Wow am I excited

Cookinbob

A couple of weeks ago I posted a pic of some shoulder bacon I just finished curing. It has been sitting wrapped in the fridge for 2 weeks, tonight I had time to slice and pack it.  Way more fat than I expected, lots more like belly bacon than I expected.  This was so successful, I will be curing a couple more starting next week.  I may never cure a regular pork belly again!  This was the boneless half of an 8 lb butt.  About 3 lbs of bacon when all finished.  Guess what's for breakfast!

Que_n_Brew

Impressive!

jccbone62

Wow now that looks really good. Nice work

badinfluence

Oh yum. Can i place a order for 5 lbs right now

stemc33

Awesome. Let us know how it turns out cooked.

NPHuskerFL

@Cookinbob‌ mmmm bacon. Yes Sir!
Mmm Bacon - Legendado: http://youtu.be/5Vrl6O5czkA

PNWFoodie

That looks amazing! Details, please. Pretty please?

tulocay

Looks great.

Thatgrimguy

That picture does it. I'm definitely using my Berkshire butt for bacon

Griffin

Wow!! look at all that fat. That is gonna be some tasty shoulder bacon.

mshump

That really looks good !

fishlessman

we need to see a fried up piece

KiterTodd

Show us some cooked strips!
Maybe next to a couple eggs...  

Cookinbob

PNWFoodie said:

That looks amazing! Details, please. Pretty please?

I did a post a week or so ago where I provided more details, link is below.

http://eggheadforum.com/discussion/1169780/shoulder-bacon-is-smoking-on-the-small/p1

As for the cure itself, it is Ruhlmans basic cure from the book Charcuterie.  Here is a link to an article of his including the basic dry cure recipe (salt, sugar, and #1 pink curing salt).  I have it pre mixed, use 17 g of this per lb of meat, then add a little extra sugar.

Curing pork for bacon is really easy.  Rub the cure into the meat, put in a ziploc bag in the fridge, turn and massage it every day or two for 7-9 days.  Rinse and dry, then let it rest on a rack in the fridge for another day or two.  At that point you can just cook it an eat it, but most of us on this forum would smoke it.  You can cold smoke it (Amaz N pellet smoker) or you can hot smoke to about 140 IT it which is what I have been doing lately.  Pork belly makes regular bacon, pork loin makes Canadian bacon, the shoulder makes shoulder bacon  as in this episode.  I just cut the bone end off an 8 lb butt and cured the boneless end.  The bone end was braised in another recipe

Message me if you have more questions or need more details.

Cookinbob

fishlessman said:

we need to see a fried up piece

KiterTodd said:

Show us some cooked strips!
Maybe next to a couple eggs...  

Two slices here, but one is under the egg =P~

Griffin

So is there much difference taste wise? I've had shoulder bacon once, but it was very lean. Can't 'member what it tasted like, but wasn't thrilled. Probably the fault of the guy I got it from or how much fat wasn't in it.

Cookinbob

Griffin said:

So is there much difference taste wise? I've had shoulder bacon once, but it was very lean. Can't 'member what it tasted like, but wasn't thrilled. Probably the fault of the guy I got it from or how much fat wasn't in it.

I'm eating it now. Tastes like regular bacon. It's really good!

DMW

I can get butt for much cheaper than belly. I'll need to try this.

Cookinbob

Last pic. Its bacon and eggs for lunch

SeahawksEGGHead

I've already ordered the curing salt, and have the info from you and the Ruhlman site.  I also have the book on hold at the library for reference.  I'm getting really excited to do this, but I'm curious.  How'd the other half of your pork turn out?

PNWFoodie

bookmarked

Cookinbob

SeahawksEGGHead said:

I've already ordered the curing salt, and have the info from you and the Ruhlman site.  I also have the book on hold at the library for reference.  I'm getting really excited to do this, but I'm curious.  How'd the other half of your pork turn out?

What I did was a Faux Cochon Du Lait from Nibblemethis, Here is a link to a post earlier this month where I detailed it.  It was very good but not great.