Smokin-It User Forum!
Recipes => Bacon! => Topic started by: NDKoze on April 08, 2014, 11:03:55 AM
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I haven't smoked anything for a couple of weeks. So I decided to start my Buckboard Bacon project last night.
I thought I would start a thread to get some feedback and have some discussion during the brining process (to make sure I am not doing anything glaringly wrong) from others more knowledgeable than me.
EDIT: I cut the Sugar and Brown Sugar in half below as my first run turned out to be a little sweeter than I like. If you like a sweeter bacon, you can double the sugar below.
I used Pop's Brine as the base:
• 1 Gallon Water
• 1 Cup Non-Iodine Salt
• 1/2 Cup Sugar
• 1/2 Cup Dark Brown Sugar
• 1 Ounce (weighed) of #1 Instacure
Then added the following to kick it up a notch:
• 1 TBSP Minced Garlic
• 1 TBSP Onion Powder
• 2 TSP Ground Black Pepper
Here is my rough plan as of now for the instructions (I am totally open to suggestions from the bacon pros):
1. Mix ingredients until the salt is dissolved and the ingredients have melded.
2. Cut boneless Pork Butt into half or thirds to get 1½”-2” slabs. I made my first cut along the line where the bone was removed. So, that slab is a nice even 1½”-2” slab. This left a thicker and slightly short other half. It was probably 2½ to 2¾ thick. So I debated cutting it in half too. But, in the end decided to leave it a little thicker and just put this slab on a lower rack during smoking to compensate for the slicker slab.
3. Brine for 8-12 days depending on thickness of slabs. Because of the one slightly thicker slab, I am going to push the brining days to 12+ to make sure the cure gets penetrated all the way.
4. After brining is complete, remove and discard the brine.
5. Thoroughly rinse the slabs under cold water.
6. Pat dry, and then place back into the fridge overnight to form a pellicle.
Note This would be when you would want to apply cracked pepper, Maple Syrup, etc. if you so choose.
7. Add additional pepper, syrup, etc. and then add the slabs fresh from the fridge into a cold smoker with 4-6 ounces of Hickory.'
Note My plan is to use a combination of Hickory Chips and A split Hickory dowel. My purpose in doing this is to get smoke at a lower temperature with the chips and longer with the split dowel. That's my theory anyhow.
8. Smoke per the following stepped up plan to internal temp of 140°:
• 125°/4hr
• 150°/2hr
• 175°
9. Remove the slabs from the smoker, allow them to come to room temperature, wrap in plastic wrap, and then refrigerate for 24-36 hours before slicing.
I bought the boneless Boston Butt at Costco primarily for the ease of already having the bone out. But they did a pretty terrible job removing the bone in my opinion. If this goes well and I do this again, I will be buying bone-in butts at Sam's Club and removing the bone myself as I will do a much better job. It looks like they did it with a meat cleaver.
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I forgot to add the pictures that I took.
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Looks like a pretty solid plan to me, Gregg. Can't wait to see how this turns out!
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So you are making bacon from a pork butt? Will this end up tasting like bacon from pork belly? If so, then I'm gonna try this too! Butt is a lot cheaper than pork belly...and easier to come by. Can you do a dry cure on this as well? I'm gonna search buckboard bacon - I don't think I have ever heard of it before. I live a sheltered life.
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Hi Jeff,
I just came across this recently too and after seeing so many people swear by it thought I would give it a try.
Basically Buckboard bacon (AKA Cottage Bacon) refers to bacon made from any cut of meat other than the belly. Technically Canadian Bacon is a form of Buckboard bacon too, but specifically uses the pork loin.
I have not tried it with Boston Butt yet. But am told that it tastes pretty similar to belly bacon but meatier with less fat. I don't think it would be assumed to taste exactly the same. But I think it is pretty close depending on the type of brine/cure you use. There is more meat to fat content, so it will be more meaty.
With the price of belly's, if this project works out well, I will be doing much more.
As far as dry cure verses brine, yes there are many many people that dry cure their Buckboard Bacon. I just decided to go with Pop's Brine just because it is so simple and I have had good luck with it before.
If you search for Buckboard Bacon, you will find lots of posts on the subject. There are a Lot of threads on the topic on the Smoking Meat Forum (SMF) as well as others. There are a few YouTube videos, but not as many as I had hoped. I thought several of the YouTube videos looked a little sloppy and not well done. Several smoked their butts whole, where I like the idea of cutting the butts in half/third to get more bacon sized slices.
One thing I read on a few different posts is that the thinner you slice the BB the more it will taste like bacon and if you cut it thicker, it will taste more like ham. I have a meat slicer. So, I should be able to cut it pretty thin.
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Yeah, post your results with some bacony pics. I definitely wanna try this! And yes, I'm gonna go for the thinner strips with the slicer.
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Yeah, post your results with some bacony pics. I definitely wanna try this! And yes, I'm gonna go for the thinner strips with the slicer.
Hehe! You and that slicer, Jeff! You can't shave everything Q'd! ;) ;D ;D ;D Sometimes, ya just have to knife it!
