go from there

Let Ya Know.

TIM

[The_Kapn]

Originally Posted by kapndsl

I really don't think this is rocket science here.
I have almost exactly the same "profile" curing in the frig--due to cook on Thursday at a full 10 days curing.
I will post when I am done (probably Friday to cool and cut) and let you know if 10 is the "magic" number
Kinda like wet aging beef or smoking temps--never felt like the product knew the difference of a week or so either way or a 10 degrees variation of temp--just start with the concept and go from there

Let Ya Know.

TIM

Quoting myself here--first sign of Old Zhimers
But, it is Thursday night and the "BB Bacon" is done.
Fantastic stuff

Followed the directions exactly except:
Could not "shut down the fire and let it cool" because a brisket is going! Pulled BBB from WSM after 4 hours at 220 degree (147 meat temp) and just coolered for an hour. Same basic process!
Put the two chunks in the freezer for 2.5 hours and sliced with powered meat slicer to 1/4" thick.

Yield was 5# + 1 oz for a final cost/ pound of $2.3127861..(rounded off, of course)

Cooked up a few slices--takes very little time to brown and finish.
TOO DIE FOR!
As stated in other places--not bacon, not ham, not Canadian Bacon--but a perfect mix of all--at least for me.

Curing time--10 days and I flipped the ZipLock every couple of days if I was in the cold frig anyway. Rinsed per directions.
Salty, but not overpowering at all.
Even Karen said--OK (with reservations).
Adjust curing time if ya want--your call.

Changes (lessons learned)???- gonna do 2 or 3 butts next time to justify the "slicer clean up" time
It freezes fine

My arsenal has just been expanded--new butts go in the cure in a day or 2--can't get too far behind!

No pics--It looked just like Midnights

TIM

[Jeff_in_KC]

Thanks for the link... gonna get mine in cure on Tuesday evening for a Saturday cook a week from this Saturday!

[ricksegers]

The first time I did mine, my wife took one ite and asked if I was sure this stuff was legal. I have to make it everytime daughter comes home from college. We can't hardly eat regular bacon any more.

Rick

[Kevin]

Ok, here is a Do Not. Don't use Morton hickory flavored cure. At least don't go by their directions. I did an 8 pound butt. By Morton directions I rubbed it,cure 1 week,rub again,cure 1 week, rub again, cure a third week. Rinse in lukewarm water 1 hour (I did 2 hours,changing water once). Back in fridge 2 days, then low and slow to 140. Cooled, sliced, fried like bacon. The salt content here would float a barge. The cats won't even eat it!

Oh well. If I didn't screw something up once in awhile, I wouldn't appreciate the good stuff. It's tender quick and brown sugar next time.

Kevin