Homemade Bacon with Photos

I just ordered a kit. Man that looks GOOD.

Dave

Looks mighty fine! Have seen "Butt Bacon" in stores occasionally, just never made the connection as to what it was.

Did the curing mix have spices? If so, what type?

Wow does that look good. What was the weight, cooking temp., and how long ?

Freek'n shipping was more than the "stuff"

I ordered 2 kits, $11.95 with shipping.

Looks Awesome.... Will post thoughts when it gets here.

Another thought....

Could it be cured, then cold or cool smoked, then frozen untill it's stiff and then sliced. Then fry it like regular bacon?

just a thought

I thought the bottom picture was after it was fried. Wouldn't be very crisp otherwise.

Richard C and Papa Shaka,"you da mans".

One more great use for the CS.
Thanks for being so kind to share.

All right, see if I can answer all the questions in one post.

TJR, I don't know whether has any spices. I don't think so. Each kit will cure 25 lbs. of meat. So, it's a pretty good deal. Most cures are a salt, sugar, sodium nitrate, and minimal spicing.

Pop Top, I started out with a 5 lb+ butt, which I deboned and trimmed to slightly over 4 lbs. First, you heat, no smoke, for 45 minutes at 150. Then raise the temperature to 200, till internal temperature reaches 140 degrees. I added enough maple to smoke two hours--about 2 fist-sized chunks.

Total cooking time was about 4 1/2 hours.

d9, I fry it just like regular bacon. All you're doing is smoke curing it to 140 degrees. This theoretically removes the pathogens, but most people like pork cooked a little higher than this.

Only bad thing about Buckboard Bacon is no bacon grease, just a little rendered fat on the bottom of the skillet.

After slicing, I vac-packed the bacon into about 1 pound bags and froze what I didn't think we'd eat over the next few days.

Good luck!

OK let me make sure there is no confusion here. The kits were $3.50 each and shipping was $4.95 for a total of $11.95.

Sorry if I confused anyone.

d9, when I ordered the Buckboard Bacon kit, I also ordered some of the jerky seasonings, which are great AND some of the blue cheese dressing mix.

Hey, try that blue cheese dressing mix. Throw a couple of tablespoonfuls into a pint of sour cream and you'll have one of the best dips you've ever had.

Not too much better than a brew, tortilla chips, blue cheese dressing, and a game--where for a change--the Arizona Cardinals win.

Man that looks good.. Thanks for posting the pic's..

Hey, did anyone notice the "Jerky Smoker - Prime Rib Oven" Looks very much like our Smokette.. guess they buying them from cookshack?

I'll be ordering the kits but I was wondering if anyone thinks that Morton's Tenderquick or Sugar cure would work for this also.
Just some thoughts.

Dave

Dave, I'm sure Morton products would work as well following their recommendations for bacon curing.

This isn't rocket science, it's meat curing, something that stone-age people have accomplished.

Since, everything is spelled out in the Buckboard Bacon kit, and it is reasonable, I'll probably continue to use it.

Good 'quen to you.

I tried it, I was not impressed.... I read that the proper temp for standing 10 days is 40 - 45F That could have been the problem.

It just didn't have any flavor.

d9, not exactly sure what your problem may have been.

My wife, Rita, and I just made a second batch. People have begged us to sell it to them.

I did cure mine 12 days both times, and I smoked with maple for 2 hours both times. Next time I will try hickory, but I had some orders from the previous batch.

The cure is basically salt, sugar, and sodium nitrite. The flavor, like pork-belly bacon, comes from the cure, the smoke, and the meat.

I'll be glad to express you a sample of my next (third batch) to see if we're having a difference of results or tastes.

You can make your own butt bacon using whatever cure you decide is best. Or season the Buckboard Bacon cure to suit your taste.

Good luck.

I'm going to try again... not sure what went wrong,

I let it cure for only 10 days, maybe I should do it for longer this time.

Also I had it in a zip loc bag to start with, then after re reading the instructions, I wrapped it in plastic wrap. about 1/2 cup of juice was lost during that change. That was on day 4.

I'll re try this weekend.

Dave

Have been doing buckboard bacon for some time now and am very impressed. All my friends rave about it - in fact am doing the cure thing for them and letting them smoke the butt in their smokers. Am contemplating on doing a fresh ham - anyone have any experience on doing one? Would expect the cure time would be much longer due to the size. Also, I have ordered the "inferno" jerky mix and the blue cheese dressing mix. And yes Hi-Mountain's prime rib oven is a smokette made by Cookshack.

cajunqr, for the ham cure you might want to check LEM Products. They have complete ham-curing kits with instructions ranging in price from $6.99 to $13.99.

Here's the link:

Ham it up!

Just for fun after reading the above, I tried curing a 1# piece from a pork butt by the instructions on the TenderQuick package: dry curing with 2tbsp tq + 1tbsp brown sugar per lb, for a couple of days (I think they say 1 day per inch thickness). No smoking directions on package, so I smoked at 150F with a good lump of cherry for about 4 hours. Result was extremely salty with good color but not very smoky or flavorful.

For a second try, I'd do at least one of:

1. Soak in cold water as Richard mentions.
2. Use more sugar.
3. Cold smoke followed by hot smoking to fully cook.

Just did the day 5 flip...

