Buckboard Bacon and Pulled Cured Boston Butt Ham

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Bearcarver

Gone but not forgotten RIP
Original poster
OTBS Member
Group Lead
Sep 12, 2009
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Macungie, PA
Buckboard Bacon and Pulled Cured Boston Butt Ham

I should note that I did this smoke before my operation, when I was not frequenting this forum.

Finally got around to trying some Boston Butt Ham to go with my BBB, and it came out Awesome!!!

It's real easy to do, as I will show below.
You could leave the bone in, cure & smoke the whole Boston Butt, and then pull the whole thing into "Pulled Butt Ham".
However I decided to remove the bone, and cut each Butt in two pieces.
Then I cured all 4 pieces, and turned the side with the fat cap into "BBB", and the other side into "Boston Butt Ham".

The only difference in doing both things at once was since I only wanted to smoke the thin BBB halves to about 120˚ IT "slowly", I had to smoke the other halves slowly for awhile too.
Then once I removed the pieces of BBB, I ran the temp up to 225˚ and more until completion.

Hang On---Here We Go:

1st Day (Getting it into cure):
Remove bones from the butts, slice in half at the bone removal point, rinse, and pat dry.
Weigh each piece of meat, and weigh the proper amount of Tender Quick to go with each piece (1/2 ounce per pound of meat).
Apply those amounts of cure to their designated pieces of meat, along with some Brown Sugar (between 1 tsp and 1 TBS Per pound).
Put each piece of meat in it's own individual zip-lock bag, being careful to gather up any TQ that fell off, and throw it in with the piece it fell off of.
This way the proper amount of cure will stay with the piece of meat it was designated to be with.
Put these bags in the fridge for no less than the time needed to properly cure, at a temperature between 36˚ and 40˚ (I prefer 37˚/38˚).

Calculate the time by measuring the thickest point of all pieces of meat.
Divide that by how many "half inches" there are in that.
Then add 2 days to that, for the minimum number of days in cure.
I then add 2 or 3 days to that, to be sure it gets to the center of each piece.
In this case, the thickest point was 2", so there are 4 "half inches" in 2 inches.
4 plus 2 = 6 minumum days in cure---Plus I added 2 more days = 8 Days in cure.
Note: I Never cure for less than 8 days.
During those 8 days, I flip each package over, and massage it slightly, pressing it flat, and returning it to the fridge.

Day #9 (Prepping for smoking):
Remove from curing bags, rinse, and put in a container to soak for 1/2 Hour, to remove surface salt.
Cut a couple slices from the middle of a piece, to check if the cure went to the center.
The color should be pink or red all the way to the center---No gray spot in center.
Fry these pieces up to make sure it's not too salty.
If it is too salty, soak it for an hour & test again.
Using TQ and Brown Sugar with my method, I have never had any Bacon that even tasted salty, let alone too salty, but I still check every time, just to be sure.
Rinse again, pat dry, and put on smoker racks (this is only if you have room in a fridge).
I then sprinkle CBP, Garlic Powder, and Onion Powder on each piece, and put these racks in my meat fridge to start the pellicle for next day smoking.
If you don't have an extra fridge, you can put the pieces in front of a fan for an hour or so, or put the pieces in the smoker without smoke for an hour or so, until it gets the tacky shiny pellicle.

Note: I put the two thinner pieces (with the fat caps) on a grill rack for the top position in my smoker, and the other two pieces on another rack for position #2, which is a little hotter.

Day #10 (Smoking Meat)
6:30 AM------------------Preheat smoker to 140˚.
7:00 AM------------------Put meat in smoker. Temp probe one on each shelf, and put Maverick smoker probe on left side (MES sensor is on right side).
7:30 AM------------------Put well lit (one end) Hickory filled AMNPS on bars at the bottom, to the left of the chip drawer. Reset heat to 120˚.
7:30 AM------------------I also put my foil half-pan above AMNPS to protect it from dripping, and my foil covered aluminum sheet on right, to direct the heat to the center.
9:00 AM------------------Top piece----100˚***** Bottom piece----91˚
10:00 AM----------------Top----108˚*****Bottom----104˚
11:00 AM----------------Top----111˚*****Bottom----109˚*****Bump heat up to 140˚.
12:00 Noon--------------Top----115˚*****Bottom----115˚*****Bump heat up to 160˚.
1:00 PM------------------Top----118˚*****Bottom----119˚*****Remove Bacon (Top Pieces), and move that probe down. Also bump heat up to 225˚.
2:00 PM------------------Left----142˚*****Right----140˚
3:00 PM------------------Left----156˚*****Right----157˚
3:00 PM------------------I put one piece in foil pan. Then Pineapple rings. Then other piece. Then Pineapple rings. Then pour Pineapple juice over.
3:00 PM------------------Double foil over, and put on second smoker position. Bump heat up to 260˚.
4:00 PM------------------All----168˚
4:30 PM------------------All----183˚
5:00 PM------------------All----195˚
5:20 PM------------------All----204˚*****Cut heat to 100˚.
5:45 PM------------------All----207˚*****Remove to kitchen. Pull just enough for Supper, and keep the rest covered. Eat some Great Boston Butt Pulled Ham.

