Monday, October 7, 2002

Pork Steaks

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Cut from a bone-in pork butt, pork steaks have a higher fat content than rib or loin chops and are very flavorful. They can be sliced thick or thin, usually the butcher will do this at no charge when you buy a butt. Pork steaks are a good cook for beginners, it is almost impossible to screw them up.

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If you own a meat saw, slicing a butt is very easy.

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Seasoning Options: Unlimited. Pork steaks can be seasoned with salt and pepper or your favorite rub. A mustard slather is an option for anchoring your seasonings or they can be marinated (see marinade recipe below). A finishing glaze or sauce can also be brushed on during the last 15 minutes of the cook.

Cooking Method: Pork steaks are very forgiving and can be cooked using a variety of methods like:

* Grilled direct 250° - 275° measured at the grate.
* Grilled direct on a raised grate. 250° - 275° measured at the grate.
* Barbecued with an indirect set-up. 225° to 300° measured at the grate
* Grilled or barbecued until 160° then finished in a foil pan or wrapped in foil.

Tip: Pork steaks are done at 165° to 170°. For a more tender steak they can be cooked using lower pit temperatures until 180° and above. The steaks in this picture have been cooking for about 3 hours using a raised grate over direct coals. Cherry wood was used for flavor and to give them a red color.

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Here is a marinade for pork steaks that came to me by way of Guest Pit Boss "Juggy D. Beerman". Juggy is a regular contributor on The BBQ Forum, in fact if you read through the archives he must be one of the original members. He also pops up from time to time on The Big Green Egg Forum. Juggy is no stranger to outdoor cooking and has been on the competition circuit around 20 years. I was very pleased when he agreed to share this recipe and technique with us here. I was in the process of formatting this write-up from a couple of BGE forum threads I had saved, when it dawned on me that it would be more appropriate if I posted the actual exchange in Juggy's own words....

Yo thirdeye,

Here is my marinade recipe that I use for rib tips and pork steaks. Because of the sugars in the marinade, you will have to keep the fire no higher than 250ºF at grate level. I cook indirect too. Since you only cooking two steaks, you might want to halve this recipe. Or you can freeze what you don't use and save it for another time.

Uncle Chuck Bob's Piggy Parts Marinade:
1 - 16 oz bottle Sweet and Spicy French Dressing
2 Cups - Apple Juice
1 - 12 Ounce Can Cherry Cola
1 Cup - Lemon Juice
1 Cup - Woeber's Sweet and Spicy Mustard
1/4 Cup - Hot Sauce (Your Choice)
1/4 Cup - BBQ Rub (Your Choice)

That marinade is also fairly acidic. Four to six hours works for pork steaks and no more than 12 hours for rib tips. I use a real light coating of sauce at the end. Maull's for the steaks and my rib sauce for the rib tips and riblets.

Lager,

Juggy





Pork Steaks

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Cut from a bone-in pork butt, pork steaks have a higher fat content than rib or loin chops and are very flavorful. They can be sliced thick or thin, usually the butcher will do this at no charge when you buy a butt. Pork steaks are a good cook for beginners, it is almost impossible to screw them up.

Image hosted by Photobucket.com

If you own a meat saw, slicing a butt is very easy.

Image hosted by Photobucket.com



Seasoning Options: Unlimited. Pork steaks can be seasoned with salt and pepper or your favorite rub. A mustard slather is an option for anchoring your seasonings or they can be marinated (see marinade recipe below). A finishing glaze or sauce can also be brushed on during the last 15 minutes of the cook.

Cooking Method: Pork steaks are very forgiving and can be cooked using a variety of methods like:

* Grilled direct 250° - 275° measured at the grate.
* Grilled direct on a raised grate. 250° - 275° measured at the grate.
* Barbecued with an indirect set-up. 225° to 300° measured at the grate
* Grilled or barbecued until 160° then finished in a foil pan or wrapped in foil.

Tip: Pork steaks are done at 165° to 170°. For a more tender steak they can be cooked using lower pit temperatures until 180° and above. The steaks in this picture have been cooking for about 3 hours using a raised grate over direct coals. Cherry wood was used for flavor and to give them a red color.

