BTKR's Buck Board Bacon

[billythekidrock]

Here is my first shot at buckboard bacon. Dogtuk made a post a couple years ago and it got me interested but I just never took the time to try it until now (because of his most recent buckboard bacon post).

I picked up some of Hi Mountain’s Buckboard Bacon Cure and bought a couple of 8lb butt roasts.

After removing the bones I rubbed them down with the cure and put them in large zip lock bags and into plastic containers just in case the bags leaked (which they did).

I left them in the refrigerator for 10 days, flipping them every couple days. Last night I injected one with a commercial marinade (butter & garlic flavor) and the other was injected with apple juice and then they were put back in the fridge.

This morning (5am) they were soaked in fresh water for an hour, dried off and set out for an hour before placing in the smoker. I ended up tying them to keep the loose pieces together.



At 7am they were placed in the smoker without smoke for about an hour at 150 degrees. Then the temp was raised to 200 and I started some hickory and alder chips smoking.

The second butt (largest) reached an internal temp of 140 degrees just before 12:30pm and the heat/smoke process was stopped. They then sat in the smoker to cool for an hour.

I put them in the refrigerator for another hour to continue cooling before taking them out to cut up.



The butter & garlic bacon was way too garlicky / salty and it will be sent to my wife’s work for consumption. (They eat anything. lol)

The apple juice bacon turned out real smooth and mild for the most part. A bit salty, but I think that could be fixed next time by soaking in water a little longer.

[Shootmoore]

Fantastic looking!  I can almost taste it.  I am going to have to start smoking red meat instead of just fish.

Shootmoore

[dogtuk]

looks great

[Michelle_Nelson]

You have been on a little smoker kick lately. 

[bow4elk]

Looks great!  At least you've got the process down now so you can dial it in.  I saw pork butt's for .99/lb at Safeway (I think) but Costco seems to have pretty good deals.

I'd love to see more pics of your smoker set up.  I'm thinking about making a large one so I can do some bigger stuff.

[turkey buster]

nice job BTKR that looks great, but just remember the people at your wifes work arent the only ones that will eat just about anything, LOL.
chuck

[robb92]

Looks damn good!!! I will have to try it!!!

[billythekidrock]

You have been on a little smoker kick lately. 

No, just have time to share.
Usually around this time every year I smoke jerky, sausage, fish or sometimes cheese. I just don't post about it all the time.

[ICEMAN]

Looks great, thanks for taking the time to post it up!

[bow4elk]

I want to try cold smoking cheese.  Love the stuff.  Any pics/tips on that process?  I know you need to pipe in the smoke to keep the temperature down.

[dogtuk]

I want to try cold smoking cheese.  Love the stuff.  Any pics/tips on that process?  I know you need to pipe in the smoke to keep the temperature down.

Not sure what kind of smoker you have but smoking cheese is about the easiest thing to smoke i light 6-8 chunks of charcoal in a chip pan and lay the chips on top of the coals make sure you check the temp inside your smoker first so the cheese don't melt if your fire is to hot just use 4-5 chunks of coal and let smoke for 30-45 min i put the cheese on the top shelf after the cheese is out of the smoker and cooled place it into the fridge for a day the smoke will penetrate the cheese good luck

[bow4elk]

I want to try cold smoking cheese.  Love the stuff.  Any pics/tips on that process?  I know you need to pipe in the smoke to keep the temperature down.

Not sure what kind of smoker you have but smoking cheese is about the easiest thing to smoke i light 6-8 chunks of charcoal in a chip pan and lay the chips on top of the coals make sure you check the temp inside your smoker first so the cheese don't melt if your fire is to hot just use 4-5 chunks of coal and let smoke for 30-45 min i put the cheese on the top shelf after the cheese is out of the smoker and cooled place it into the fridge for a day the smoke will penetrate the cheese good luck

Thanks Dogtuk!  I have a Big Chief and a yet-to-be-used brand new Brinkmann charcoal smoker that I got from Killbilly.

[jaredpost]

I want to try cold smoking cheese.  Love the stuff.  Any pics/tips on that process?  I know you need to pipe in the smoke to keep the temperature down.

I love smoking cheese. The key is keeping the temperature from climbing over 100*. I have an electric element in my smoker and an control device that can maintain a constant temperature. I smoke my cheddar at 85* for 3 hours with hickory smoke. After smoking I put it into a vac-pac for 3 weeks to let the smoke penetrate the cheese all the way. Very tasty stuff and doesn't last long.

I've found the higher the temperature the more smoke flavor will penetrate the cheese. When I smoked at 70* I didn't have nearly enough smoker flavor but when I increased it to 85* it was just about perfect.

[whitey]

billythekidrock
Nice job on the BBB.Great color and Man I could have sworn I could smell it frying.
I did a few whole pork bellies for christmas and it also turn out good.
Have You done Canadian Bacon Yet on Your smoker.If not give it a try.
Whitey..

[billythekidrock]

billythekidrock
Nice job on the BBB.Great color and Man I could have sworn I could smell it frying.
I did a few whole pork bellies for christmas and it also turn out good.
Have You done Canadian Bacon Yet on Your smoker.If not give it a try.
Whitey..

Thanks.. the Canadian Bacon is probably the next one.