Buckboard Bacon

I have been wanting to give this a shot as the shoulder is always cheaper than the belly around here and it just plain sounds so good. I started off getting a couple of slabs of shoulder nice and trimmed about the thickness of belly bacon. Three pounds between the two.

Into a gallon sized ziplock with water, salt, pink salt, pepper, brown sugar, molasses syrup and cayenne.

Chilled in the fridge for 10 days turning and rubbing daily. Rinsed off the brine and on to the Weber with some hickory around 210°. Chicken thighs for salad and linguica for snacking too.

I pulled the bacon at 145° and let it rest for about a half an hour then got it cooling to slice then threw some burgers on for lunch.

Of course I had a taste right after the rest to make sure it was good...fantastic!

Seems I nailed the medium burger as well with a couple of nice, thick slabs of bacon I fried up in a pan with a smearing of tzatziki sauce because I had some to use.

All in all I think it was a success. Perfect amount of salt with just a little sweet and a nice bit of heat. It tastes good and that is really what matters. Thanks for checking it out. ~T