# Buck Board Bacon by SQWIB - Photo Overload



## sqwib

*Woohoo first post using Flickr*​ ​*September 22, 2012*​*Buck Board Bacon*










 ​*Ingredients:*​
One pork shoulder (Boston Butt)
2 tablespoons of Sugar per pound of meat (I will cut this in half next time)
1 tablespoon Mortons Tenderquick per pound of meat
Garlic powder add liberally
Onion Powder add liberally
Cracked Pepper amount is preference.

*Summary:*​
Deboned and butterflied (do not trim fat)
Cured for 13 days
Pellicle formation one day
Cold Smoked for 36 hours using AMNPS (outside temperature 50° and below, my goal is to keep it under 75°)
Rested 4 days 
Sliced, packaged.
Tested

 ​
*Read this before going any further.*
I am not going to go into the science, safety issues or specifics of curing, that will be your homework.
I suggest doing a bit of research before attempting to cure any thing.
Here is a link to the cure that I use it is called  *Morton[sup][emoji]174[/emoji][/sup] Tender Quick[sup][emoji]174[/emoji][/sup]*

It will be *YOUR RESPONSIBILITY* to make sure your food is safe.

_From Morton's Website.

Morton[sup][emoji]174[/emoji][/sup] Tender Quick[sup][emoji]174[/emoji][/sup] mix contains salt, the main preserving agent; sugar, both sodium nitrate and sodium nitrite, curing agents that also contribute to development of color and flavor; and propylene glycol to keep the mixture uniform. Morton[sup][emoji]174[/emoji][/sup] Tender Quick[sup][emoji]174[/emoji][/sup] mix can be used interchangeably with Morton[sup][emoji]174[/emoji][/sup] Sugar Cure[sup][emoji]174[/emoji][/sup] (Plain) mix. It is NOT a meat tenderizer.

CAUTION: This curing salt is designed to be used at the rate specified in the formulation or recipe. It should not be used at higher levels as results will be inconsistent, cured meats will be too salty, and the finished products may be unsatisfactory. Curing salts should be used only in meat, poultry, game, salmon, shad and sablefish. Curing salts cannot be substituted for regular salt in other food recipes. Always keep meat refrigerated (36° to 40°F) while curing._

_Ok lets get started!_
 





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Remove the bone





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Half the butt along the bone














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This wasn't hard just a bit tedious, I would run my fingers along the bone to get an idea where to cut. Now I have two halves, a fellow smoker only uses the half with the fat cap and uses the bottom half for sausage. For this Bucky I am doing both halves










Cure is added to both sides.


















Brown Sugar is added (2 tablespoons per 1 tablespoon of Tender Quick) Yes I washed my hands before adding the other ingredients.









Onion Powder, Garlic Powder added.







Sealed in Ziploc Bags. Air is squeezed out of the Ziploc bag.







Added some cracked black pepper.










Butts are placed in a pan and into the refrigerator for 13-14 days. Butts are taken out of the refrigerator and massaged every day (don't go there),to insure a safe cure.








Now for a two hour ice bath. I know how this butt feels taking an ice bath, with three girls in the house there's no hot water left for my bath.







Patting dry.









Doing a fry Test.




















 








It was pretty salty but my better half said it was fine.
It's definitely not bacon at this point, more like ham.
Now that it has passed the fry test it's placed in the refrigerator to form a pellicle.



Started the cold smoke with Maple Pellets using my new AMNPS (Smoke Generator) *click here for the review.*





















 


Flipped the bacon , I really don't think it needed to be flipped, but figured it wouldn't hurt anything and sometimes I like to play with my food. Now it's starting to look like bacon.







The next day did another flip. After the firs 11-12 hours I threw some Hickory in the AMNPS.
















OK 36 hours later, lets have a look.















Looking good, lets wrap this in plastic wrap and let it rest in the refrigerator for several days, actually four days.









Four days later...

Ok, this is my favorite part, *slicing time*! I do this in my workshop and open up the garage doors (that's an invitation for my neighbors to stop in and have a beer) Too funny when I think about it, usually when you open the garage door, flies come in, when I open the garage door, neighbors come in.









OMG, does that look awesome or what, I wanted to bite into it RAW!









We got to see that up close.














 


OK time for another fry test.





















