# Venison bacon this weekend



## andy riley (Dec 29, 2013)

venison bacon 003.JPG



__ andy riley
__ Dec 29, 2013






Oh yeah, now we're talking!













venison bacon 002.JPG



__ andy riley
__ Dec 29, 2013






Ready for the griddle, and vacuum sealer.













venison bacon 001.JPG



__ andy riley
__ Dec 29, 2013






Slicing it up.













Christmas 2013 042.JPG



__ andy riley
__ Dec 29, 2013






This one's done. Looks good to me.













Christmas 2013 044.JPG



__ andy riley
__ Dec 29, 2013






Here we go.













Christmas 2013 040.JPG



__ andy riley
__ Dec 29, 2013






Ready for the smoker.

Hi all, I made venison bacon this weekend using a seasoning kit from Curleys Sausage kitchen. It turned out great. Took all day to do two batches of two loaves each. I made a 12 1/2 lb batch. Two loaves smoked with apple dust in the Amnps, and two with hickory pellets in the Amnps.

I had to chase the temps most of the day because I'm still trying to figure out my smoker and I believe I really need a pid or another smoker with digital controls and maybe lower power rating than 1500 watts. I'm mainly going to be making sausage, this bacon and dried chipped venison, so I don't need this much power. I should have done a lot more research before buying a smoker but I'm a bit impatient most times and this is what ends up happening.

Anyway, we had it this morning with breakfast and it was very good and the wife really likes it.

I also believe everybody should make this with their deer meat  it's so easy (as long as you know your smoker) Here's some Qview

Oh yeah, the pics will be up top probably.


----------



## daveomak (Dec 29, 2013)

Andy, morning....  I want to do something similar with pork to make my own "Spam".....   What was your process....  I realize the spices will have to be change ...  Maybe....   

Dave


----------



## wazzuqer (Dec 29, 2013)

Looks good Andy, did you use a 50/50 mix on pork/venison? I used a 2lb venison 3 lb pork but on mine, wish mine had a little fat content to it. I will definitely make this again...


----------



## andy riley (Dec 29, 2013)

Morning Dave, I followed a process described in a thread by MossyMO and it comes with the seasoning kit from Curleys Sausage Kitchen as well.

I mixed about 50% deer meat and 50% fatty pork. I used pork loins because that's what I had on hand in my freezer. My wife buys whole loins whenever they're on sale and I cut them into roasts and vacuum seal them. I ground the meat through the largest plate I have with my grinder which has triangle shaped holes maybe 1/4 X 3/8 and then a 1/8 plate, then mix the cure and seasoning.( I actually wrote this down for once) I made a 12 1/2 lb batch and used 2t sure cure and 6T seasoning and 2 cups water, lined four 8x8x2" foil pans with wax paper and pressed the mixture into the pans, covered and stacked and put in fridge overnight.

The next day I got up at 6am to start smoking and that's where I have problems. The directions I have call for starting out at 130 degrees with no smoke for 1 hour to dry the loaves then raising temp to 160 for two hours with smoke then raise to around 180 for 4 hours with no smoke take to internal temp around 155 degrees.

I actually smoked the 2d two loaves for 6 hours with the apple pellets because I overfilled the amnps and didn't want to waste it, so they got a lot of smoke on them. I like them though. The 1st two were closer to 3 hours with the hickory dust which burned a little faster.

I had to go a lot longer than the stated time and never did get to 155 it. but since we're going to freeze right away and fry it good before eating I'm hoping that 's not so critical.

I didn't get done until 11:30 last night.

Cooled in fridge overnight and sliced and vacuum sealed and into freezer right away this morning minus what we ate for breakfast.

I really don't like my smoker controller. I have a Smoke Hollow electric smoker and the temp control is a dial with low,med, and high but I can't turn it past between off and low and keep it under 200 degrees, so I need a pid or get another smoker with digital controls and maybe around 800 to 1200 watts. Like I said earlier because I'm just doing sausage and the deer stuff mainly.

That's pretty much it.


----------



## andy riley (Dec 29, 2013)

Wazzuqer, Yes 50%. My pork was fairly lean though and I could have used more fat too since the only fat was the back of the loin roasts I used. I need to stop by my butcher and get a supply of back fat. They're just getting ready to start butchering hogs so I should be able to get some and just freeze it for later use.

This stuff is kinda like that Sizzle lean they used to sell years ago.

My big test is if my 7 year old Grandson likes it because he loves bacon and my wife watches him a lot plus we'll have him on New Years Eve so the wife already loves it , and I love it, it's already a success in my book. He probably will too since he loves deer sausage and bologna already.


----------



## leah elisheva (Dec 29, 2013)

Very fun! It's amazing how professional all this is and what you all do with such! Great job! Cheers! - Leah


----------



## daveomak (Dec 29, 2013)

Thanks Andy....   That helps a lot.....   Dave


----------



## grouse (Jan 1, 2014)

I may have to give this a try.

What was in the seasoning packet?


----------



## mossymo (Jan 1, 2014)

Andy Riley said:


> Morning Dave, I followed a process described in a thread by MossyMO and it comes with the seasoning kit from Curleys Sausage Kitchen as well.



Wife and I are offering a very similar kit now on our website, taste and the process are the same; we call it Ground & Formed Bacon Seasoning and is available in 25 pound batches also.


----------