Image hosted by Photobucket.com

Here is a marinade for pork steaks that came to me by way of Guest Pit Boss "Juggy D. Beerman". Juggy is a regular contributor on The BBQ Forum, in fact if you read through the archives he must be one of the original members. He also pops up from time to time on The Big Green Egg Forum. Juggy is no stranger to outdoor cooking and has been on the competition circuit around 20 years. I was very pleased when he agreed to share this recipe and technique with us here. I was in the process of formatting this write-up from a couple of BGE forum threads I had saved, when it dawned on me that it would be more appropriate if I posted the actual exchange in Juggy's own words....

Yo thirdeye,

Here is my marinade recipe that I use for rib tips and pork steaks. Because of the sugars in the marinade, you will have to keep the fire no higher than 250ºF at grate level. I cook indirect too. Since you only cooking two steaks, you might want to halve this recipe. Or you can freeze what you don't use and save it for another time.

Uncle Chuck Bob's Piggy Parts Marinade:
1 - 16 oz bottle Sweet and Spicy French Dressing
2 Cups - Apple Juice
1 - 12 Ounce Can Cherry Cola
1 Cup - Lemon Juice
1 Cup - Woeber's Sweet and Spicy Mustard
1/4 Cup - Hot Sauce (Your Choice)
1/4 Cup - BBQ Rub (Your Choice)

That marinade is also fairly acidic. Four to six hours works for pork steaks and no more than 12 hours for rib tips. I use a real light coating of sauce at the end. Maull's for the steaks and my rib sauce for the rib tips and riblets.

Lager,

Juggy





Sunday, October 6, 2002

Lynne's Breakfast Bacon

Bacon has a long, rich culinary history and tradition. In general terms, bacon is cured meat from a pig. It actually comes in a variety of forms depending on which parts of the pig are used. Bacon can come from the jowl, the back, the side (or belly), and the shoulder. Bacon is salty and sweet, it’s really versatile, and can make just about anything taste better. Following the curing, bacon does not have to be smoked, but smoke adds an additional flavor that most of us enjoy. And if your only experience with bacon is store bought products, you will be in for a huge surprise….. home made bacon is superior and it’s not that hard to make. There are several options for the curing mixture, and the recipe below uses Morton’s Tender Quick and some spices.

I started searching for a Guest Pit Boss to write an article on belly bacon a couple of years ago and I'm really happy to share this one with you. Guest Pit Boss, Lynne is a Primo owner who hails from Nova Scotia, and is a regular on the Primo Forum which is where I met her. Her article will take us on a 6 day, start-to-finish journey, from the butcher shop to the freezer.



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~~~~~~~~~ Lynne’s Breakfast Bacon from Pork Belly ~~~~~~~~~

I am working with a fresh 5.25 pound fresh pork belly that already had the rind removed before purchasing.






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The spice mix that was used for this batch of breakfast bacon is given below.





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NOTE: these measurements are per pound of fresh pork belly.

1T Morton’s Tender Quick curing salt
1 teaspoon dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon granulated garlic
1/2 teaspoon fenugreek seeds
1/4 teaspoon fresh ground or cracked black pepper
1/2 crushed bay leaf

Mix the spices together. The amount and type of spice one uses can vary according to personal tastes but the amount of Morton curing salt should not be altered.





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Place the pork belly in a zip lock bag and press the spice mix into all surfaces of the pork belly. Remove as much air as possible from the bag and seal.





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Place the pork belly in a fridge that has the temperature set to keep the meat in the range 34 -38 degrees F. Flip the bag over every day for 5 days. You will notice when you flip the bag for the first time that there will now be liquid in the bag, which indicates that the curing process is underway. Do not drain the liquid from the bag, this liquid brine is important to the process.

After 4-1/2 to 5 days remove the pork belly from the bag and rinse well with cold water. Place the pork belly in a large non-reactive container, fill with cold water. Let sit in the fridge for a couple of hours, drain the water and rinse again. Repeat the two hour soak out and rinse at least three more times. This is a total of 8 hours of soak out time, and 4 changes of water.

If your timetable is such that you would rather soak out the bacon overnight (10 or 12 hours), do at least 2 soak and rinse cycles. The soak cycles will remove excess salt, and don't be concerned if the bacon looks slightly pale.





