# My First Buckboard Bacon



## Sven Svensson (Feb 6, 2022)

Although I’ve been making belly bacon for years, this is my first time making buckboard bacon with a ton of help from you folks. I followed this formula for the dry brine. Converting all weights to grams made it super easy.

0.25% cure#1
0.75% sugar
1.5% salt

I bought a bone-in shoulder two pack. The fatty top I used for the buckboard and the bottom I turned in to capicola which is still curing and should be ready for the Umai Dry bags mid-week. I left one buckboard with the plain cure and I added a Capicola seasoning to the other because I had plenty from the other project. I vacuum sealed it and turned it over every day. Upon your collective advice I let it cure for two weeks. I opened it and gave it a quick rinse and it’s been drying in the garage fridge under the gentle breeze of my cheap computer fan for two days. This afternoon I put it in my Yoder YS640s at 150 for 2 hours then bumped it up to 170 until I hit an IT of 140. I used a 50/50 combo of Lumberjack cherry and Knottywood plum. The color turned out incredible. I wrapped them both in butcher paper and they are now going to mellow and age in the fridge for a few days.







Vacuum sealed and ready for a two week cure.











Out of the cure, rinsed, and drying under the computer fan. Daily change of paper towels and flip.







Into the smoker.







A couple hours into the smoke and an IT of about 120.











Out of the smoker at an IT of 140. These pictures are straight off my iPhone, no enhancement. These are actually how they looked. It was the drying process and the cherry/plum pellets that gave it this color. The cure helped, too. 

I’ll be sure to post pictures of slicing and baking these beauties. I’m hoping the salt levels are right. If it’s too salty I’ll cube it and use it for soups like you’d use salt pork. Then I’ll start again by lowering my salt level by .5% until I find what works for us. I’m also curious to see if the spices traveled into the buckboard enough to be noticeable. 

Stay tuned. More pictures to follow.


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## DougE (Feb 6, 2022)

Excellent job, Sven. Slice off a little and sample it now. It will get a little better after a day of 2 in the fridge, but your salt level will remain the same, no matter. If they taste as awesome as they look, you're in for a real treat, for sure.


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## DougE (Feb 6, 2022)

I have 2 slabs in with about 3 days to go.


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## Sven Svensson (Feb 6, 2022)

I’m very tempted but I have a CT scan in the morning and an empty belly is requested. So, the bacon is safe for a day, at least. Ha! Otherwise I can’t stop myself around bacon. “Oh, just another 30 slices won’t matter.”


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## indaswamp (Feb 6, 2022)

Beautiful slabs! Should not be too salty @1.5%....commercial bacon is 2-2.25% salt.


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## olecrosseyes (Feb 6, 2022)

As you I've done many pounds of belle bacon now. Buck board is on my to do list! 
I'll grab my bowl of popcorn and sit by!

I hope your CT scan is for nothing serious young chef!


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## DougE (Feb 6, 2022)

Sven Svensson said:


> I’m very tempted but I have a CT scan in the morning and an empty belly is requested.


Nothing serious, I pray.


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## Sven Svensson (Feb 6, 2022)

indaswamp said:


> Beautiful slabs! Should not be too salty @1.5%....commercial bacon is 2-2.25% salt.


I checked and rechecked my math too many times making sure 1.5% was .015 and .75% was .0075.


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## Sven Svensson (Feb 6, 2022)

DougE said:


> Nothing serious, I pray.


Nope, just a routine diverticulitis check. You know, old people stuff. Beats getting a colonoscopy!


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## Sven Svensson (Feb 6, 2022)

indaswamp said:


> Beautiful slabs! Should not be too salty @1.5%....commercial bacon is 2-2.25% salt.


I had no clue the salt on commercial bacon was that high. Wow. I’ve not had commercial bacon in a long time since I’ve started making my own. Homemade is so much better, it’s like a completely different meat. In fact, I watch some of these professionals on YouTube make dishes and they use store bought bacon and I just think, “Why are you doing that when you’re perfectly capable of making your own?” I hope that doesn’t make me a snob but if you’re making a nice dish, go the extra step.


