Taking bacon making to the next level

twlangan · January 2014

I started to dabble in making bacon this past Fall. Started small to test my skills and curing recipe. Liked the bacon so well that I have stepped up my game. I decided that if I am going to make a mess that my lovely wife is so gracious to clean up, I may as well do a large amount as possible per "mess".

I have attached pics of my latest batch of shoulder bacon. Four pork butts, about 20 lbs pre-smoked, yielded 18.1 lbs in the end. I also had 7.5 lbs of trimmings from those butts that will be going into sausage. I had five larger slabs on the Egg in the pic. I had another five smaller slabs that I smoked the following day. I MIGHT have been able to get it all on with some creativity, but it was very cold those days and I wasn't about to experiment in that weather. You can see the snow around my Egg on my table.

My cure is a very simple recipe of Tenderquick and white sugar. I smoke with Hickory and vacuum pack the sliced bacon in 1 lb packages. We have four kids so this will go quicker than one might think!

caliking · January 2014

Dayum! you're a bacon makin' machine !

Loosemoose · January 2014

That looks awesome!

Loosemoose · January 2014

That looks awesome!

yzzi · January 2014

Now that's when I'd need a slicer! What's the difference in taste between belly and shoulder bacon?

tarheelmatt · January 2014

Interesting! I didn't know you can make bacon from the shoulder.

500 · January 2014

You could maybe call it American Prosciutto?

margareedaville · January 2014

I like bacon when it's at the next level.

TonyA · January 2014

Buckboard Bacon! Good looking stuff there!

Griffin · January 2014

DyNoMite!! That looks amazing. I've got some Tnederquick in the cabinet that is just sitting threre. What's your TQ to sugar ratio?

Chubbs · January 2014

Nice. I have done over 100lbs of home-cured bacon but never with a shoulder.

twlangan · January 2014

Thanks guys. To answer some questions - I have never done a belly, only shoulder bacon so far. I cannot imagine that this would taste any different than belly bacon using the same cure. This bacon is very lean though. The slabs you see on the top with a fair amount of fat in them are an exception - most has very little fat. We have to add some shortening or oil to a pan to fry it.

My cure recipe is very simple. 1 Tbs Tenderquick + 1 tsp white sugar per pound of meat. Rub all sides of slab with this mix, slip in a ziplock, and toss it in the fridge for 10 days. I flip the bags over each day and massage the meat. I hot smoke with Hickory. I plan to test out trying to make some maple bacon and apple smoke in the future just to try it. It would have to be exceptional bacon to beat this hickory smoked stuff though.

The trick to shoulder (buckboard) bacon is to use a sharp boning knife. I take my time working to cut the bone out without mangling the meat too much. Once deboned, cut the shoulder into as even of slabs as you can. I don't worry about thickness - but I try to get slabs that are an even thickness. I trim if needed and keep the trimmings for sausage.

I use a simple, cheap Rival meat slicer that we have had for years. It is slow, but the fun I have slicing this stuff makes up for the time it takes.

Little Steven · January 2014

I've heard that Canadians make bacon out of pork loins but that is not yet confirmed

twlangan · January 2014

I used a loin for my first test batch. Turned out pretty decent for a first run. I switched to shoulder since I can get it a lot cheaper. Loin is a lot easier since there is no bone to deal with. Extremely lean - no fat at all.

GoVols · January 2014

Great looking bacon.

Richard Fl · January 2014

Nice looking bacon project. I have used buckboard seasonings over the years on butts,loins and bellies and to date have found that the bellies are my favorite cut.

Some loins

http://www.greeneggers.com/index.php?option=com_simpleboard&func=view&id=754371&catid=1

bellies

http://www.greeneggers.com/index.php?option=com_simpleboard&func=view&id=1101545&catid=1

Taking bacon making to the next level

Comments

Categories