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Boneless beef short ribs for beef bacon?

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worktogthr

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So I got a great deal on choice boneless beef short ribs at restaurant depot. Price reduction because they were mislabeled as chicken breast. Not sure why they don't relabel them and charge full price but for 2.50 per pound I am not complaining. There were 4 slabs in the cryovac and I was wondering if I could use one of the thicker ones as beef bacon? I'll probably use the others for Korean BBQ, smoked short ribs, etc. but the shape and the amount of fat made me think of bacon. Here's some pics:



Thanks everyone!
 

bmaddox

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I don't know about the beef bacon but they sure look good. I wouldn't have been able to pass them up either. At that price I would try curing one and see what happens. 
 

smokerjim

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not sure if it will taste like bacon,it might but my guess it will be more like corned beef or pastrami,let us know
 

worktogthr

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not sure if it will taste like bacon,it might but my guess it will be more like corned beef or pastrami,let us know
I'm guessing the same thing. Probably be like breakfast pastrami which wouldn't be a bad thing
 

tropics

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They would be like thin pieces of Prime Rib,low and slow would be the best way to go. IMHO

Richie
 

Bearcarver

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They would be like thin pieces of Prime Rib,low and slow would be the best way to go. IMHO

Richie
yeahthat.gif
 That's what I would do with it since it's boneless.

However almost anything would be good with those Beauties!!

The only thing I wouldn't do with it is Cure it.

Bear
 

worktogthr

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Hahah well unfortunately, before I read all of this... I did this:



But don't worry... I only used one of the 4 pieces I had. And it was one of the smaller ones. Also, I saw a thread about beef bacon where Pops explained that his dad used boneless beef rib meat to make beef bacon. It was the plate rib, which looks more like traditional bacon but I am resting on the hopes that beef rib meat is beef rib meat!

Sunday I might smoke/braise one of the other racks. I have done bone in short ribs and I do them just like brisket or ribs, until toothpick tender.

Wish me luck!
 

Bearcarver

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Hahah well unfortunately, before I read all of this... I did this:


But don't worry... I only used one of the 4 pieces I had. And it was one of the smaller ones. Also, I saw a thread about beef bacon where Pops explained that his dad used boneless beef rib meat to make beef bacon. It was the plate rib, which looks more like traditional bacon but I am resting on the hopes that beef rib meat is beef rib meat!

Sunday I might smoke/braise one of the other racks. I have done bone in short ribs and I do them just like brisket or ribs, until toothpick tender.

Wish me luck!
I'm sure it will be fine.

The only reason I said I wouldn't cure it is because the only time I personally cure Beef is for Dried Beef, and for that I want "ZERO" Fat. Then I take it low & slow to a 160° IT & slice it paper thin.

The parts you cured could end up similar to Pastrami. Luck be with you!!

Bear
 

worktogthr

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I'm sure it will be fine.

The only reason I said I wouldn't cure it is because the only time I personally cure Beef is for Dried Beef, and for that I want "ZERO" Fat. Then I take it low & slow to a 160° IT & slice it paper thin.

The parts you cured could end up similar to Pastrami. Luck be with you!!

Bear

I'm pretty sure it will taste a lot like pastrami too. Only thing is instead of the onion powder, garlic and pepper I put in when curing bacon, when making corned beef I usually add pickling spice to Pop's brine. So we shall see. Breakfast meat that tastes like a cross between pastrami and bacon sounds darn good haha. I'll be sure to share. I've always used your warm smoke for bacon for about 10-12 hours and love the way it comes out!
 

worktogthr

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Dont slice ur beef bacon as thick as u do pork bacon tougher!!
Thanks for the tip... Wouldn't have thought about that! Thankfully I like my bacon on the thinner side anyway.
 

worktogthr

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I smoked one piece today kind of like a brisket, until toothpick tender. Coated with SPOG and hung it in my PBC for about 3.5 hours, then foiled it for about an hour and half with some beef broth and then unwrapped it and cooked until probe tender. Lost track of how long the final unwrapped part took. The grain was all over the place so I did my best. Turned out it didn't matter as every piece was really tender, probably due to higher fat content. Here's the couple of pics I snapped.


Thanks for looking and I'll be back when the bacon is done!
 

doctord1955

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Id say the pieces of meat u have come from the rib plate adjacent to the brisket!  So if you figure out how the ribs ran so that when u slice it for bacon u slice same direction as ribs u will mostly slice cross grain so u have tender bacon!
 

worktogthr

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Id say the pieces of meat u have come from the rib plate adjacent to the brisket!  So if you figure out how the ribs ran so that when u slice it for bacon u slice same direction as ribs u will mostly slice cross grain so u have tender bacon!

That's good advice! Wouldnt have tought of that! Thanks!
 
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worktogthr

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I grew up in a mom an pop locker plant and we made tons of beef bacon for farmers!

Which cut did you use? And bald to your other post before. On one side of the short ribs you can clearly see where the bones were removed, so I will cut with the bones when slicing my bacon. I will have to say the grain ran in a couple of different directions when I smoked this one tonight.
 
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foamheart

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It sure looks good. You can see the collagen broke down. Looks delicious. 
 
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doctord1955

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You use the belly plate just like u do on pork!  At that time no used brisket for anything other than soup bones or hamburger!
 
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