# Beef Bacon with Boneless Short Ribs: An Experiment



## worktogthr (Sep 12, 2015)

Thanks to all he help of many people on this forum I came up with a game plan on turning some boneless beef short rib pieces into beef bacon.  

Soaked the piece in pops brine with some garlic, onion, and black pepper added to the mix.  Left it in the fridge for two weeks, took it out today, rinsed it, dried it and here it is:













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Coated it with generous amounts of garlic, onion, and black pepper:












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Now these will hang out uncovered in the fridge for a few days until I smoke hem on either Monday or Tuesday.  Planning the warm smoke method for about 10-12 hours just like when I do pork belly bacon.  Excited to see how this turns out.  Wish me luck!

-Chris


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## tropics (Sep 12, 2015)




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## hank2000 (Sep 12, 2015)

What Tropics said


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## Bearcarver (Sep 12, 2015)

tropics said:


>


Move Over Richie!!!

Make room for the Bear------->>>>
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	









Brought you one too---->>
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





  

Bear


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## worktogthr (Sep 14, 2015)

Got the slab in at around 9:00 with hickory in the AMNPS.  Set the MES to 100 which on my unit is about 120-130.













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## worktogthr (Sep 14, 2015)

Here it is at about 3.5 hours of smoke.  Taking on some color:













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I'll be back later.


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## Bearcarver (Sep 14, 2015)

Looking Good!!
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	











Bear


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## b-one (Sep 14, 2015)

Very interesting!:Looks-Great:


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## worktogthr (Sep 14, 2015)

Here it is off the smoker.  Got about 9.5 hours of hickory smoke:













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I'll be back in a few days for the sliced pics and taste test!  Thanks for watching!

-Chris


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## Bearcarver (Sep 15, 2015)

worktogthr said:


> Here it is off the smoker. Got about 9.5 hours of hickory smoke:
> 
> *I'll be back in a few days for the sliced pics and taste test! Thanks for watching!*
> 
> -Chris


Me Too---Well for the Pics, anyway!!

Bear


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## worktogthr (Sep 15, 2015)

So today I sliced open the slab.  Now unfortunately I got unlucky.  I was advised that the way the rib bones run would probably be against the grain which would make it more tender so I cut down the middle.  













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Now the reason I say in unlucky is because it seems like the grain runs a bunch of different ways and mostly diagonal .  It's going to be hard to really cut against the grain.  I am planning on slicing super thin anyways so I'm sure it will be fine. I baked one piece in the toaster oven to try it:













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It curled up a lot while cooking but I have to say... Really nice texture when I ate it.  Not quite crispy like bacon.  A little chew but really tender.  The taste is like bacon and pastrami combined which is what I expected but really awesome. 

I will be back tomorrow after I thin slice it with my electric slicer. Thanks!


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## tropics (Sep 16, 2015)

Chris would you use them meaty ribs again for that? Does have a real nice Pastrami color.

Richie

A point for trying something out of the box.


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## worktogthr (Sep 16, 2015)

tropics said:


> Chris would you use them meaty ribs again for that? Does have a real nice Pastrami color.
> 
> Richie
> 
> A point for trying something out of the box.


Thanks for the point Richie!  To answer your question, probably not.  The only reason I tried it was because I got a large quantity of these boneless short ribs for a great price and I like to tinker.  It is similar to pastrami which I eat with eggs often so I could probably get brisket cheaper in most cases and make pastrami.  Definitely a tasty experiment.


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## dirtsailor2003 (Sep 16, 2015)

Tasty looking beefy beacon! Nice smoke!


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## worktogthr (Sep 16, 2015)

dirtsailor2003 said:


> Tasty looking beefy beacon! Nice smoke!
> 
> :points1:



Thanks so much!!


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## worktogthr (Sep 16, 2015)

Finally sliced it up today.  Found the grain after  a little searching but definitely made more tender bacon when cut across the grain.  













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Fried up a couple of pieces.  Let them go for too long but they were crispy and delicious.













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Thanks again for watching!

-Chris


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## tropics (Sep 17, 2015)

Chris That does look better today.Thanks for sharing

Richie


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## jcollins (Sep 17, 2015)

looks awesome


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## Bearcarver (Sep 17, 2015)

That Looks Awesome, Chris!!
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





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Mighty Tasty!!
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





I could handle a few slices of that with my Daily Eggs!!!

Bear


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## 4pogo7 (Sep 17, 2015)

Awesome looking bacon!


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## worktogthr (Sep 17, 2015)

tropics said:


> Chris That does look better today.Thanks for sharing
> 
> Richie





jcollins said:


> looks awesome





Bearcarver said:


> That Looks Awesome, Chris!!
> 
> 
> 
> ...





4PoGo7 said:


> Awesome looking bacon!


Thanks guys for the kind words!  It did go great with my eggs this morning.  Chopped some up and fried it in a pan and used the drippings to cook my omelette.   Definitely glad I tried this but like I mentioned before, only would do this when the price is right because these boneless short ribs are rarely so inexpensive.  Usually they are close to $5 a pound if not higher.  I can get belly for 1.99 and the belly bacon's taste is so close to this I'd opt for the value any time.  Thanks again!


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## b-one (Sep 17, 2015)

Looks amazing,nice work!:drool


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## timstalltaletav (Sep 17, 2015)

Very interesting concept, looks great!


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