Here is a video for the guys that want to hear it sizzle.* TURN UP THE VOLUME.*








Now its time for packaging. I'm a bit anal with presentation of the finished product. I figure, if I'm going to put all this time and effort into something it needs to "look good" as well as "taste good".

This is thin sliced so to try and firm it up a bit, I put it in the freezer for two hours before slicing, the packaging was a bear and would have been easier to do in the garage because the bacon was coming up to room temperature quickly after slicing and was a PITA to get in the vac bag. The garage was about 15° cooler, in retrospect, I should have sliced, threw in the freezer 20 minutes then placed in the vac bags, OH well! Another method would be to place on wax paper slide into the vac bag flip it upside down and peel away the wax paper, I'll try that next time.






 






 








All the bacon is sliced and refrigerated, one pack, I added cracked black pepper to before sealing. I left some out to munch on and give to some buddies.

The scraps can be used for Stews, Chili, Beans, sandwiches etc... Those that didn't make the grade for packaging were used for testing. See the recipes below.
*Buck Board Bacon Breakfast*
*This breakfast sandwich is what I like to refer to as, one of my favorite "Comfort Foods".*









Toasted a Bagel and threw on a thick slice of American Cheese, would much rather have had Cooper sharp, Oh well!







Pat of Bacon Grease.






 






 






 







The bacon was then placed on a dish then microwaved for 10 seconds twice... I'll explain why later.


Tossed the bacon on top of the cheese.








Frying the egg.






 









Egg placed on the bagel.








Glass of milk (my favorite beverage), Cup of Kahlua coffee, Toast with Cream Cheese and Homemade Apple Butter, and of course the main attraction, Bacon Egg and Cheese bagel with SQWIBS Pineapple Habanero Hot Sauce. As I mentioned on this website before, this is the ultimate in "comfort food" for me.
Mm Mmmm Life don't get any better than this. Now I need to make sure I take my Lipitor tonight!






 








 

*Buck Board Bacon Burger*
*This burger was outstanding, the horseradish really made it pop.*







 

 
 
 
Burger
Buck Board Bacon
Cheese
Horseradish
Thick slice Onion
Tomatoes
Jalapeno Pepper slices
Ketchup 
Mustard
A-1 Sauce.
Kaiser Roll







Yeah I know... I need a bigger burger!
*Buck Board Bacon Beans*









Buckboard Bacon
55 oz. Can Bush's Baked Beans
Small Jalapeno
Small Green Pepper
1/2 small onion
1 tsp of Mustard Powder
1/4 cup ketchup
1 tablespoon Worcestershire.






 

 



















 






 






 






 






*Buck Board Bacon Pork and Beans*

*These beans make for a great quick hot lunch during the week.*







Three smoked All Beef Hot Dogs were added to the above recipe.















 
 







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*Buck Board Bacon Flat Bread Pizza*

*Ingredients: Whatever you like!!*








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*Now for some notes:*

The bacon was pretty smoky, not too much but it was fairly strong while eating by itself. However on a sandwich it was perfectly fine. The smoky flavor seems more mellow when eating the bacon cold.

I will cut this back from 36 hours to 18 hours next smoke.


The bacon was also sweet, while the kids and the better half liked it, I am going to cut the sugar in half next time.

It seemed to loose a bit of the salty taste after the smoke, not sure why but it was sweeter after the smoke.

It is fairly close to store bought bacon.

A little trick I picked up messing with the Buckboard Bacon was, if you pan fry it to try and get crispy, it will burn, maybe due to the amount of sugar I used, not really sure, anyhow, here is how I got around that problem, cook the bacon until it's browned real good and microwave it a bit. I microwaved two pieces for 10 seconds twice. When the bacon cools it is crispy and to be frankly honest it's at this point that it tastes very close to store bought bacon.

