38 pounds of bellie!!! Yaaaaaaa!! Final pics!!

Can't wait to see the finish!  Reminds me so much of the slabs at dad's store, nice and meaty, they're 8 - 10 lb slabs!   Dad got his from Pilgrim Packing Co.  5 per box, ave. 50lb boxes.  Had to unpack them every week, Mon. and Fri. deliveries, 8 - 16 boxes (1 or 2 - 55 gal. drums worth, 400 - 800 lbs.).  Toss them in a barrel, criscross, slide the short ones down the sides, fill up the barrel with brine in whatever room was left and put a plastic 5 gal. collapsible jug full of water on them to hold them down and roll into the brine cooler (could hold 50 55 gal. barrels).  Had a big chart we'd mark the barrel no. on and date it so we'd know when to pull the next one in line come 3-4 weeks.  Remember it like yesterday!  When it would be time to pull them, I'd go into the cooler with a transport cart, use a long hook to pull them up out of the barrel and then push them into the smokehouse area, hang each one with bacon hooks, then into the smokehouse until the next morning and start them up.   They'd have to reach 136° before we could turn them off, then let them cool overnight and empty the smokehouse the next morning into a drip room, ready to fill up again.  Had two smokehouses and always had both running; hams, bacons, custom, dried beef, turkeys, chickens, always something!

I worked full time at dad's store from '70 - '75, while you were in 'Nam; of course part time growing up.  Never ever dreamed in a thousand years you and I would be makin' bacons and enjoying the benefits!  Ever talk to Ray?  Get him interested too!

SO glad to see you enjoying your retirement, as am I!  We made it, bud!  Didn't think we'd make it, esp. after going around Kellogg's Hill curve at 110mph in that Studebaker, hahahah!  But, I'm telling stories out of school!  As they say, those were the days!  Sorry for going on and on, have to repeat memories while I still have them with me, never know when another stroke will wipe them out!

That's some good looking bacon Craig!

Any idea what breed and are those side or belly bacon?

Nice bacon!

Nice!

Looking great! 

Man, those are some pretty good looking pictures.

Looks great!

Thanks!

Great job neighbor 

raptor700 said:

Great job neighbor 

Click to expand...

Hey stranger,

You should drop in at Craig's, and get your share!!!

Bear

An incredible looking bacon. I have learned a lot from your post once again. Thanks.

Disco.