Bacon Claus is coming to town...

cazzy

at least for my neighbors, my wife's management team and a couple friends.  

johnnyp

Looks great.

how do I get on the delivery list? 

bgebrent

Great lookin bacon @cazzy!  Great gifts you bring!  From previous post, I've never soaked more than one hour to desalinate.  Sounds like you soaked for 4 hours.  And that worked well?  How long did you cure?  Thanks.

cazzy

Cured three bellies from Costco using Ruhlman's recipe.  

I ended up with 16 packs.  I handcut 1 belly grocery thick (15 per pack), and the other two extra thick (10 per pack).  Worked out to 16 packs.  All easily over a pound each and several hitting 2 pounds.  

cazzy

bgebrent said:

Great lookin bacon @cazzy!  Great gifts you bring!  From previous post, I've never soaked more than one hour to desalinate.  Sounds like you soaked for 4 hours.  And that worked well?  How long did you cure?  Thanks.

I had a busy end of the week and weekend because of the UFC fight, so they ended up curing for about 8.5 days.  It worked very well...not too salty, but enough to keep it savory.  

bgebrent

Looks awesome.  I follow Ruhlman as well.  For me, 45-60 minutes soak has been the best, never gone beyond 60 minutes.  Also agree median cure time is 8 days.  Beautiful bacon brother!

SGH

Solid job all the way around. Looks spectacular. 

NPHuskerFL

Looks jam up Caz. Hand sliced?  Nice

cazzy

NPHuskerFL said:

Looks jam up Caz. Hand sliced?  Nice

Thanks boss.  Yep!

Hotch

Wow cazzy, very nice. And that is some killer serious knife skills you have!! Hats off to you.

 Well done sir.

Darby_Crenshaw

very cool cazzy.  problem is, once you start this, people will be asking about it every year.  hahaha

i skipped the past couple years.  got a little expensive and took a lot of time.  plus, part of me always wondered if my neighbor was tossing a quarter pound of bresaola into the trash because they didn't know what it was.

if you can, try making some labels.  i always found it turned it into a bit more of a presentation.  the first couple years it felt like i was handing people meat in a bag.  which (to me) was a good thing.  but some folks looked a 'tad askew' at it frankly.  "uh, thanks man, for the, uh, meat?"

i printed mine out at home from photoshop, but you could probably download clipart labels from the web and add text in MS_Word, etc.

your hand slicing skills, by the way, are way better than mine.  that's another reason i stopped.  the slicer i have sucketh, and doing it by hand was less than optimal for me

a pic from a while ago of the "Gift-o'-Meat"

cazzy

Darby_Crenshaw said:

very cool cazzy.  problem is, once you start this, people will be asking about it every year.  hahaha

i skipped the past couple years.  got a little expensive and took a lot of time.  plus, part of me always wondered if my neighbor was tossing a quarter pound of bresaola into the trash because they didn't know what it was.

if you can, try making some labels.  i always found it turned it into a bit more of a presentation.  the first couple years it felt like i was handing people meat in a bag.  which (to me) was a good thing.  but some folks looked a 'tad askew' at it frankly.  "uh, thanks man, for the, uh, meat?"

i printed mine out at home from photoshop, but you could probably download clipart labels from the web and add text in MS_Word, etc.

your hand slicing skills, by the way, are way better than mine.  that's another reason i stopped.  the slicer i have sucketh, and doing it by hand was less than optimal for me

a pic from a while ago of the "Gift-o'-Meat"

Dude, that is a great idea! Thanks!! I'll definitely do that before I had them out...more for her management team. I usually give them to friends who frequently come over and eat food at my house.  They honestly will eat anything I give them. One asked me last time though, "so can I just put this in the microwave?"  Lol. BTW, i'll take one of everything you have above.  I need to venture out and give that a whirl.  

You're right though, it's all a process and takes a ton of time.  Right now, my wife and son are the only peeps hounding me for bacon, but that might change. I picked up the bellies from Costco, which did go up to $2.69/lb., but that still isn't too bad.  

I'd like to get a slicer at some point, but the wife would probably like me to part ways with something else before I buy one.  It definitely could open the door for some pastrami and what not.  IMO, the hand slicing just takes patience and the right knife.  I'm using a Dexter 12" scalloped knife, so it allows me to line it up perfectly before my cut.  Perhaps I'm not giving myself enough credit, but it really is pretty easy.  

YEMTrey

Outstanding work Cazzy.  That looks amazing, thanks for posting.

tarheelmatt

Caz, I find my patience wears thin while slicing.  I start out fine, but then start to rush so I can get done.  I applaud you though as you have way more kids than I, so you likely have way more patience than me too!  

Darby_Crenshaw

@cazzy a 12" scalloped slicer/knife is actually on my list this year.  i gave up on the craptastic chef's-choice slicer.  that was the biggest impediment to doing this efficiently.

good to hear you have a bunch of ready and willing foodies.  other than a couple forum members, and close family, i always wondered if the other giftees were happy receiving it.  we've got friends who throw out food after three days in the fridge (which i think is a sin against the universe).  i can't imagine what the wife did with my bag o' bacon the minute we left their house.  hahaha

cazzy

tarheelmatt said:

Caz, I find my patience wears thin while slicing.  I start out fine, but then start to rush so I can get done.  I applaud you though as you have way more kids than I, so you likely have way more patience than me too!  