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Once the soaking out process is finished, dry surface areas of the pork belly and set it uncovered on a rack in the fridge so the air can flow around the pork belly. This resting time will help equalize the liquids within the meat and also help with the pellicle formation which in turn will help the smoke adhere to the surface of the pork belly. The rest (or equalization) time is a minimum of 8 hours, but can be extended to 24 hours if needed.

Usually I use maple lump and I use cherry wood for the smoking wood.





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Insert a thermometer into the thickest part of the pork belly. I set up the Primo grill so that the belly is on the raised grills and have a double layer of foil on the main grill under the belly. When the grill temperature is about 140 degrees F the pork belly is put on the raised grills. The temperature is kept in the 150 – 180 degree range for 2 hours or so and then allowed to creep up to 200 degrees F over the next couple of hours and then to 220 degrees F until the internal temperature of the meat is 150 degrees F. At this point the bacon is removed from the grill.



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Allow the bacon to cool overnight in the fridge before slicing.





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The next step is storing the finished product. I like to divide it up into small portions and seal it in Food Saver bags before storing in the freezer. The final amount of breakfast bacon was just over 4.25 pounds





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Last but not least –taste test





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Lynne's Breakfast Bacon

Bacon has a long, rich culinary history and tradition. In general terms, bacon is cured meat from a pig. It actually comes in a variety of forms depending on which parts of the pig are used. Bacon can come from the jowl, the back, the side (or belly), and the shoulder. Bacon is salty and sweet, it’s really versatile, and can make just about anything taste better. Following the curing, bacon does not have to be smoked, but smoke adds an additional flavor that most of us enjoy. And if your only experience with bacon is store bought products, you will be in for a huge surprise….. home made bacon is superior and it’s not that hard to make. There are several options for the curing mixture, and the recipe below uses Morton’s Tender Quick and some spices.

I started searching for a Guest Pit Boss to write an article on belly bacon a couple of years ago and I'm really happy to share this one with you. Guest Pit Boss, Lynne is a Primo owner who hails from Nova Scotia, and is a regular on the Primo Forum which is where I met her. Her article will take us on a 6 day, start-to-finish journey, from the butcher shop to the freezer.