Seriously, though, looks like a really nice slicer you have. You should do a review on it in Gadgets and Gizmos. It would actually be perfect for consistent bacon. I was just kiddin' 8)
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You got that right Tony. His paper thin slices from his recent butt smoke look as thin as the Arby's sandwiches 😉
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Wow Gregg, deja vu all over again. Does anyone else remember when Arbys was starting out, they actually had roasts in a display case on the counter, cooking, and that's what they used for sandwiches, not the pressed, processed crap they use today? Sorry, didn't mean to hijack the post. This just brought back memories, some of the few I have from the '70s. :o
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Lookin' good. 8)
FWIW, it was Hi Mountain Seasonings who came up with the name "Buckboard bacon" back in about 1999.
http://www.himtnjerky.com/buckboard.html
~Martin
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Hey Martin, glad to see you back! ;D
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I must be on the right track if Martin says so. ;D
Good to see you back. Wondering why you are only showing one post though?
Interesting information about High Mountain coming up with the name. I have used High Mountain seasoning for Jerky for a long time and always liked their stuff. I just figured that this type of bacon had been called Buckboard for a long time. It sounds kind of rustic. ;)
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Yeah, I'm a slicin' fool! The pork butt does end up with almost the exact same texture as Arby's roast beef, but with the flavor of Porky Pig. I've always liked Arby's.
I probably won't slice the bacon paper thin though...who am I kidding, yeah I probably will. Well at least some of it. You know, just to see what it's like. Actually one of the reasons I want to make my own bacon is to have THICKER slices than what we buy at the store.
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looks pretty good, I hope it goes really well for ya!
if it does I will have to try something similar.
never done bacon before....or brining for more than 24 hours.....
I think i'd love the shoulder bacon!
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You should also try the Canadian bacon, Zed. I don't know if it's "really" Canadian bacon, but it's pretty darn good! The 12-day brining is hard to wait for, but worth the effort! Heck, I'm getting used to the waiting game; waited 21 days for dry-aged ribeyes! ??? Of course, Walt has me beat on that one with his 35 day age!
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The key to enduring the wait is to smoke other things while you wait. :D
I'm thinking about smoking some yard birds this weekend.
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Definitely, Gregg! Gotta take your mind off the long wait somehow! ;) Keeping the smoker full works perfectly!
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you are right of course!
the reason I have not done longer than 24 hours is because of lack of room in the fridge. I have been trying to convince my wife we need a second fridge in the basement but she has so far adamantly refused. I thought about sneaking one in but unlike some of my tools a fridge is easier to notice :-)
what i'm hoping for now is to replace the fridge we have in the kitchen with a slightly bigger unit and move the old one in the garage and use it on a need basis
my butcher is really good at aging beef though. all his meats are min 21 days aged. you can request 60 day or more aging too...
the meat is always superb, he is a farmer too , his cows raised the natural way. grazed, no hormones etc...
unfortunately the prices are also superb :-) 35 bucks a pound for tenderloin...also I just bought 2 pieces of rib steak for 100 bucks....
I wish I could use him more often.. sigh.
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I had to lower one of my fridge shelves and get innovative to get the 4.5 gallon container into the fridge. After this BBB is done, I will move the shelf back up again.
I am hoping that this bacon is worth the wait. We'll see I guess. I am optimistic.
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I'm confident the bacon will be superb, Gregg!
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I put the Buckboard Bacon in around 10:00pm tonight. I got it in late because it was raining and I was trying to wait it out.
I am leaving town for a couple of days and wanted to get this smoked before I leave. So it could be a long night watching the thermometers until this gets done.
I'll wrap in plastic wrap when they are done and they'll sit in the fridge until Sunday/Monday or so before I'll be back to slice/pack.
They rested uncovered in my fridge overnight after a rinse with some cracked black pepper on top.
I used 3 ounces of Oak Whiskey Barrel Chips and 2 left over chunks of hickory that did not burn up from my last smoke.
I started the smoker at 125 for 45 minutes and then bumped it up to 175 where it has been running now for about for about 90 minutes. The thinner piece is at 104 and the fatter piece is at 77.
Pics attached.
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I finally got the Buckboard Bacon sliced and packaged tonight.
I smoked it on 4/23, then left for a business trip that I did not return until yesterday. So today was the first chance that I had to get it sliced/wrapped.
That being said, from what I have read, a healthy resting period (plastic wrapped) in the fridge prior to slicing is a good thing.
All in all, for my first attempt, I think it turned out really well. It is a bit sweeter than I typically like. So, I think I am going to cut the Sugar and the brown sugar at least in half for the next batch. We'll see how long this stuff lasts in my fridge ;)
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That looks great, Gregg! If you ship me a package, I'd be more than happy to provide you an unbiased analysis of the sweetness! ;) Might take a pretty large sample, though...lol!
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Thanks Tony. I have multiple offers to ship it for testing.
I am evaluating the options right now. ;)
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Thanks Tony. I have multiple offers to ship it for testing.
I am evaluating the options right now. ;)
...and you'll "get back with us." Hehe. ;D
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Looks real good. 8)
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it's beautiful ! ;D