Wagyu bacon smash burgers

smokingal

It’s been more than 6 years since I last made dry cured beef bacon, so
when I received a slab of Wagyu short ribs that were more fat than meat,
I used it as an opportunity to try something new.

 

 

 Morton’s Tender Quick was used as the cure and the rub included onion, garlic, pepper, herbs
de provence and brown sugar.

 

 

The bacon cured for 3 weeks before being desalinated and dried for pellicle formation.  Cherry
and hickory woods were used for the cook.

 

 

I wanted to make as much from scratch as reasonable for this meal, so I made a batch of
brioche buns.

 

 

The meat for the burgers were made with a combination of Snake River Farms tenderloin
pieces, bone marrow and the end cuts from the Wagyu bacon slab.

 

 

The meat, bacon and marrow were seasoned using salt, pepper, garlic and onion powder,
and finely ground.  The pale color of fatty ground meat does my heart good.

 

 

The Egg was brought up to temp and the burgers were cooked on a cast iron skillet.

 

 

 Plenty of Wagyu bacon was cooked for this effort along with some fries.

 

 

Dinner was then served.

 

 

The burger’s caramelized crust and juicy, tender meat really hit the spot.  The Wagyu bacon
would easily become the only kind I would make if it were at all feasible.  The herbs de provence
made more of a showing than I had expected and added a nice herbal nuance to the bacon.
The buns were overproofed but not too shabby for my first time.  Definitely good eats.

StillH2OEgger

Wow! That is beyond marvelous. My only request is one photo of you trying to eat that thing.

smokingal

StillH2OEgger said:

Wow! That is beyond marvelous. My only request is one photo of you trying to eat that thing.

I had to plant the burger sideways, balanced on the plate, and just get medieval with it.  So no, no pictures, lol. 

bgebrent

Fantastic!

johnmitchell

Lawd have mercy!!!!! Beyond fantastic.. Awesome cook and post.

JohnInCarolina

KGilma2018

Wow that looks amazing. 

SmokeyPitt

EggbertGreenII

WOW's all I can say!

northGAcock

mlc2013

speechless

Killit_and_Grillit

A lot of love went into that meal. 

Well done. 

Kent8621

can you share more on the curing process of the beef bacon, i would like to try that.

buzd504

You will see my egg out on the curb this afternoon.  No way I can ever match that.

smokingal

@Kent8621 I used to use Morton's sugar cure but that was pulled off the market by the FDA.  As such, I've been using what I have on hand, Morton's Tender Quick, at the specified rate of .5 ounce per pound.  I apply the cure first and make sure it's applied evenly, then I cover the meat in whatever (salt free) rub I've chosen.  I then vacuum seal the meat and that seems to work very well.

That being said, Morton's does not recommend using Tender Quick for making bacon due to the differing fat levels from one cut of meat to the next effecting the rate at which it can cure.  Because of this, I let the meat cure for 3-4 weeks, depending on the fat levels (whereas the Sugar Cure product was a flat 1 week per inch of meat thickness).  My next bacon making effort will involve the use of pink salt.

Kent8621

smokingal said:

@Kent8621 I used to use Morton's sugar cure but that was pulled off the market by the FDA.  As such, I've been using what I have on hand, Morton's Tender Quick, at the specified rate of .5 ounce per pound.  I apply the cure first and make sure it's applied evenly, then I cover the meat in whatever (salt free) rub I've chosen.  I then vacuum seal the meat and that seems to work very well.

That being said, Morton's does not recommend using Tender Quick for making bacon due to the differing fat levels from one cut of meat to the next effecting the rate at which it can cure.  Because of this, I let the meat cure for 3-4 weeks, depending on the fat levels (whereas the Sugar Cure product was a flat 1 week per inch of meat thickness).  My next bacon making effort will involve the use of pink salt.

i have some pink salt and have done a normal pork bacon cure before, would you recommend the same rub for the cure there then the 3-4 weeks?

lkapigian

Why did I not open this thread earlier ........Please PM me with your address so I can make traveling arrangements so you can make me dinner 

byrne092

holy sh!t!...

Florida Grillin Girl

That is beyond awesome!

HoosierBBQ

Amazing! My mouth is watering right now

Spaightlabs

That is turned up to 11!

I think I love you.

JohnnyTarheel

Holy Crap... you been busy... I’ll be glad to be your taste tester..... 

smokingal

@Kent8621 Speaking in terms of a dry cure, you would apply the pink salt based cure the same way as you would for pork bacon. The dry cure is typically based on the thickness of the meat, at a rate of 1 week per inch.  You do need to make sure to apply the cure evenly, so it's best to apply it first and then apply any additional seasonings.  Since it's an equilibrium cure, allowing the meat to cure for more time than is needed to penetrate the full thickness won't result in overly salty meat.  I've had to leave beef bacon slabs curing for an additional 1-2 weeks and they were perfectly fine and the seasoning rub provided more pronounced flavors.

XC242

Wow! That’s all I got. Wow!!!

SGH

@smokingal
Even though we have never met, I’m starting to fall in love with you.