My Second Buckboard Bacon is Done, Packaged and in the Freeezer!

adiochiro3 · Jun 22, 2011

If these BBB's get better with experience, then I am in real trouble.

Actually, I know this one will be better because I now know that cured meats are not subject to the "Danger Zone" rules and can therefore be smoked at low temps for hours and hours -- imparting even more smokey goodness than my first batch!

I scored a 6.3 lb. shoulder for $1.99/lb.

I removed the bone with a fillet knife by just letting the blade tip find it's own way around the bone.

Following the division started naturally by the bone removal, I split the shoulder on down the middle to achieve a cut of meat that was no more than 2 inches thick.

I rubbed every nook and cranny of the meat surface with 6.3 TBSP of Morton's Tender Quick. All of the cure on the cutting board was swept into the Foodsaver bag before sealing.

The players in this symphony are:

Yes -- that's apple juice concentrate. I added about a cup of the concentrate right before sealing the vacuum bag. We'll see if it adds anything substantial to the party.

(See -- I'm already playing around with the flavors!

)

Into the bag and fridge for a 10 day cure...

The wait on this one won't be so bad because I already have BBB to enjoy while I anticipate the next round! Life is good when there's bacon in the bank! I'll be smoking this one around 4th of July weekend. See y'all then!

tjohnson · Jun 22, 2011

You can try things like Cayenne Pepper, AllSpice, Cinnamon, Maple Sugar or Maple Flavoring.

Some guys slop on honey or maple syrup, after it rinsed, and put CBP all over it for "Peppered Bacon"

Lot's of variations and looks like you're the guy to try them all!!

Looks like you have GREAT start!

Todd

boykjo · Jun 22, 2011

looks great...............

sunman76 · Jun 22, 2011

lookn good I cant wait to try this!

Bearcarver · Jun 22, 2011

Looking good James!!!

Keep it coming!!!

Bear

SmokinAl · Jun 22, 2011

Seems like BBB month. I have some curing in the fridge now too.

realtorterry · Jun 22, 2011

Man I have yet to try that & it's killing me! How did you make sure both sides were 2 inch?? I know you split it in two, but some are very thick??

meateater · Jun 22, 2011

Your hooked now, good stuff huh.

Bearcarver · Jun 22, 2011

realtorterry said:
Man I have yet to try that & it's killing me! How did you make sure both sides were 2 inch?? I know you split it in two, but some are very thick??

Terry,

Most butts I get run from 3" to 4" thick.

You don't have to split them perfectly. Just the best you can.

If the thickest point of all pieces is 2 1/2, it would just be another day in curing.

Since James is curing for 10 days, that would be good for pieces 2 1/2 thick too.

The biggest thing is to do the salt-fry test, so if it gets too salty from too long in cure, or whatever, you catch it before smoking it, and you can fix it by soaking it.

Just my 2 Piasters.

Bear

adiochiro3 · Jun 22, 2011

realtorterry said:
Man I have yet to try that & it's killing me! How did you make sure both sides were 2 inch?? I know you split it in two, but some are very thick??

Just kind of eyeball it as you cut; If something is too thick, just butterfly it over or lop it off, butterfly it and cure it as a separate piece. If you look at my pic after splitting, the thicknesses vary from about 1-2 inches. From my understanding, you set your cure times based on the thickest part of the cut to insure proper cure penetration. (Other more experienced BBB makers can correct me if I'm wrong about that.) I just made sure nothing was over the 2 inch width before applying the cure.

adiochiro3 · Jun 22, 2011

Bear beat me too it! LOL!

Bearcarver · Jun 22, 2011

adiochiro3 said:
Bear beat me too it! LOL!

OOOOPS---Sorry about that---I wasn't doing anything important, so I answered that one for you.

Bear

adiochiro3 · Jun 22, 2011

Bearcarver said:
OOOOPS---Sorry about that---I wasn't doing anything important, so I answered that one for you.

Bear

I should be doing something important, but I'm procrastinating -- PAPERWORK!!!

venture · Jun 22, 2011

Yeah. When we get lucky, removing the bone and following that cut, we can get a near perfect butterfly. If we get an oddly cut butt, we are on our own.

Good luck and good smoking.

nwdave · Jun 22, 2011

Dang, all these suggestions for flavoring sure confuses a guy. Well, perhaps less confusion and more of making it difficult to decide which route to go. Decisions, decisions. Now someone ups and introduces Apple juice into the selections. Well, I've got enough (16 lbs or so) I think I'll split it up and do a couple different ones.

I did notice that there seems to be a big difference in fat content in Adiochiro3's shoulder and the butt's I processed yesterday. I removed almost 3.5 lbs of fat and trimmings (saved and frozen for future). Is there that much difference in fat content between the two meat sections?

The best part of it is all of you make it so easy to get going down this path.

~Dave

adiochiro3 · Jun 22, 2011

NWDave said:
Dang, all these suggestions for flavoring sure confuses a guy. Well, perhaps less confusion and more of making it difficult to decide which route to go. Decisions, decisions. Now someone ups and introduces Apple juice into the selections. Well, I've got enough (16 lbs or so) I think I'll split it up and do a couple different ones.

I did notice that there seems to be a big difference in fat content in Adiochiro3's shoulder and the butt's I processed yesterday. I removed almost 3.5 lbs of fat and trimmings (saved and frozen for future). Is there that much difference in fat content between the two meat sections?

The best part of it is all of you make it so easy to get going down this path.

~Dave

I didn't mean to freeze you up with a curve ball, Dave!

Divide them up and try 2 or 3 different flavors and see what works for ya. I tried 3 different twists the first time and haven't noticed much difference between them. That is why I put the juice concentrate in with the cure this time -- I was curious whether the apple juice flavor would show up in the final project.

BTW -- I trimmed a fair amount of fat cap off of my butt before the pic. (The pork butt, I mean!) )My own could use some trimming too!)

Glad to have encouraged you to make the leap! Bearcarver has been a great help to me through this deal, so I'm sure he'll be around to field any questions you have and keep you on track.

nwdave · Jun 23, 2011

I hear ya. I'm still trying to find some maple sugar, locally. If I don't today, I'll be doing some variety (including apple, of course) and got some loin that going to get into the mix for Canadian Bacon. I'm going to do one further twist in the brown sugar department and try some Splenda Brown sugar. There is a need for that taste test experiment because of family considerations. Hey, in for a penny, in for a pound kinda guy.

adiochiro3 said:
I didn't mean to freeze you up with a curve ball, Dave!

Divide them up and try 2 or 3 different flavors and see what works for ya. I tried 3 different twists the first time and haven't noticed much difference between them. That is why I put the juice concentrate in with the cure this time -- I was curious whether the apple juice flavor would show up in the final project.

tjohnson · Jun 23, 2011

NWDave said:
I hear ya. I'm still trying to find some maple sugar, locally. If I don't today, I'll be doing some variety (including apple, of course) and got some loin that going to get into the mix for Canadian Bacon. I'm going to do one further twist in the brown sugar department and try some Splenda Brown sugar. There is a need for that taste test experiment because of family considerations. Hey, in for a penny, in for a pound kinda guy.

Dave,

Got You Covered My Friend!

TJ

nwdave · Jun 23, 2011

I hear you Todd. Finally found some Maple Sugar (from Vermont)

until I saw the price...

11.95 for 6.3 oz. Well, I bought it anyway. I want to see if it's as a good as some say.

venture · Jun 23, 2011

Isn't that just the way? We see something we want to try until we see the price. And then......

Good luck and good smoking.

My Second Buckboard Bacon is Done, Packaged and in the Freeezer!

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