How to Slice BBB

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mds51

Meat Mopper
Original poster
Nov 10, 2011
213
23
Oklahoma City
Good Morning Forum Members
I have made a lot of BBB from the great information that I have learned from this forum and using the AMNPS from Todd Johnson. The quality of this product is fantastic and I rarely buy store bought bacon anymore. My question is about cutting the BBB with the grain of the meat or against the grain of the meat. Has anyone experimented with cutting it both ways and are there any advantages to either way such as texture or toughness? Also if you have not tried Todd Johnson`s recipe for Bacon Cure you should. It is great and the taste is really good. I never have to soak the meat that I am curing and all I do is coat the meat with pure Maple Syrup while it is forming the pellicle in the fridge before I smoke it . I make BBB and Canadian Bacon this way and the results are always excellent.
Thanks for all the great advice and enjoyment that myself and family and friends get from this great hobby.
Michael Schwartz
 
I've never paid attention to the grain when cutting BBB. I always align my knife with the longest side and cut parallel to that side. Maybe I 'll have to pay attention to the grain more.
 
I just looked back at some of the old threads and realized that I have asked this question before when I first got started smoking. the general advise to cut against the grain and that is what I have been doing. One comment though was that these cuts tend to have grain going in different directions and can be hard to distinguish the grain. Another mentioned slicing the long side of the piece and this tends to be what I see as against the grain. Also mentioned was chilling the BBB until nice and firm helps when trying to get nice thin slices. So in the long run reposting this question got me the information I need and as always I learned or was reminded on important steps to take to make the end results better.
Thanks Everyone
mds51
 
Only thing I can say is I slice my BBB across the length of the Butt, so the pieces end up real puuurdy. (See Pic below)

I never noticed any difference in the direction of slicing any of my Bacons.

And yes---I like to freeze mine for up to 4 hours before slicing for easier slicing.

I also never had to soak any of my Bacon to get rid of salt flavor, except the one time I used Hi Mountain cure & seasoning.

Bear

All sliced up pretty:
adp6aw.jpg
 
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