My wife says it's my annoying ability to tune everybody out and lock in.  I wanted to speed up and hammer through, but i'm a lil too anal for that.  

cazzy

Darby_Crenshaw said:

@cazzy a 12" scalloped slicer/knife is actually on my list this year.  i gave up on the craptastic chef's-choice slicer.  that was the biggest impediment to doing this efficiently.

good to hear you have a bunch of ready and willing foodies.  other than a couple forum members, and close family, i always wondered if the other giftees were happy receiving it.  we've got friends who throw out food after three days in the fridge (which i think is a sin against the universe).  i can't imagine what the wife did with my bag o' bacon the minute we left their house.  hahaha

I have a couple of these:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B004NG98RI/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1450273399&sr=8-1&pi=SX200_QL40&keywords=dexter+scalloped+knife&dpPl=1&dpID=11Lwm1IGt4L&ref=plSrch

It will usually drop to about $22/23 on Amazon, and restaurant supply stores will carry them for $25.  I use it for brisket, ribs, chicken, sausage...and bacon.  It excels at cutting anything with a bark and is very sharp.  I've never had to sharpen them either.  

Your posts back in the day about tossing food definitely extended the shelf life in my house.  This came into play during Thanksgiving, as my daughter and I ate leftovers for a full week. I have alot of friends who don't eat leftovers, and I just don't get it. For a lot of food, it gets better the next day. Especially spaghetti!

saluki2007

As usual, great work caz.

tarheelmatt

Darby_Crenshaw said:

@cazzy a 12" scalloped slicer/knife is actually on my list this year.  i gave up on the craptastic chef's-choice slicer.  that was the biggest impediment to doing this efficiently.

good to hear you have a bunch of ready and willing foodies.  other than a couple forum members, and close family, i always wondered if the other giftees were happy receiving it.  we've got friends who throw out food after three days in the fridge (which i think is a sin against the universe).  i can't imagine what the wife did with my bag o' bacon the minute we left their house.  hahaha

Some hack gave me one and it cuts many things better than anything I've ever used.  

cazzy

Question for you @Darby_Crenshaw , what is your target temp when you cold smoke?  Also, do you bump the temp to bring it home? 

NDG

Beautiful!  My wife is pregnant & doc said to avoid bacon :(  Stupid I know, but I pick my battles.  Good news is that we are expecting Jan. 12th . . so I will be getting some belly going early next year . . then bacon fest 2k16 will start !     

tarheelmatt

NDG said:

Beautiful!  My wife is pregnant & doc said to avoid bacon :(  Stupid I know, but I pick my battles.  Good news is that we are expecting Jan. 12th . . so I will be getting some belly going early next year . . then bacon fest 2k16 will start !     

She'd have to watch me make and eat bacon then.... 

Darby_Crenshaw

 hi @cazzy

i don't fret about cold smoke temps.  no target other than to be under say 110 or so

my offset dryer-hose rig gets me there with a 300 fire in the small venting into the large. 

fishlessman

Darby_Crenshaw said:

very cool cazzy.  problem is, once you start this, people will be asking about it every year.  hahaha

i skipped the past couple years.  got a little expensive and took a lot of time.  plus, part of me always wondered if my neighbor was tossing a quarter pound of bresaola into the trash because they didn't know what it was.

if you can, try making some labels.  i always found it turned it into a bit more of a presentation.  the first couple years it felt like i was handing people meat in a bag.  which (to me) was a good thing.  but some folks looked a 'tad askew' at it frankly.  "uh, thanks man, for the, uh, meat?"

i printed mine out at home from photoshop, but you could probably download clipart labels from the web and add text in MS_Word, etc.

your hand slicing skills, by the way, are way better than mine.  that's another reason i stopped.  the slicer i have sucketh, and doing it by hand was less than optimal for me

a pic from a while ago of the "Gift-o'-Meat"

you need to add an expiration date for the squeemish, say 1 year before opening from date exp, and 6 months after opening

Eggaroo

Won't you be my neighbor?

blind99

Very nice. I also have a freezer stocked with bacon gifts and if I have time I'm stealing the idea of printed labels. A lot classier than the Sharpie I used!

im happy to report my boys told me this morning that my bacon is way better than store bought bacon. 

Anyone  who likes cooking and bacon should try making their own. It's fun and worth the effort. 

caliking

Its thread like this one that make me think about moving to your neighborhood

GATraveller

Boy do I wish Bacon Claus would come down my chimney cause that's my kinda present!!

Great thinking!

GATraveller

texaswig

I've been wanting to do bacon. Every time I'm in Dallas I forget to get bellies. Yours look awesome. I'm getting one of those slicers. Hope my slices look like yours. Have you used their boning knifes? I'm looking at getting one of those too. 

cazzy

texaswig said:

I've been wanting to do bacon. Every time I'm in Dallas I forget to get bellies. Yours look awesome. I'm getting one of those slicers. Hope my slices look like yours. Have you used their boning knifes? I'm looking at getting one of those too. 

I've had the boning and slicer for about 3 years.  They both do their job pretty well!

Do the bacon...it's a process, but it's easy.