Tried my first buckboard bacon. It was tough waiting out the time from cure to smoker, I tell you! I trimmed out half a pork butt (other half went to carnitas). I trimmed it about 1" to 1.5" thick, and decided to smoke it flat rather than roll it, figuring it would smoke faster and be easier to slice like bacon. Here's part of the boneless butt, trimmed to just over an inch thick:
Then I mixed up the cure and spices - Morton Tender Quick, a couple of rounded tablespoons of fresh black pepper, and some granulated garlic for flavor. This mix was rubbed thoroughly over all exposed surfaces of the meat, into the recesses and any cracks, making sure there were no spots left uncoated:
Next comes the hardest part - waiting. the rubbed meat was put into a gallon Ziploc and placed in the coldest part of the fridge for 12 days. Each day I turned it over to make sure it cured evenly. Into the smoker it went at 225 degrees until it reached an internal temperature of 150 degrees. It was pulled and left to cool on the counter. Once it was cooled, it was time to slice. I used a 12" roast beef slicing knife, since a good slicer is fighting for position with a good sausage stuffer on my list of things to buy. Here is the finished product:
Starting to slice through it, you can see just how lean it is compared to regular belly bacon. I could have left a large fat cap on the meat, which would have given a nice fat strip on the upper surface. Personal preference, really, but here's how my slices came out :
Three and a half pounds of buckboard bacon, fresh from the smoker and sliced. I can't wait to be eating on this:
Here's a closer view of the slices, with a good look at the typical fat/meat percentage in this slab. Lots more meat to eat, lots left fat left in the pan, on the plate, or in your arteries!
Then I mixed up the cure and spices - Morton Tender Quick, a couple of rounded tablespoons of fresh black pepper, and some granulated garlic for flavor. This mix was rubbed thoroughly over all exposed surfaces of the meat, into the recesses and any cracks, making sure there were no spots left uncoated:
Next comes the hardest part - waiting. the rubbed meat was put into a gallon Ziploc and placed in the coldest part of the fridge for 12 days. Each day I turned it over to make sure it cured evenly. Into the smoker it went at 225 degrees until it reached an internal temperature of 150 degrees. It was pulled and left to cool on the counter. Once it was cooled, it was time to slice. I used a 12" roast beef slicing knife, since a good slicer is fighting for position with a good sausage stuffer on my list of things to buy. Here is the finished product:
Starting to slice through it, you can see just how lean it is compared to regular belly bacon. I could have left a large fat cap on the meat, which would have given a nice fat strip on the upper surface. Personal preference, really, but here's how my slices came out :
Three and a half pounds of buckboard bacon, fresh from the smoker and sliced. I can't wait to be eating on this:
Here's a closer view of the slices, with a good look at the typical fat/meat percentage in this slab. Lots more meat to eat, lots left fat left in the pan, on the plate, or in your arteries!