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## olecrosseyes (Feb 6, 2022)

Sven Svensson said:


> I had no clue the salt on commercial bacon was that high. Wow. I’ve not had commercial bacon in a long time since I’ve started making my own. Homemade is so much better, it’s like a completely different meat. In fact, I watch some of these professionals on YouTube make dishes and they use store bought bacon and I just think, “Why are you doing that when you’re perfectly capable of making your own?” I hope that doesn’t make me a snob but if you’re making a nice dish, go the extra step.


You are straight up correct imo. Commercial bacon is injected as well. Ya know what happens when water reacts with grease!
I do the Pops cure with the reduced salt, I still need to try the other method that is taught here like you did.


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## DougE (Feb 6, 2022)

Sven Svensson said:


> Beats getting a colonoscopy!


Been there, done that, but as luck would have it, I remember nothing of the procedure. Now, the prep is another matter entirely.


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## DougE (Feb 6, 2022)

olecrosseyes said:


> I do the Pops cure with the reduced salt, I still need to try the other method that is taught here like you did.


Do a dry cure once, and you will do it that way from now on.


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## jcam222 (Feb 6, 2022)

We love buckboard bacon! My wife prefers it to belly and many of my friends drop hints when they know I’m making some.


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## DougE (Feb 6, 2022)

jcam222 said:


> We love buckboard bacon! My wife prefers it to belly and many of my friends drop hints when they know I’m making some.


BBB pretty much disappears around here as fast as I make it. I about always have a new batch curing in the meat fridge as soon as the current batch hits the smoker.


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## Sven Svensson (Feb 6, 2022)

olecrosseyes
 I remember teaching my daughters that when you fry bacon you wait until it starts boiling off the water and then watch it close as the real frying crispness will happen. Yeah, a dry cure doesn’t boil off the water.


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## DougE (Feb 6, 2022)

Sven Svensson said:


> Yeah, a dry cure doesn’t boil off the water.


Much neater frying experience, you could probably feel pretty safe frying dry cured bacon naked since it doesn't spit and carry on like the stuff from the store does.


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## BrianGSDTexoma (Feb 7, 2022)

Great color on those.


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## bauchjw (Feb 7, 2022)

Looking good!


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## SmokinEdge (Feb 7, 2022)

Those are incredible looking pieces of BB. Nice job on the smoke. I’ll stand by and wait for the cut and tasting.
Hope all goes well with the CT.


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## indaswamp (Feb 7, 2022)

DougE said:


> Do a dry cure once, and you will do it that way from now on.


The only meat I wet brine now is pork loin for CB because I want more water in the loin as they can be dry.


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## tx smoker (Feb 7, 2022)

That is about the best looking buckboard bacon I've ever seen. Made it several times but it never looked that good. Excellent job, especially considering that it's your first time making it.

Robert


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## Smoking Allowed (Feb 7, 2022)

That looks really good, seems easy enough, and I need to try this, but I don't have a slicer.


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## Sven Svensson (Feb 9, 2022)

The big day finally arrived. They’ve been sitting in the fridge for 3-4 days post smoke and I took them out and sliced them up. The fry test indicated that, as many of you have said, probably did not need rinsing following the dry cure and I’m certainly glad I didn’t soak them. The salt level was great and I might even increase it next round. 

I did find out that the spices I put on one of them made no difference. I could smell it but could not taste it at all or smell it after cooking. I probably will not be making any fancy spice mixes moving forward. So, here’s some pictures from earlier this afternoon.







Here is the initial cut into the one that was plain old cure. It was a beautiful color throughout.






I upgraded my slicer a couple years ago and I could not be happier. I get much nicer and more consistent cuts and can even go paper-thin, now. 






It just looks amazing coming off the slicer.






Lots of tasty fat but so much more meat than most belly bacon.






The fry test allayed my fears of this being too salty, something I’ve struggled with before trying to find balance using my old method of curing bacon.







I went one step further and fired-up the Yoder, setting it at 350. Above I did the neat, “I don‘t want to mess up my almost new Yoder’s heat deflector“ method. Below I did the, “The Yoder is already a mess, don’t worry about the deflector, let the bacon grease season it” method. The bacon cooked much better, faster, and was crispier when cooking it below. 