Image hosted by Photobucket.com







~~~~~~~~~ Lynne’s Breakfast Bacon from Pork Belly ~~~~~~~~~

I am working with a fresh 5.25 pound fresh pork belly that already had the rind removed before purchasing.






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The spice mix that was used for this batch of breakfast bacon is given below.





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NOTE: these measurements are per pound of fresh pork belly.

1T Morton’s Tender Quick curing salt
1 teaspoon dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon granulated garlic
1/2 teaspoon fenugreek seeds
1/4 teaspoon fresh ground or cracked black pepper
1/2 crushed bay leaf

Mix the spices together. The amount and type of spice one uses can vary according to personal tastes but the amount of Morton curing salt should not be altered.





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Place the pork belly in a zip lock bag and press the spice mix into all surfaces of the pork belly. Remove as much air as possible from the bag and seal.





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Place the pork belly in a fridge that has the temperature set to keep the meat in the range 34 -38 degrees F. Flip the bag over every day for 5 days. You will notice when you flip the bag for the first time that there will now be liquid in the bag, which indicates that the curing process is underway. Do not drain the liquid from the bag, this liquid brine is important to the process.

After 4-1/2 to 5 days remove the pork belly from the bag and rinse well with cold water. Place the pork belly in a large non-reactive container, fill with cold water. Let sit in the fridge for a couple of hours, drain the water and rinse again. Repeat the two hour soak out and rinse at least three more times. This is a total of 8 hours of soak out time, and 4 changes of water.

If your timetable is such that you would rather soak out the bacon overnight (10 or 12 hours), do at least 2 soak and rinse cycles. The soak cycles will remove excess salt, and don't be concerned if the bacon looks slightly pale.





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Once the soaking out process is finished, dry surface areas of the pork belly and set it uncovered on a rack in the fridge so the air can flow around the pork belly. This resting time will help equalize the liquids within the meat and also help with the pellicle formation which in turn will help the smoke adhere to the surface of the pork belly. The rest (or equalization) time is a minimum of 8 hours, but can be extended to 24 hours if needed.

Usually I use maple lump and I use cherry wood for the smoking wood.





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Insert a thermometer into the thickest part of the pork belly. I set up the Primo grill so that the belly is on the raised grills and have a double layer of foil on the main grill under the belly. When the grill temperature is about 140 degrees F the pork belly is put on the raised grills. The temperature is kept in the 150 – 180 degree range for 2 hours or so and then allowed to creep up to 200 degrees F over the next couple of hours and then to 220 degrees F until the internal temperature of the meat is 150 degrees F. At this point the bacon is removed from the grill.



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Allow the bacon to cool overnight in the fridge before slicing.





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The next step is storing the finished product. I like to divide it up into small portions and seal it in Food Saver bags before storing in the freezer. The final amount of breakfast bacon was just over 4.25 pounds





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Last but not least –taste test





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Buckboard Bacon

The art of salting, curing and smoking could possibly be some of the oldest cooking techniques known to man. Almost every culture does it to some degree. Cured products include hams, sausages, salami, bacon, seafood and vegetables. Home curing takes some thought and some common sense. The techniques are not hard, you just need a little time and you must pay attention to detail.


Buckboard butt bacon

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~~ Follow a typical Buckboard loin from trimming through packaging ~~
This pictorial can be found at the end of the page.

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All of us have "brought home the bacon" at one time or another but did you know that "makin' bacon" is not that difficult? Like most things, home-made bacon is superior to most store bought bacon. In the United States, bacon is cured then smoked for flavor. All you need is meat, curing salts, seasonings, time and a smoker. Typically pork belly is used for bacon but when pork butt or pork loin is used for bacon it is called Buckboard bacon. Buckboard bacon is nothing new, the pioneers made it often because nothing on a pig ever went to waste. Sometimes you will see it called pioneer bacon, or homesteader bacon, but basically we're talking about a piece of pork other than the belly, which is cured and smoked.

Meat can be cured with a brine or with a dry cure. In this how-to, I'm focusing on the dry cure method. Dry cures can be made from scratch or come pre mixed. They are basically nitrates and/or nitrites in a salt "carrier". Because the amounts of nitrates are very small It's better to purchase a pre mixed curing product. A very common commercial dry cure is called pink salt. It has a concentration of 6.25% nitrite in a salt carrier. It is colored pink to distinguish it from regular salt. Morton's Tenderquick was introduced specifically for home curing and it has a 0.5% concentration of nitrite and a 0.5% concentration of nitrate (1% total). Hi Mountion seasonings sells a product called Buckboard Bacon which is also for home use. It contains 0.7% nitrite and has some seasonings already mixed in. As you can see. Tenderquick and Buckboard are much weaker than "pink salt", so I usually refer to them as a "flavor cures".

For now I'm going to focus on the home curing products. I'll start with Tenderquick, it is more readily available than the Hi Mountain Buckboard cure. Look in the home canning section of your supermarket, Tenderquick comes in 2 pound bags. Now, for one reason or another Morton's is intentionally vague when it comes to exact amounts of cure and curing time for specific products. Some of their recipe books have been around for years, and Tenderquick does have a variety of uses. I have visited with the product division on the phone regarding methods of curing loins and butts, and although they were not familiar with the term "buckboard bacon" they did understand what I was after. "Canadian bacon" is what they call loin bacon. When I really put them on the spot regarding recommended methods and techniques, they advised me to "use a proven recipe and technique". And so, here is my Tenderquick cure:


~~~~~~~~thirdeye's Tenderquick Cure for Buckboard Bacon~~~~~~~~
Per ONE pound of pork loin or boneless pork butt:
1 Tablespoon of Tenderquick
1 teaspoon of brown sugar
1 teaspoon of maple sugar
Sprinkle of black pepper to the meat before adding the curing mixture, maybe a little more after the soak-out (this is discussed below)
(I think the Hi Mountain Buckboard cure has a hint of garlic powder in it too, but the label does not mention it, so if you want to add some that's up to you)

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Hi Mountain Buckboard Bacon Cure
Now I want to introduce you to a ready-to-use cure sold by Hi Mountain Seasonings. I'm partial to it because it's an excellent product, comes pre measured (in amounts for 8.3 pounds of meat) & premixed, and it is made in Wyoming about 100 miles from my house. Hi Mountain's instruction package is so complete there is no need for me to post any how-to pictures. Many sporting goods stores in the west carry this cure along with jerky and sausage seasonings. Buckboard bacon can be purchased from the manufacturer by clicking here. You can preview the instructions by clicking here.