When I first started out on this Buck Board Bacon venture, my biggest question was *RAW OR COOKED*, seems like most folks say *COOKED* while a smaller group say *RAW*, I just kept saying to myself, "SELF, it's bacon so don't cook it during the smoke", anyhow after much reading I came across something written by a fellow smoking enthusiast Chef Rob

_Chef Rob Quote_:​
_"when i first started doing BBB i took it to a fully cooked state. while i liked it to snack on, i wasn't real happy with the frying for breakfast. IMHO i feel that during the smoke, some of the rendered fat that i saw in the smoker never made it to the pan bringing along it's extra smokie goodness and resulting in that crispyness that belly has.  that's when i decided to #1, look for a fatty butt.
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





   #2 butterfly the butt after deboning to ensure that at least 1/2 of the slice will have some good fattyness to it. and #3,  don't bring it up above 135-140, this way you will need to fry the BBB and render the fat and thus the meat cooks in it's own fat imparting more smoke and other flavors"._

Makes sense to me! Thanks ChefRob

This is when I decided *RAW* is the way to go_._
_Well how does the bacon hold up in recipes and on sandwiches?_

Bacon applied in the real world.

The Buck Board Bacon can hold it's own, however, this stuff really shines when used on sandwiches and in recipes, the extra smokiness and sweetness are welcome for the dishes I have tried so far_._

Breakfast sandwiches are mouthwatering.
The burger was simply outstanding.
The beans are great and the bacon adds enough smoky flavor throughout without having to smoke the beans them self.
I know that there is no BLT listed, I will update this page when I get around to playing with the bacon some more, I gave some to a few friends for testing, hopefully they will have great success with it as I had.

Hopefully this venture into Making ones own Buck Board Bacon will answer some questions folks may have before venturing into this wonderful thing called Buck Board Bacon.

 ​Thanks for tuning in!


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## roller

SQWIB your killing me...I sure hope mine turns out that good. I have a week left in the frig...Yours looks AWESOME !!!  I am doing Pepper...


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## pops6927

Excellent photoshoot, graphics, content and summary!  A top notch instructional!  Great job!


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## scarbelly

Great thread as always. I would sure love a plate of all of it


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## whtplainssmoker

Great post Sqwib!!


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## realtorterry

Are you kidding me man!! Where was this post on my first BBB? Did I miss the butt weight??

Do you think the closer to belly bacon taste was due to the amount of smoke? I didn't smoke that long myself & it had more of a hammie taste?


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## sqwib

realtorterry said:


> Are you kidding me man!! Where was this post on my first BBB? Did I miss the butt weight??
> 
> Do you think the closer to belly bacon taste was due to the amount of smoke? I didn't smoke that long myself & it had more of a hammie taste?


Not really sure but I had the hammy taste during the first fry test checking for salt.

It absolutely does not taste like ham, did you hot smoke it? From what I have read seems like some of the Hot Smoked BBB are hammy?

This was cold smoked for 36 hours at 50° and under, timing of the weather was perfect.

Then it sat wrapped in the refrigerator for four days.


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## mneeley490

Looks great!

I will be doing some BBB this weekend for the first time, and I've been going back and forth on whether to smoke it hot or cold. I think you've convinced me to stick with cold.

The only other bacon I've done is cold belly, and after 11 hours of Pitmaster's choice, the taste seemed like way too much smoke. So I'm still trying to dial that smoke time in.


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## allen

Excellent step by step tutorial, I enjoy making BBB.Thanks SQWIB


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## frosty

Way to go Sqwib!  Another home run, world class "how to".  Thanks!


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## vegassmokeout

*WOW.......*


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## cabin

Great job, thanks for the details.


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## mballi3011

Now this thread will be on a fast track to the tutorial of the year awards. Great job with the photos and the bacon looks awesome to. I know it taste good


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## thoseguys26

*AWESOME!*   This post is like a website within a website.. thanks for taking  the time! BBB is next on my list.


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## s2k9k

Sqwib, I think the only thing your posts are missing is taste-o-vision! You have everything else covered! Awesome!!!! Oh and the BBB looks great too!


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## deanoaz

Is there a grand prize for the post with the most colorful and descriptive tracking of a smoking process?  If so you win hands down!


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## xutfuzzy

I just ripped the sound from your video clip and made it my new ringtone.  True story.


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## mike johnson

I cant wait to do mine now. I have about 14lbs. curing in my fridge that will be ready to be smoked up on Saturday.
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





Your post was very informational.I hope mine looks as good as yours does.


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## sqwib

Roller said:


> SQWIB your killing me...I sure hope mine turns out that good. I have a week left in the frig...Yours looks AWESOME !!!  I am doing Pepper...