The taste test was incredible. It was bacon Nirvana. Because of the higher heat in the Yoder it did not add more smoke flavor beyond the initial smoke after the cure. That’s good because I want to taste the bacon, not the smoke and was hoping for this result. 

There it is. My first buckboard bacon and my first time using the “weighing the cure” method. Dry equilibrium cure, maybe? Thanks for all the coaching and encouragement. It was reassuring leaning on your collective experience. I’m now a buckboard fanatic.


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## DougE (Feb 9, 2022)

Sven, that BB looks awesome !!! Nicely done.


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## pineywoods (Feb 10, 2022)

That is some really outstanding looking bacon great color


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## indaswamp (Feb 10, 2022)

Awesome! Hopefully you are a dry cure fanatic now too!!!  Such intense flavor from a dry cure.


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## DRKsmoking (Feb 10, 2022)

That's great Sven, from start to finish.
 I make back bacon and like others have said , I have had it on my list to do BBB.

Thanks for the extra nudge, yours look fantastic

at least now you have enough for a couple days . Better get more into the cure right away. lol

David


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## JLeonard (Feb 10, 2022)

Great looking bacon! Bring on the lettuce and 'maters!
Jim


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## SmokinEdge (Feb 10, 2022)

Well, there you go! That looks fantastic. Now going forward you can make adjustments in salt and sugar % and really dial in where you want them. Once there, following those percentages you will always make the same bacon predictable and consistent. Nice work.


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## Sven Svensson (Feb 10, 2022)

I have to admit it was out of laziness that I ignored this method for so long. I just kept seeing it over the years on this forum and all of you referring to it. Funny thing, it wasn’t that hard and the results were what I’ve been chasing for 10 years.


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## DougE (Feb 10, 2022)

Sven Svensson said:


> I just kept seeing it over the years on this forum and all of you referring to it. Funny thing, it wasn’t that hard and the results were what I’ve been chasing for 10 years.


It isn't hard at all, and yes, the results are spectacular.


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## SmokinEdge (Feb 10, 2022)

Sven Svensson said:


> I have to admit it was out of laziness that I ignored this method for so long. I just kept seeing it over the years on this forum and all of you referring to it. Funny thing, it wasn’t that hard and the results were what I’ve been chasing for 10 years.


A lot of times it’s experience that makes things successful, and a lot of times it’s that experience of knowing what not to do that makes the difference. Now you have been around the dial and know a thing or two. Congratulations, you have arrived in bacon curing.


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## bill ace 350 (Feb 10, 2022)

Wow! Been wanting to try Buck Board Bacon! Dry cure it will be!


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## DougE (Feb 10, 2022)

bill ace 350 said:


> Wow! Been wanting to try Buck Board Bacon! Dry cure it will be!


You won't be disappointed!


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## Sven Svensson (Feb 10, 2022)

DRKsmoking
 Do you use the dry method on Back Bacon? It seems thick for that method. Does it work by giving it more time? Or do you use something like Pop’s brine?


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## Brokenhandle (Feb 10, 2022)

Sven Svensson said:


> Nope, just a routine diverticulitis check. You know, old people stuff. Beats getting a colonoscopy!


Your bacon looks amazing! And it took on some beautiful color! Would never know it's your first try at it. 
What kind of slicer did you get? It looks pretty nice to me.

So are you a member of the " ; " club...or just had diverticulitus?  A few of us were gonna have t shirts made lol! 

Ryan


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## SmokinEdge (Feb 10, 2022)

Sven Svensson
 Just to explain the science. Dry rub curing is more powerful than brining generally. This is because in a wet brine the salt percentage cannot exceed 26% at this concentration level salt will stop dissolving and just sink to the bottom. The salt content will not exceed that 26% in water.
However in a dry rub, the salt we apply is 100% salt. We apply that in a percentage to meat weight but the salt is not diluted. This works best for meat pieces up to 3” thick. Thicker pieces it’s best to go back to a liquid brine and inject into the meat. Eliminating the wait time for osmosis.

Dry cured meat cures faster than brine cured. Unless injected.


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## DRKsmoking (Feb 10, 2022)

Hi Sven

  I use the dry rub/cure#1 for my Back Bacon/ Canadian bacon for you guys
I use the formula that is at 





						Universal Cure Calculator.........
					

