BACON!!! Bacon, bacon, bacon!!!!!

wes w · Mar 3, 2013

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wes w
Mar 3, 2013

Ok, found that the other day and it made me smile! Thought I'd share it. Gotta love bacon,

Here my first shot at bacon.

Ordered a 16lb. belly this week from the butcher. First one I had ever bought. I thought it was a nice piece of meat. Not sure on the cost. It was 2.69lb. Good, bad, about right?

Flopped that bad boy out on the cutting board and started trimming. Put half in the freezer and half into "Pops wet brine" I know nothing about curing, but if ya'll say it works, thats good enough for me. If something happens to me, my wife can post my regards.. :-) Until then, I'm going to enjoy some homemade goodies.

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wes w
Mar 3, 2013

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wes w
Mar 3, 2013

Three going into the freezer

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wes w
Mar 3, 2013

Three into the brine for 10 days with pepper and garlic

I did weight it down with a ziploc with water.

.....and we wait......

I have a question. Does anyone know how to make fat back? Do you just simply cover it with salt and frig it? Why buy it for pintos when I just cut off enough to do 4 or 5 pots of pintos.

Yes it is a sheetrock bucket. Clean, washed and scrubbed. I got tons of them.

I shall return with more details....

pgsmoker64 · Mar 3, 2013

Lookin good Wes!

Can't wait to see the finished product!

Bill

kingfishcam · Mar 3, 2013

Off to a good start! I paid 2.99 a pound, so you did good on price.

lu1847 · Mar 3, 2013

Off to a good start. Is the sheet rock Pail food safe?

wes w · Mar 3, 2013

lu1847 said:
Off to a good start. Is the sheet rock Pail food safe?

No clue, It was a new bucket minus the sheetrock mud. I washed it out with soap and water. Its plastic.... I've brined venison in them before.

What makes a plastic bucket food safe? I can change the bucket if I need to.

wes w · Mar 3, 2013

PGSmoker64 said:
Lookin good Wes!

Can't wait to see the finished product!

Bill

Thanks Bill. I can't wait to taste it!

kingfishcam said:
Off to a good start! I paid 2.99 a pound, so you did good on price.

I had no idea what it would cost. Now we wait. :-)

fpnmf · Mar 3, 2013

Looks great Wes!!!

Be prepared to be bombarded by the safety squad...hahahahha

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/newsearch/?search=food+safe+bucket&type=all

Craig

davidhef88 · Mar 3, 2013

fpnmf said:
Looks great Wes!!!

Be prepared to be bombarded by the safety squad...hahahahha

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/newsearch/?search=food+safe+bucket&type=all

Craig

Lol

kathrynn · Mar 3, 2013

I am going to do this tooooo! Love the intro Wes! Almost fell on the floor laughing! Watching to see how things turn out. Bought some sugar cure today.

Kat

wes w · Mar 3, 2013

fpnmf said:
Looks great Wes!!!

Be prepared to be bombarded by the safety squad...hahahahha

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/newsearch/?search=food+safe+bucket&type=all

Craig

Thanks Craig. LOL! I just checked the bucket HDPE #2 Checked the milk jug, HDPE #2. Same plastic. Good enough for me. I'll look for one next time, I ain't changin this one. I know people that do Kraut in the same buckets. They been here longer then I have.

KathrynN said:
I am going to do this tooooo! Love the intro Wes! Almost fell on the floor laughing! Watching to see how things turn out. Bought some sugar cure today.

Kat

Haha, I ran across that the other day. It was just to good not to post. Finally got a spare frig. Wife was not liking the fact of all her stuff being put on the counter. :-)

dirtsailor2003 · Mar 3, 2013

A spare fridge and a second freezer becomes a must once you start smoking bacon!!! I used to dry cure all my bacon. Pop's brine method is just too easy not to like! I plan on doing some pastrami soon and will use Pop's brine for that too!

wes w · Mar 3, 2013

I should add, that I followed the brine as far as cure. I used dark brown sugar in place of reg. brown sugar and only used 1 cup in the two gal. that I prepared. I'm thinking I can get the same sweet and a little more molasses flavor with a smaller amount. Time will tell.

kathrynn · Mar 4, 2013

the only difference in the light and dark BS....IMHO....is the amount of molasses in it. Others may have a different spin on that.

Kat

toby bryant · Mar 4, 2013

Looks like a great start Wes. I paid 2.99 for my bellies, but still cheaper than bacon, and waaaaaaaaayyyyyyy better. Love the intro pic

wes w · Mar 4, 2013

KathrynN said:
the only difference in the light and dark BS....IMHO....is the amount of molasses in it. Others may have a different spin on that.

Kat

That is the difference Kat. I like molasses. Several people in this area make it each year.

Toby Bryant said:
Looks like a great start Wes. I paid 2.99 for my bellies, but still cheaper than bacon, and waaaaaaaaayyyyyyy better. Love the intro pic

Thanks Toby. I can't wait to try it.

wes w · Mar 5, 2013

dirtsailor2003 said:
A spare fridge and a second freezer becomes a must once you start smoking bacon!!! I used to dry cure all my bacon. Pop's brine method is just too easy not to like! I plan on doing some pastrami soon and will use Pop's brine for that too!

I've always been a fan of chest freezers, being you can get more stuff in. I'm now looking for a good used upright. I'm not liking digging to the bottom every time I restock just to rotate the product. This is the first brine cure I've done. I trust this site and the knowlege it holds.

dirtsailor2003 · Mar 5, 2013

Wes W said:
I've always been a fan of chest freezers, being you can get more stuff in. I'm now looking for a good used upright. I'm not liking digging to the bottom every time I restock just to rotate the product. This is the first brine cure I've done. I trust this site and the knowlege it holds.

When I was fishing for a living I had two freezers. A chest freezer for bait and an upright our food. Didn't have to dig around in the chest freezer since all it held was frozen herring!!

We're almost out of bacon (not Canadian, have plenty of that right now). When I did the Bacon trifecta we decided that we really liked the Buck Board Bacon the best. So our next batch isn't going to be belly bacon. Probably should get some brining!

daveomak · Mar 5, 2013

Wes, Look for an older freezer that is not frost free... IMO, frozen food keeps better and won't freezer burn near as fast...

I recently bought a new upright that was not frost free so they still make them.... Dave

wes w · Mar 7, 2013

Thanks Dave. I've never really given that much thought but growing up Dad would freeze meat just wrapped in butcher paper and it would keep the whole year without freezer burn. Mom would defrost it once a year before butchering our hog and chickens. Thanks for sharing the info.

wes w · Mar 9, 2013

Three more days to go. Bacon is looking good. It comes out of brine on Tuesday. I'll be smoking it Sat.

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wes w
Mar 9, 2013

Edit: I checked some smaller "food safe" containers that our son had brought home and they had HDPE #2 on them as well.

BACON!!! Bacon, bacon, bacon!!!!!

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