Below are three methods to determine the correct amount of Hi Mountain cure to use on pork. I prefer to weigh my cure in grams. These amounts are per ONE pound of meat.

By measure ........... 1 Tablespoon + 1-1/4 teaspoons per pound of meat
By weight ........... 3/4 ounce (.75 ounce) per pound of meat
By metric weight ... 21.25 grams per pound of meat

I use a gentle sprinkle of black pepper before adding the cure and following the soak out (this is discussed below).

Example 1: A 5 pound boneless pork butt requires 106.25 grams of cure.

Example 2: A 3/4 pound boneless pork chop requires 16 grams of cure.

Example 3: A 3/4 pound bone-in pork chop requires 13 or 14 grams of cure. (estimate the bone weight and subtract that from the total weight)

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Now that I've touched on Tenderquick and Buckboard cures, I'm going to give you a summary of the process, then show you what the finished product looks like.


General instructions for Tenderquick and Buckboard Cure.

Start with a boneless butt, loin or tenderloin trimmed of excess fat. Use only meats that are marked "fresh" or "natural", do not use enhanced meats. Measure the amount of cure based on the weight of your meat. Don't use less than the amount of cure called for, it's okay if you go a little heavy on the measurement.

Sprinkle the meat with a little black pepper. Rub on the cure and massage into the meat. Place in a nonmetallic pan, plastic "zipper bag", or a vacuum (FoodSaver) bag with only a partial vacuum on it (see tips below for an explanation). Store in your refrigerator for up to 10 days (curing time is based on thickness of your meat) turning a few times. Rinse the cured meat. Soak the cured meat in cold water for a minimum of 2 to 3 hours, or up to 6 or 8 hours if you are salt conscious, then drain and dry. If you have washed off some of the black pepper, add another sprinkle. Rest in the refrigerator from 2 hours to overnight, the longer the better. The rest allows the cure to disperse more evenly. In curing circles the rest is referred to as equalization. Smoke the cured pork until the internal temperature is 140° to 150°.

To prepare for eating, just rest for an hour, slice it and try it out. You can lightly fry, microwave, bake or grill it. Since the buckboard is not a preservation cure, the bacon needs to be stored in your refrigerator. It will keep for 4 or 5 days. Since buckboard bacon is so much lower in fat than belly bacon it cooks much faster. Pork loin bacon resembles Canadian bacon, pork butt bacon resembles ham. If you want to slice it for packaging and freezing, let it chill overnight first.

Here are a few more tips I've put together:

* Curing time is based on meat thickness: I use 9 or 10 days curing time on a 3 to 3-1/2 inch thick butt. About 8 days on a 2 to 2-1/2 inch thick butt. About 6 days on an average loin. About 5 days on a tenderloin. Going a little longer on the cure times is okay, using shorter cure times may not fully cure your pork.

* The ideal temperature for your refrigerator during curing is 38° to 40°. Colder than 38° will slow down the curing process, I don't recommend using temperatures warmer than 42°.

* During curing, liquid will accumulate in the bag or container. This is normal as the cure is extracting water from your product. Don't pour off the liquid as it acts as a brine.

* You want to keep the liquid in contact with the meat. Because of this I turn my bags of meat at least every 24 hours.

* Although a plastic container or zipper bags work fine, I prefer using a vacuum (FoodSaver)type bag for my curing. What I do is place the prepared meat into vac bags, but I DON'T pull a full vacuum on them. You might call it a 3/4 vacuum. First, I want the bags sealed more securely than a zipper bag. Second I want most of the air out of the bag so that the brine that forms is in closer contact with the meat. I have a theory that a full vacuum may restrict the liquid leeching out of the meat.

*Parts of Hi Mountain's smoking instructions are written for an electric smoker. (They make references to drying the bacon with low temps, then adding smoke. They also mention turning off the smoker at the completion of the process) Depending on what kind of equipment you use, some modification of the technique is in order. Here is how I smoke Buckboard bacon it in my smokers, which are both charcoal fueled cookers.