Dude I am confident yours will be awesome!


Pops6927 said:


> Excellent photoshoot, graphics, content and summary!  A top notch instructional!  Great job!





Scarbelly said:


> Great thread as always. I would sure love a plate of all of it





WhtPlainsSmoker said:


> Great post Sqwib!!


Thanks guys.


realtorterry said:


> Are you kidding me man!! Where was this post on my first BBB? Did I miss the butt weight??
> 
> Do you think the closer to belly bacon taste was due to the amount of smoke? I didn't smoke that long myself & it had more of a hammie taste?


Butt weight is in 2nd picture, two butts at 14.69lbs so about 7.3 lbs each I only used 1 butt,  whats nice is if you have 7 lbs of butt, you get 7lbs of bacon.


mneeley490 said:


> Looks great!
> 
> I will be doing some BBB this weekend for the first time, and I've been going back and forth on whether to smoke it hot or cold. I think you've convinced me to stick with cold.
> 
> The only other bacon I've done is cold belly, and after 11 hours of Pitmaster's choice, the taste seemed like way too much smoke. So I'm still trying to dial that smoke time in.


That was my only obstacle and very glad I choose cold smoke. I had just done Canadian Bacon and wanted to try a cold smoke, I was extremely satisfied.


Allen said:


> Excellent step by step tutorial, I enjoy making BBB.Thanks SQWIB





Frosty said:


> Way to go Sqwib!  Another home run, world class "how to".  Thanks!





vegassmokeout said:


> *WOW.......*





CABIN said:


> Great job, thanks for the details.


Thank you very much.


mballi3011 said:


> Now this thread will be on a fast track to the tutorial of the year awards. Great job with the photos and the bacon looks awesome to. I know it taste good





thoseguys26 said:


> *AWESOME!*   This post is like a website within a website.. thanks for taking  the time! BBB is next on my list.





S2K9K said:


> Sqwib, I think the only thing your posts are missing is taste-o-vision! You have everything else covered! Awesome!!!! Oh and the BBB looks great too!





deanoaz said:


> Is there a grand prize for the post with the most colorful and descriptive tracking of a smoking process?  If so you win hands down!


Thank you gentleman, it really means a lot when folks get something good from one of my posts, it motivates me to do better. 

Website within a website...that's too cool.

I am big on pics,(as many of you know), sometimes someone can write a book about something and one picture tells more of a story than the book.

I also think its nice to show some photos of how the finished product is being used, gets the creative juices flowing.


xutfuzzy said:


> I just ripped the sound from your video clip and made it my new ringtone.  True story.


Now that is too cool, Can't wait till I tell my wife, she thinks I'm crazy as it is but I never used sizzling bacon for a ringtone, thanks for the smile.


Mike Johnson said:


> I cant wait to do mine now. I have about 14lbs. curing in my fridge that will be ready to be smoked up on Saturday.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Your post was very informational.I hope mine looks as good as yours does.


I am sure it will.

Good Luck

I am sitting in my office typing this eating a cup full of my Buck Board Bacon Pork & Beans, it don't get any better than this.


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## thoseguys26

Is the ice bath just to desalinate the meat and keep it cold or is there something special that is happening with the ice cold temp bath?


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## nozzleman

I believe he was smoking some of the salt out of it during the ice bath soak.  Great post and good looking BBB!


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## rabbithutch

Man oh MAN!

That wiped me out.  Those beans look delicious.  The breakfast bagel have me hunger pangs!

:drool:


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## boykjo

Dang... I missed this one.......
	

	
	
		
		



		
			






.. Freekin awesome Sqwibb...............


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## tjohnson

*I Bow To You My Friend!*


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## shoneyboy

Great job !!!


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## jp61

Very nice!


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## michael ark

Another great post . Everything looks great. You set the bar verry high my friend.:yahoo:


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## diggingdogfarm

Excellent!!!




~Martin


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## dward51

Just regained consciousness from the BBB overload.  Wow, oh wow......  just awesome


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## bordercollie

This is a great instruction  thread!!  Pictures are great too !! Thank you Thank you etc..       !!!!    judy


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## daveomak

Great looking BBB.... and the accompanying photos are killer....  
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





  ....


