Getting down to the bare bottom of our Buckboard Bacon stash so yep, you guessed it, time to make some more.
Last time I made 25 lbs of BBB. Some maple, some cracked black pepper, some plain and some a combination of them all. But as in all things smoking, I've got to experiment a bit more. This time with some spice.
I found 3 shoulders at about 3# a piece, and some beautiful bellies that measured out to about 9#, so around 18# all together.
I did 3 different treatments to the shoulders:
1) Just the High Mountain BBB cure (for the wife and kids)
2) The same cure with with a healthy splash of Sriracha sauce (I'm guessing this won't be very good, but I had to try.)
3) Same cure with around 3T of ground jalepeno powder mixed in (really excited for this test....I've got high hopes.)
Did 3 different treatments to the bellies. Since I was running out of the BBB cure, I whipped up some Pop's brine.
1) Just with Pop's brine. Thanks again Pops.
2) Pop's brine with a healthy dose of a really good commercial pork rub (really excited for this one too.)
3) Pop's brine with a healthy dose of gourmet applewood-smoked salt (probably gonna have to soak this one for a long time.)
Shoulders got wrapped and bagged and in the fridge. Bellies in Zip-locks for 13-14 days.
Here they are soaking after the 2 week cure/brine:
Did fry tests and really had to soak 'em. About 4 hours total. Here they are ready to dry out overnight:
Here they are loaded in the cold smoker. Got the AMAZN tray loaded with hickory and Pitmaster's dust, along with some Pitmaster pellets sprinkled on top. And also have a little fan to help circulate air. Being in Colorado and with my set-up, this has been the only way to keep the tray lit for a whole run.
Here's the little leanto roof I built on the side of our garage. Contrary to popular belief, I definitely 100% DID NOT build this roof to have a dedicated, out of the elements, space for my smokers. Nope, definitely DID NOT do that at all. LOL
Got 'em in around 10 this morning (Saturday). I'll let it hum all day and maybe all day tomorrow. I'll see what kind of color we get after today.
Thanks for coming along for the ride!
Last time I made 25 lbs of BBB. Some maple, some cracked black pepper, some plain and some a combination of them all. But as in all things smoking, I've got to experiment a bit more. This time with some spice.
I found 3 shoulders at about 3# a piece, and some beautiful bellies that measured out to about 9#, so around 18# all together.
I did 3 different treatments to the shoulders:
1) Just the High Mountain BBB cure (for the wife and kids)
2) The same cure with with a healthy splash of Sriracha sauce (I'm guessing this won't be very good, but I had to try.)
3) Same cure with around 3T of ground jalepeno powder mixed in (really excited for this test....I've got high hopes.)
Did 3 different treatments to the bellies. Since I was running out of the BBB cure, I whipped up some Pop's brine.
1) Just with Pop's brine. Thanks again Pops.
2) Pop's brine with a healthy dose of a really good commercial pork rub (really excited for this one too.)
3) Pop's brine with a healthy dose of gourmet applewood-smoked salt (probably gonna have to soak this one for a long time.)
Shoulders got wrapped and bagged and in the fridge. Bellies in Zip-locks for 13-14 days.
Here they are soaking after the 2 week cure/brine:
Did fry tests and really had to soak 'em. About 4 hours total. Here they are ready to dry out overnight:
Here they are loaded in the cold smoker. Got the AMAZN tray loaded with hickory and Pitmaster's dust, along with some Pitmaster pellets sprinkled on top. And also have a little fan to help circulate air. Being in Colorado and with my set-up, this has been the only way to keep the tray lit for a whole run.
Here's the little leanto roof I built on the side of our garage. Contrary to popular belief, I definitely 100% DID NOT build this roof to have a dedicated, out of the elements, space for my smokers. Nope, definitely DID NOT do that at all. LOL
Got 'em in around 10 this morning (Saturday). I'll let it hum all day and maybe all day tomorrow. I'll see what kind of color we get after today.
Thanks for coming along for the ride!
