• The “Pastrami Bacon” Experiment + Bonus BLaT Sammich

Moose · 09-18-2020, 06:00 PM

I’m not sure exactly how it happened, but about 3 weeks ago, I revisited a few threads here about pork belly burnt ends. This led me to doing some research on making my own bacon, which then led me to a Steven Raichlen recipe for Pastrami Bacon. You can read more about it HERE.

I was intrigued and fascinated. A few days later, The Missus and I agreed we’d give it a try, so she went on an excursion to Costco to pick up some pork belly. I was expecting something in the range of 5 lbs, but all they had were 10 pounders, so that’s what jumped in her cart. It was quite the whopper.

We decided to cut the belly in 3 equal parts, and froze the other two for later use. One of them will certainly wind up as pork belly burnt ends. The 3 and some pound belly portion that wasn’t frozen was brined 5 days, according to the recipe, though we skipped the second brine injection after the 3 day mark in the brine.

I departed from the rub ingredients and went with Katz’s Pastrami Rub, which I’ve been using for years.

Katz's Pastrami Rub Recipe

The brined and rubbed pork belly went into the offset for 5 hours, using only oak as my fuel source. I pulled the belly out when the IT reached 150 degrees, though the recipe advised a 160 internal pulling temp.

It was then refrigerated overnight.

The next day, the pastrami bacon was pulled out of the fridge. Here’s what it looked like:

We sliced the bacon into thirds lengthwise, so it could be easily fed into the electric slicer for uniform thick slices:

All sliced up:

At this point, we had to try some, so The Missus cooked up 4 test slices in the oven. (Oven cooking produces flatter, more evenly cooked bacon than griddle or pan cooking.)

The verdict?

It tasted like bacon. And…it tasted like pastrami. More pronounced bacon flavor, though, which I liked. It was delicious, especially the flavor and texture from the outer edges which were encrusted with rub, which cooked up into nice little crispy bits

The rest of the pastrami bacon was used in a BLaT(Bacon, Lettuce, Avocado, Tomato) Sammich.

Would I make pastrami bacon again?

In a heartbeat.

Titch · 09-18-2020, 06:04 PM

Looks very tasty

tom b · 09-18-2020, 07:06 PM

Home Run!

Mike Twangzer · 09-18-2020, 07:12 PM

Good Loed !!!! Phenomenal !!!!

CivilTrojan · 09-18-2020, 07:15 PM

Looks like heaven!! I have some tomatoes from the garden begging to be used, just wish I had some cooked bacon ready to go!!!

Hoss · 09-18-2020, 07:21 PM

Outstanding!

TC Smoke & Que · 09-18-2020, 07:48 PM

Richard, The only words I have are: WOW!!!! OH,WOW!!!!!

This is something I want to try, and eat. You absolutely Killed That!!

Big George's BBQ · 09-18-2020, 08:18 PM

That looks and sounds amazing Richard. Great write up

Stingerhook · 09-18-2020, 09:39 PM

All I can say is "Hell Yeah".

ShadowDriver · 09-18-2020, 09:43 PM

I love bacon.
I love pastrami.

I love making pastrami, but have never tried making bacon.

I need a reasonable slicing machine.

There is trouble and also amazingly delicious shenanigans associated with this post that I look forward to exploring.

Fire and Ice · 09-19-2020, 06:42 AM

So nice. Great job!

Moose · 09-19-2020, 01:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TC Smoke & Que

Richard, The only words I have are: WOW!!!! OH,WOW!!!!!

This is something I want to try, and eat. You absolutely Killed That!!

Hope you give it a shot!

Moose · 09-20-2020, 11:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tom b

Home Run!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mike Twangzer

Good Loed !!!! Phenomenal !!!!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Big George's BBQ

That looks and sounds amazing Richard. Great write up

Thanks, gents! We finished up the last of it for BLT's yesterday!

ssv3 · 09-20-2020, 12:11 PM

Wow! My kinda sammich Richard. Love all the ingredients.

JRDINCC · 09-20-2020, 01:03 PM

Looking great. Gunna go on my to do list.

09-18-2020, 06:00 PM	#1
Moose somebody shut me the fark up. Join Date: 10-12-08 Location: Gallatin, TN Name/Nickname : Richard	• The “Pastrami Bacon” Experiment + Bonus BLaT Sammich I’m not sure exactly how it happened, but about 3 weeks ago, I revisited a few threads here about pork belly burnt ends. This led me to doing some research on making my own bacon, which then led me to a Steven Raichlen recipe for Pastrami Bacon. You can read more about it HERE. I was intrigued and fascinated. A few days later, The Missus and I agreed we’d give it a try, so she went on an excursion to Costco to pick up some pork belly. I was expecting something in the range of 5 lbs, but all they had were 10 pounders, so that’s what jumped in her cart. It was quite the whopper. We decided to cut the belly in 3 equal parts, and froze the other two for later use. One of them will certainly wind up as pork belly burnt ends. The 3 and some pound belly portion that wasn’t frozen was brined 5 days, according to the recipe, though we skipped the second brine injection after the 3 day mark in the brine. I departed from the rub ingredients and went with Katz’s Pastrami Rub, which I’ve been using for years. Katz's Pastrami Rub Recipe The brined and rubbed pork belly went into the offset for 5 hours, using only oak as my fuel source. I pulled the belly out when the IT reached 150 degrees, though the recipe advised a 160 internal pulling temp. It was then refrigerated overnight. The next day, the pastrami bacon was pulled out of the fridge. Here’s what it looked like: We sliced the bacon into thirds lengthwise, so it could be easily fed into the electric slicer for uniform thick slices: All sliced up: At this point, we had to try some, so The Missus cooked up 4 test slices in the oven. (Oven cooking produces flatter, more evenly cooked bacon than griddle or pan cooking.) The verdict? It tasted like bacon. And…it tasted like pastrami. More pronounced bacon flavor, though, which I liked. It was delicious, especially the flavor and texture from the outer edges which were encrusted with rub, which cooked up into nice little crispy bits The rest of the pastrami bacon was used in a BLaT(Bacon, Lettuce, Avocado, Tomato) Sammich. Would I make pastrami bacon again? In a heartbeat. __________________ Moose *Showcase Your Cooking in the BBQ Brethren Throwdowns!* 2017's "Mayo Explosion" The 2022 Steak Cooking Controversy: Follow the Science! Check out my blog: www.mooseonfire.com
	2 members found this post helpful.