I set up a javascript Universal Cure Calculator on my website. Here's the link for anyone who wants to play around with it....  http://www.diggingdogfarm.com/page2.html  The calculator can be used to calculate the amount of cure and salt required in sausage...the amounts of cure, salt and sugar...




					www.smokingmeatforums.com
				




i was pointed here by all the good folks here. Plus I also have used 

 disco
 , on his posts . He has done lots of testing to show the comparision of the different types of bacons . very good reads and some are videos. Very helpful

Now in saying that I have used pops brine to do some ribs and they were fantastic . See my anniversary Rib Ring with loaded mashed . in my signature. The ribs were fantastic ham style ribs tied in a ring

  I also have Chicken drums i just did in Pop's brine smoking them tomorrow. will let you know what I think of them.

Hope this helps

David


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## motocrash (Feb 10, 2022)

Beautiful BBB Sven.


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## Sven Svensson (Feb 10, 2022)

Brokenhandle said:


> Your bacon looks amazing! And it took on some beautiful color! Would never know it's your first try at it.
> What kind of slicer did you get? It looks pretty nice to me.
> 
> So are you a member of the " ; " club...or just had diverticulitus?  A few of us were gonna have t shirts made lol!
> ...


It took me way too long to figure out what the “;” Club was. Hahaha! No, I’m not in that club and and trying my best not to be. But I would love to see that Tshirt design! I’m still learning my food triggers. No way I’m ever eating an ABT as that’s certain emergency room territory for me. No more popcorn and raw veggies only in moderation. And even after the CT they’re sending me in for a colonoscopy “just for a look.” Looking forward to the prep and the irony of downing a drink called “GoLYTELY” when it should be called “GoViolentlyWithoutEnd.” 

Oh, and the slicer is a Berkel HomeLine 250. It’s really nice. No regrets other than I can’t slice a full-width slab of bacon. But I don‘t have the room to store anything bigger. Small slice bacon tastes exactly like big slice bacon but the small slices fit better on a BLAT.


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## Sven Svensson (Feb 10, 2022)

Thanks for the answers 

 DRKsmoking
 and 

 SmokinEdge
 . I make a lot of Canadian bacon using pop’s brine dialed in to my tastes. The loins are thicker so the injection and brine has been working great. But I might give one the dry cure treatment next round. 

 SmokinEdge
 I appreciate  the science behind it. Thanks, as always.


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## Brokenhandle (Feb 10, 2022)

Sven Svensson said:


> It took me way too long to figure out what the “;” Club was. Hahaha! No, I’m not in that club and and trying my best not to be. But I would love to see that Tshirt design! I’m still learning my food triggers. No way I’m ever eating an ABT as that’s certain emergency room territory for me. No more popcorn and raw veggies only in moderation. And even after the CT they’re sending me in for a colonoscopy “just for a look.” Looking forward to the prep and the irony of downing a drink called “GoLYTELY” when it should be called “GoViolentlyWithoutEnd.”
> 
> Oh, and the slicer is a Berkel HomeLine 250. It’s really nice. No regrets other than I can’t slice a full-width slab of bacon. But I don‘t have the room to store anything bigger. Small slice bacon tastes exactly like big slice bacon but the small slices fit better on a BLAT.


I did see your slicer better when I enlarged the pics... I'll have to look into them. Ours still works but think it's starting to get tired!
And your other comment damn near made me empty mine! 

Ryan


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## SmokinEdge (Feb 10, 2022)

Sven Svensson said:


> Oh, and the slicer is a Berkel HomeLine 250. It’s really nice. No regrets other than I can’t slice a full-width slab of bacon. But I don‘t have the room to store anything bigger. Small slice bacon tastes exactly like big slice bacon but the small slices fit better on a BLAT.


I have a LEM Big Bite 10” slicer. Super nice machine, but even that will not slice a full belly. So when I want full slices, I fold the slab over into a tight “C” shape, and slice full length slices. The slicer doesn’t care how you feed it, basically cutting a small slice on top and one on bottom at the same time then cutting the fold in the rear for a whole slice.