Dave

Just have to tell everybody. Ordered the bacon kits and got a buy on some butts.
Followed the directions that were posted above, went with a 12 day cure, and rinsed in cold water about 1 1/2 hours, then let air dry for the same as getting smoker ready. Since I am an native Vermonter and like the old way of doing things, I had saved all my corn cobs from the summer just for something special. Loaded up the smoke box full of corn cobs, since unsure of how many to use. Smoked to temp of 138, then let it rest and smoker to cool down, was still smoking pretty good at the end also. Pulled out of smoker and let cool , then wrapped and refriged it till the next day. Took it to a small Ma and pop's store to use the meat slicer. It just smelled so good, had to fry some up while was bagging for storage. Got to tell ya, it is the best damn corn cobbed smoked bacon one will ever have. The sweetness of the corn cob smoke is something that needs to be tried to believe!!!!! There are several hunting camps in Central Vermont that are going to have the best breakfast this year. Will sure need to do more of this bacon soon.
Oh , by the way, the blue chesse dressing is superb, along with their bacon flavor.
Go for the gusto and try it all, and someone else please try the old corn cobs, you will never be sorry, and may learn something that our forfathers passed along!!!
Dennis(peartree51)

Hey, I will give the corn cobs a try as soon as I can find a source. Hmmmm, already trying to think where I can go for those.

Hi Richard C, I have 40 acres of dry corn next to my house i can send you some cobs if you like just e-mail me you address to
daveswenson@centurytel.net

OK 12 days, Here we go....

Good luck, even better, good eating.

Well, I tried the BuckBoard Bacon.. Followed all the instructions...Is the meat supposed to be a little salty? Does the meat look and tasted like ham? It has the texture and looks of ham.

Danny

Danny, Buckboard Bacon should have the saltiness and texture of very lean bacon. That's about it.

I'm not sure why you'd get the taste and texture of ham, especially if the meat was too salty.

Did you follow the instructions completely? Sounds like maybe you didn't rinse and soak thoroughly, then, maybe, didn't cook sufficiently.

So far every batch I've made has come out pretty much like the first.

I'd say this batch was much better. Still not to die for, but much better.

I took the finished product to have it sliced,.... No one would touch it. I ended up doing it myself with a very sharp knife. I think the results were acceptable.

I don't think I'm ready to give up "market style bacon that I smoke, but this is OK.

Dave

d9, I have a slicer, so usually slice my own thin, about 2 mm. My wife and I prefer that for texture.

By the way, what type of wood are you using to smoke?

I've got neighbors and other people begging for the stuff, so I'm trying to figure out what the difference might be.

I took out a batch yesterday that I smoked over alder. I haven tried it yet, but will let you know how it tastes.

Dave of daveswenson@centurytel.net sent me some corn cobs. That's the next batch. I'm really looking forward to that especially after reading peartree51's (Dennis's) post.

Richard C,

Where did you find Alder wood chunks?

Also, please let me know how your bacon comes out with the corn cobs. I have had a hard time keeping the stuff around for very long myself, on my third batch already

peartree(Dennis)

Alder for Bacon???

Maybe for fish, but I'm more traditional, the hickory smoke, maybe a fruit tree for a variety of tastes, but HEY, whatever works.

Peartree,

Great minds think alike. Someone has alread asked the questions about Alder sources.

Check out the Owners Forum:

Wood sources?

Smokin'

Smokin, as it turns out, the alder produced great bacon. I had used maple previously, and got rave revues, but thought I'd try something a little different.

The alder gives a mildly sweet smokiness to the bacon. In fact, I may try alder (if I get my shipment from you-know-who) on my next batch of baby backs. I'll let you know how those come out.

Dennis, here's the URL of where I've previously bought alder and may soon:


Alder at a good price

Richard,

I used Hickory, I think i'll give it one more try, I'm going to go with a little more cure this time too.

I'd love to try something with more fat content.

Hey All,

I did a couple of hams with the bacon cure this week also. Bought a couple of pork shoulders , about 10-12 pounds, followed the directions for the amount of cure exactly as stated in the instructions, but again went with the 12 day cure, then rinse and soaked for two hours. Smoked till temp read 140 with famous corn cobs, let smoker cool down then brought hams in house and put in frig. Baked them the next day till 155 in oven with maple syurp and brown sugar glaze and let them set for about 30 minutes or so and carved them. Oh baby, talk about good hams, not salty at all, but great flavor.
Will try anything once, but some things will have to be done many more times. These went to hunting camp for a feast, and am already taking orders for X-mas and Easter and of course next hunting season!!!!!
peartree51(Dennis)

d9, I've gotten so I cure the butts about 14 days. I like the taste better. Another thing, I don't trim the butts at all anymore, just debone them, period. The bacon seems to come out better.

Peartree, Dave Swenson sent me some corncobs. So, guess my next batch of Buckboard will be over those infamous corncobs.

My wife, who is from Arkansas, says, "You'll just find out how good bacon can be over corncobs."

Hey, her uncle Grady taught me all about turkey and fish frying.

I have been using the buckboard bacon cure from Hi Mountain for years, and like other posters have gotten excellent results.

Some other things you might try . . . buy a nice complete pork loin, and follow the buckboard bacon instructions. You end up with the best canadian bacon you ever tasted. Also, use on a boneless turkey roast, and the turkey comes out tasting like ham. This cure is a great product and can be used on a variety of meats. Also works great in combination with cold smoking.
Paul

Funny you should say "loin"... I bought a full pork loin from Costco and followed the buck board recipe for the amount of rub.

It's been on it now for 10 days now, I'm going to 14 and I'll let you all know.

David

The loin is a hit. It is awesome. I just got back from Costco and bought 2 more. They are curing even as I type.

This stuff is GOOD.

Dave

d9, glad you finally got good results.

The Canadian bacon sounds so good, I'll try a loin this next week or so.