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## humdinger

Thanks for the inspiration SQWIB. I just ordered an AMNPS so I could start cold smoking stuff and BBB is 2nd on my priority list (the wife wants some smoked cheddar for her holiday mac and cheese so that's 1st).

When it comes to smoking meat, there's always a lot of talk about brisket which is very good, but(t) pork is King to me,..... and BACON (belly and BBB) is the jeweled crown on the King!

Nice pics. Thanks.


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## chef jimmyj

The pics are awesome and I will be heading East for one of them Bagel Breakfast Sammiches ASAP...JJ


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## arnie

I gotta put this on my todo list


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## deanoaz

SQUIB, your my hero.  I have a butt in cure right now that will come out on the week of 11/5 and I am going to be tracking your process.


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## hitechredneck

I know this post is 'older', but I was looking into making some bacon and came across buck board bacon.  I have made some belly bacon before with my grandpa in his smoke house, but I don't think we ever made any out of a pork butt.  (If he did, I don't remember...)

Anyway, being in S. Texas, I don't get much opportunity to make this during the year, so I plan to sick this one in the recipe vault and save for winter time.  At least I get a long time to watch for butt sales :)

I think I'll try to make enough to last my family all year.  
 

One question, in case anyone is still following this thread.  Do you think I'll save $$ by making bacon vs buying it in the store?  Sometimes I know making things at home are more expensive and I justify that by the difference in quality and controlled environment, but this time, I'm just curious.


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## sqwib

HiTechRedNeck said:


> I know this post is 'older', but I was looking into making some bacon and came across buck board bacon.  I have made some belly bacon before with my grandpa in his smoke house, but I don't think we ever made any out of a pork butt.  (If he did, I don't remember...)
> 
> Anyway, being in S. Texas, I don't get much opportunity to make this during the year, so I plan to sick this one in the recipe vault and save for winter time.  At least I get a long time to watch for butt sales :)
> 
> I think I'll try to make enough to last my family all year.
> 
> 
> One question, in case anyone is still following this thread.  Do you think I'll save $$ by making bacon vs buying it in the store?  Sometimes I know making things at home are more expensive and I justify that by the difference in quality and controlled environment, but this time, I'm just curious.


For me it was just for fun and to try it, maybe someone will chime in soon as to costs.

I prefer store bought bacon over BBB, However...on a sandwich, the BBB is pretty darn good.


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## jarhead

RedNeck, for decent bacon you will pay $3.50 and up per pound. Not that Corn King crap that they put on sale for $1.99/pound.

Skinless bellies run me $1.87/pound by the case. (~40#)

Pork Butts are $1.08/pound by the case. (~60#).
 

@SQWIB, maybe I missed the why microwave after frying. Is that to reduce the grease in it?

I gotta try all those recipes that you posted. Looks delicious. Thanks.


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## jarhead

Sorry, duplicate post.


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## black

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## sqwib

Jarhead said:


> @SQWIB, maybe I missed the why microwave after frying. Is that to reduce the grease in it?
> 
> I gotta try all those recipes that you posted. Looks delicious. Thanks.


It was the best way to crisp it up, if its fried to get crispy its black, so I would fry up real good then microwave seemed to crisp up better when it was microwaved then cooled a bit.


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## jarhead

Thank you. Never heard that before.


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## Bearcarver

Can't remember seeing this one before-------Outstanding Job, Squibster!!! As usual!!

Bear


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## got grits

great job, bacon came out real nice. I see some pork butt today for .99 a pound, got to get me some. pork loans 1.66 a pound, that is cheap.


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## sqwib

Jarhead said:


> Thank you. Never heard that before.


Crazy I know, but it burns up pretty quick in the frying pan, its black before its crispy, I usually fry in a little bit of bacon grease


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## sqwib

Instead of starting a new thread I am adding to this post.

Here is what was added.

*Buck Board Bacon Flat Bread Pizza*

*Ingredients: Whatever you like!!*









*




*
 

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*


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## daveomak

Sqwib, That looks delish....


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## Bearcarver

Yup!!!-----I'd be all over that !!!

Bear


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## smokin phil

Finally, a tutorial on BBB!  Been looking for one of these. Gonna try BBB soon now. Just pulled a couple pork butts out of the freezer. This tutorial should be easier to find.....


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