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## olecrosseyes (Feb 10, 2022)

DougE said:


> Much neater frying experience, you could probably feel pretty safe frying dry cured bacon naked since it doesn't spit and carry on like the stuff from the store does.


Brine cured is the same for me.




Sven Svensson said:


> DRKsmoking
> Do you use the dry method on Back Bacon? It seems thick for that method. Does it work by giving it more time? Or do you use something like Pop’s brine?


For "C" bacon I usually do a little injection just due to the thickness.





Sven Svensson said:


> It took me way too long to figure out what the “;” Club was. Hahaha! No, I’m not in that club and and trying my best not to be. But I would love to see that Tshirt design! I’m still learning my food triggers. No way I’m ever eating an ABT as that’s certain emergency room territory for me. No more popcorn and raw veggies only in moderation. And even after the CT they’re sending me in for a colonoscopy “just for a look.” Looking forward to the prep and the irony of downing a drink called “GoLYTELY” when it should be called “GoViolentlyWithoutEnd.”
> 
> Oh, and the slicer is a Berkel HomeLine 250. It’s really nice. No regrets other than I can’t slice a full-width slab of bacon. But I don‘t have the room to store anything bigger. Small slice bacon tastes exactly like big slice bacon but the small slices fit better on a BLAT.


 I've had several colonoscopys, I had an issue when I was 20, 67 now.

"No way I’m ever eating an ABT as that’s certain emergency room territory for me. No more popcorn and raw veggies only in moderation."
Oh Ell no! Dig my grave and put a bed of coals over me with a whole hog!!


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## DRKsmoking (Feb 11, 2022)

Sven Svensson said:


> Thanks for the answers
> 
> DRKsmoking
> and
> ...



Most of the loins I get are less than 2" thick so I find the dry cure soaks in well over the 14 days (or what ever the math works out to ). In the link I put here shows that I also trussed mine after the cure time before I smoked them so they were fatter looking. They came out nice and round , great on burgers or breakfast sandwiches.
Just a thought , so either way is good , just what you think works for you . I also use the brine ( pop's ) for bacon on a stick







						And on the 15th day, I created Bacon ( Back/Canadian ) with your help
					

And on the 15th day, I created Bacon ( Back/Canadian ) with your help of coarse. Thanks to @disco's posts and show how's   So I had a 3.54 kg boneless pork loin that I wanted to make Back bacon out of. so after reading @disco and @Bearcarver posts to death, and asking questions I found enough...




					www.smokingmeatforums.com
				




David


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## mneeley490 (Feb 11, 2022)

Good looking bacon, Sven! Great job!


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## Nefarious (Feb 19, 2022)

Sven Svensson said:


> Although I’ve been making belly bacon for years, this is my first time making buckboard bacon with a ton of help from you folks. I followed this formula for the dry brine. Converting all weights to grams made it super easy.
> 
> 0.25% cure#1
> 0.75% sugar
> ...


Awesome thread, i'll be following along next week making my first bacon.  I need to make it as low sodium as I can, and from what I've read yours is pretty low. 

Now all I have to do is get off my own butt and buy a vacuum sealer, then a slicer.


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## DougE (Feb 19, 2022)

Nefarious said:


> I need to make it as low sodium as I can, and from what I've read yours is pretty low.
> 
> Now all I have to do is get off my own butt and buy a vacuum sealer, then a slicer.


Yea, The numbers you quoted will give you 1.75% total salt (1.5% from salt and 0.25% from the cure) which is near the bottom end of salt necessary to move the cure into the meat. I wouldn't go much lower than that, and the bacon really doesn't come out overly salty with these numbers. As for slicing, I don't have a slicer yet, but that doesn't stop me. A good sharp knife and some patience will give you slices almost as good as a slicer.


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## Sven Svensson (Feb 19, 2022)

As far as taste goes, I found it could use a little more but I’m sticking with 1.5% for now.  Can always add some seasoning to it after it’s cooked. As 

 DougE
 mentioned, I would not go much lower, if at all for the cure. I’ve got another couple of shoulders thawing right now for my second round. I’ve got a slab of belly bacon I just cured today and will let sit for a couple weeks.


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## Buckeyedude (Jul 23, 2022)

Great job and great post!  So glad i clicked on it, there is a ton of great information!


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