In my Big Green Egg: My first choice is to use a direct setup with raised grate & grate extender (very raised direct). My cooking level is about 12" above the coals. (Second choice would be to use an aluminum pan or platesetter as a heat shield) I like a 180° pit temp for 2 hours, then ramp the temp up to 200° until the internal temperature of the meat is 140° to 150°. Every 30 minutes or so I drop a few chips through the grate and onto the coals, which is why I like the very raised direct method.

In my Big Drum Smoker: I use the mini charcoal ring with a chunk of wood on top of the coals. I like a 180° pit temp for 2 hours and ramp the temp up to 200° until the internal temperature of the meat is 140° to 150°.

Following smoking: I wrap in foil and rest a few minutes, then chill for slicing. When slicing butt bacon, you can make the slices thick or thin depending on your tastes. Loin bacon can be sliced into smaller chubs,(4" to 6" in length) or into individual slices. For preparing individual slices lay pieces on wax paper, layering bacon and paper as needed then freeze. After an hour or two, remove the slices and store in a zipper bag.

Here is a technique that comes by way of Guest Pit Boss, Rocky Richmond (designer of the Big Drum Smokers), and he used it on his first batch of Buckboard Bacon. He broke several butts down into smaller pieces going about 7 days of cure time on the larger and 5 days on the medium ones, clear down to 1 day cure time on what he called scrap pieces. (scroll down to the cross section picture of the full boneless butt and you can get the idea how this was done) The smaller pieces require less cure time that a whole butt, which is an advantage over the 10 day cure required on a full size one. The cook time is also reduced. It also dawned on me that not everyone has access to 8 or 9 pound butts, (or maybe you are not that handy with a knife) so using a smaller one from the meat case is an option too. Just make sure it is fresh pork, not one that has been enhanced or injected with any liquids, and try to pick ones the same size.

For the cook, Rocky used a Jumbo BDS with a mini charcoal ring, and Rancher brand charcoal and used smaller pieces of peach, apple and hickory woods. The starting pit temperature was 145° and was ramped up to the 175°-200° range toward the end of the cook, which took 2-1/2 to 3 hours for the medium and large pieces. Here are some pictures of his cook.


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Buckboard Chops

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You can also use the buckboard cure on pork chops. Because of the soak out and rest times I use, these are mild and delicious, and similar in flavor to a ham steak or the more expensive "smoked pork chops" you see in the market. I start with two, 3/4 pound pork chops, lightly peppered then cured with 32 grams (or 2.2 Tablespoons) of Hi Mountain for 48 hours. (Remember if you have bone-in chops, reduce the amount of cure to compensate for the bone weight).

Following the cure time, soak them in water for 6 hours (in the fridge), then rinse and and rest (also in the fridge), about 6 or 7 hours. Smoke them as close to 180° pit temp, until the internal is 150°, which will take about 90 minutes. If the weight of your chops is different, make sure to weigh out the correct amount of cure. If you can't hold 180° in your smoker, shoot for 200° or 225°



PHOTO GALLERY


These are some buckboarded chops on my Big Drum Smoker

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Here is a boneless butt on my Egg

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Here is the same butt chilled.

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Butt bacon in the frying pan

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Two loins smoking in my BDS, one maple flavored & one peppered

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Loin bacon grilling on my small Egg

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Loin bacon grilling on my small Egg

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Tenderloin bacon chilled and ready to slice

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Tenderloin bacon in the frying pan

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Loin bacon sliced and frozen on wax paper, ready for zipper bags.

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Here is a start-to-finish pictorial on Buckboard loin bacon.
The steps are: Trim, Season, Apply Cure, Bag, Turn (every 24 hours),
Rinse, Soak Out, Rest, Smoke, Package

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The liquid from the loins combines with the cure and forms a brine.
Don't pour it off, it is an important part of the process. The liquid
shown in the picture is after 3o hours of a 6 day cure time.
I turn my bags (overhauling) every 24 hours.



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The soak out time I used on this piece was 8 hours.
The water was changed once.

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A refrigerated rest (equalizing) following the soak out is very important.
I rest mine overnight.

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