Day #12 (Slicing, Vacuum Packing, & Freezing BBB)
This stuff needed 5 hours in freezer, before it would slice nice.


Thanks For Looking!!!

Bear




Proper amounts of Tender Quick weighed and waiting for their designated hunks of meat:
DSC03648.jpg




Four deboned halves, rinsed, dried, and ready for curing:
DSC03650.jpg




All sealed up in curing bags (Zip-locks), and ready for 8 days in Fridge at 37˚-38˚:
DSC03653.jpg




Soaking for 20 or 30 minutes to get rid of surface salt:
DSC03684.jpg




Salt-Fry test. Note deep red color showing curing was through to center:
DSC03686.jpg




Ah yes---My favorite taste test is nearing:
DSC03687.jpg




MES 40 Ready for smoking. I just put new foil on my bottom smoker parts:
DSC03695.jpg




First to come out of Smoker-----Two pieces of Buckboard Bacon:
DSC03698.jpg




That's what was left after 7 1/4 hours of real nice smoke. Separate burning pellets, and save:
DSC03702.jpg




Both pieces of Butt Ham, with Pineapple rings between & on top, and juices in the pan:
DSC03705.jpg




After the top piece was removed:
DSC03709.jpg




Pulling "Cured Boston Butt Ham". Pulled real nice, and tastes Awesome!!!
DSC03712.jpg




Bear's first ever Pulled Butt Ham Sam:
DSC03716.jpg




And this into the fridge for some left-over Sammies (Minus some that went to our Son's house):
DSC03718.jpg



Let's Make A Great Sammy!!

Heat up some Pulled Butt Ham by flipping it around awhile in a hot pan:
DSC03742.jpg




Drop two eggs on top of that pile of meat:
DSC03743.jpg




Flip that all around, until it looks like this:
DSC03744.jpg




Shovel it into a nice sized roll with some BBQ sauce on it.
Then squirt some of your favorite Hot Sauce on it:
DSC03745.jpg




Closer look at the Sammy----"BearView":
DSC03746.jpg




Then after 3 days of Pulled Boston Butt Ham Sammies, a couple packs ready for freezing.
This will taste even better a couple weeks from now:
DSC03750.jpg




Back to the Buckboard Bacon:

After a couple days of sitting wrapped in my fridge, it was time to slice the Bacon:
DSC03753.jpg




And into the freezer it goes!!!!
DSC03761.jpg
 
Last edited:
Thanks for the usual fully detailed post. The meat came out great...JJ
 
Last edited:
Thank You All very much for the nice comments!!

They are appreciated!

Bear
 
Bear,

I have a question...do you prefer Dark brown sugar or the Light?...I had just put some bacon up for curing and used both..and I ca't wait to try it out...give me your opinion.

Thanks

You always have the best write ups IMO.
 
Last edited:
Bear,

I have a question...do you prefer Dark brown sugar or the Light?...I had just put some bacon up for curing and used both..and I ca't wait to try it out...give me your opinion.

Thanks

You always have the best write ups IMO.
Thank You Drakin!!

I like them both, but Mrs Bear buys "light", so I use light.
rolleyes.gif


Bear
 
Only response is that I bought the Bucky Bacon cure from Hi-Mountain ....and it turned out great....would like to try other recipes though as well...

You mention "Tender Quick" which I think is pink curing salt....where do you get it from???

Been enjoying our "Butt Bacon"  if you are a smoking enthusiast....you have to try it!

Also would like to invest in a new smoker....electric.... so that I can cold smoke as well...

no using a propane...hard to keep the heat down....and sometimes i just feel that it gets done tooo quick.....

Would like to hear your comments on that as well.....  thinking electric, with thermometers....with auto chip insertion...???
 
Only response is that I bought the Bucky Bacon cure from Hi-Mountain ....and it turned out great....would like to try other recipes though as well...

You mention "Tender Quick" which I think is pink curing salt....where do you get it from???

Been enjoying our "Butt Bacon"  if you are a smoking enthusiast....you have to try it!

Also would like to invest in a new smoker....electric.... so that I can cold smoke as well...

no using a propane...hard to keep the heat down....and sometimes i just feel that it gets done tooo quick.....

Would like to hear your comments on that as well.....  thinking electric, with thermometers....with auto chip insertion...???
Sgt,

That's a lot of bases to cover, but I'll try:

I use TQ & Brown Sugar when I cure Buckboard Bacon. Then I sprinkle CBP, Garlic powder, and Onion powder on before smoking.

A store bought mix is not needed for BBB.

I buy my TQ at a local Super Market (Giant), but you can get it on line if nobody sells it in your area.

Butt Bacon would be the same as Buckboard Bacon, since they both come from the Shoulder (Butt).

I love my MES 40 (electric). With a good electric smoker, a digital thermometer, and an AMNPS, you can smoke just about anything that will fit in.

I have never seen a chip burner that would satisfy me-----Check out the "A-Maze-N-Pellet-Smoker".

Hope this helps,

Bear
 
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Reactions: gary s
Homerun Bear! I always follow your posts and this one has me wanting to try BBB for my first time. I'm not sure why I haven't tried it yet but thanks for the reminder! The cured PP looks pretty awesome too.
 
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