09-18-2020, 06:04 PM	#2
Titch somebody shut me the fark up. Join Date: 11-17-12 Location: South East Victoria Australia Name/Nickname : Titch :-)	Looks very tasty __________________ Some people are like a Slinky-not really good for anything, but still , you can't help smiling when you shove them down the stairs.:becky:

09-18-2020, 07:06 PM	#3
tom b somebody shut me the fark up. Join Date: 10-12-15 Location: Temecula, CA	Home Run! __________________ LSG 24x48 offset, MAK 2 Star General, Built in Santa Maria Pit, Weber Performer Deluxe 22 w/CB Rotisserie, Blackstone Pizza Oven, WGA, A PBC A 26'er AND A Jumbo Joe

09-18-2020, 08:18 PM	#8
Big George's BBQ somebody shut me the fark up. Join Date: 02-07-08 Location: Framingham, MA Name/Nickname : George	That looks and sounds amazing Richard. Great write up __________________ Large BIG Green EGG- Hatched 8/17/09 Backwoods Extented Party- sold Weber Genesis Gasser Mid Atlantic BBQ Association KCBS Back Porch BBQ Competition BBQ Team Proud Member of the Zero Club When all else fails ask yourself WWGALD

09-18-2020, 09:39 PM	#9
Stingerhook somebody shut me the fark up. Join Date: 02-13-12 Location: SE Florida Name/Nickname : Marty	All I can say is "Hell Yeah". __________________ Marty UDS now gone, WSM 18", WSM 22" and pellet pooper in the garage for 18 months now.

09-18-2020, 07:12 PM	#4
Mike Twangzer is Blowin Smoke! Join Date: 06-20-14 Location: Driftwood, Texas	Good Loed !!!! Phenomenal !!!!

09-18-2020, 07:15 PM	#5
CivilTrojan is one Smokin' Farker Join Date: 06-18-20 Location: Los Angeles, CA Name/Nickname : Chad	Looks like heaven!! I have some tomatoes from the garden begging to be used, just wish I had some cooked bacon ready to go!!!

09-18-2020, 07:21 PM	#6
Hoss Quintessential Chatty Farker Join Date: 12-31-09 Location: Hernando,MS	Outstanding!

09-18-2020, 07:48 PM	#7
TC Smoke & Que is One Chatty Farker Join Date: 05-22-18 Location: Port Saint Lucie Florida Name/Nickname : Rick	Richard, The only words I have are: WOW!!!! OH,WOW!!!!! This is something I want to try, and eat. You absolutely Killed That!!

09-18-2020, 09:43 PM	#10
ShadowDriver somebody shut me the fark up. Join Date: 11-29-12 Location: ABQ, NM Name/Nickname : Marc	I love bacon. I love pastrami. I love making pastrami, but have never tried making bacon. I need a reasonable slicing machine. There is trouble and also amazingly delicious shenanigans associated with this post that I look forward to exploring. __________________ [B]Hardware[/B] - Weber 22.5 Kettle (Sep '16), OK Joe Longhorn (Mar '17), UUNI 3 Pizza Oven (Jan '18 ), Blue Rhino Razor Griddle (May '19), Cajun Bandit 22.5 Roti (Aug '20), Weber 26.75 Kettle (Dec '20)

09-19-2020, 06:42 AM	#11
Fire and Ice Full Fledged Farker Join Date: 07-13-20 Location: Morgan City, LA. Name/Nickname : Big Daddy	So nice. Great job! __________________ _______________ [B]Equipment[/B] Lang offset, Gator offset Backwoods, UDS Weber 22, Smokey Joe,Weber go anywhere Grilla Grill Black Stone Americana Walk About

09-20-2020, 12:11 PM	#14
ssv3 somebody shut me the fark up. Join Date: 07-25-12 Location: Los Angeles Name/Nickname : Sako	Wow! My kinda sammich Richard. Love all the ingredients. __________________ LSG 24x30 V/O Yoder YS640 DCS 36 Gasser Blackstone Griddle Retrofit Blackstone Pizza Oven WSJ(K) WGA(P) WJJ(CU) W22(BI) W26(CL) Pit Barrer Junior Kingsford Oval (resto mod)

09-20-2020, 01:03 PM	#15
JRDINCC Full Fledged Farker Join Date: 12-06-12 Location: Cyn Cntry Ca. Name/Nickname : Duke	Looking great. Gunna go on my to do list.