Montana Bacon On A Stick

  • Some of the links on this forum allow SMF, at no cost to you, to earn a small commission when you click through and make a purchase. Let me know if you have any questions about this.
SMF is reader-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.

disco

Epic Pitmaster
Original poster
OTBS Member
SMF Premier Member
Oct 31, 2012
11,135
5,265
Canadian Rockies
I had a couple of curling friends come up from Montana and I wanted to make something different so I decided to do bacon on a stick. I changed it up by using some Char Siu ingredients in the brine.

I used to use Pop's brine and maybe some added ingredients but I found that if I used a small amount of brine, there wasn't enough cure to give a good strong cure. I have started basing the amount of Prague Powder #1 I use on the combined weight of the water and meat and have had more consistent results. Many thanks to Dave Omak for putting me on this track.

I put the meat in a stainless steel pot and added enough water to cover. Then I weigh the meat and water. I add 3 grams Prague powder #1 per kilogram of water and meat or 0.05 ounces per pound. I find I get a perfect cure every time.

For this cook, I would add the Prague powder and the following ingredients per kilogram of meat and water:

3 grams Prague powder #1

40 ml soy sauce

10 ml Hoisin sauce

2 ml five spice

2 ml Sriracha

75 ml brown sugar

8 ml kosher salt

or for 1 pound of meat and water

0.05 ounces Prague powder #1

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 teaspoon Hoisin sauce

1/4 teaspoon five spice

1/4 teaspoon Sriracha 

2 1/2 tablespoon brown sugar

1 teaspoon kosher salt

I had one kilogram of meat and 2 kilograms of water for a total of 3 kilograms.

I added:

9 grams Prague powder #1

125 ml soy sauce

30 ml Hoisin sauce

6 ml five spice

6 ml Sriracha

250 ml brown sugar

25 ml kosher salt

I took the ribs out and added the ingredients and stirred to dissolve. I put the ribs back in and put a plate on to keep it submerged. I let it sit in the fridge for 4 days.




I took the ribs out of the brine and rinsed them under the tap. I let them dry for a couple of hours and rubbed on Louisiana Grills Bourbon Molasses Rub. I preheated my pellet grill to 210 F and smoked the ribs over Pit Master Blend pellets for 6 hours until the internal temperature of the ribs was 195 F. Then I brushed them with a mixture of one part barbecue sauce and one part maple syrup. I let them smoke for 30 minutes more.


I cut the ribs up and served them.


I also made up some Island Chicken (see the post http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/244000/island-chicken) for some variety.


The Verdict

The ribs had a nice hammy flavour and the char siu seasonings weren't very strong but gave a nice background taste. I do love bacon on a stick.

Disco
 
Last edited:
Wow, what an awesome thread Disco ! Everything looks tasty for sure ! :drool A great tutorial as well ! Thumbs Up
 
Wow, what an awesome thread Disco ! Everything looks tasty for sure !
drool.gif
A great tutorial as well !
icon14.gif
Thanks, Justin!
 
Looks like you pulled it off again, Disco! Awesome!  There's nothing in my brine bucket right now and it's about 4 days to the weekend. Hmm...

Thanks for another great idea, and also for the brine cure ratios.

Dan
 
 
Looks like you pulled it off again, Disco! Awesome!  There's nothing in my brine bucket right now and it's about 4 days to the weekend. Hmm...

Thanks for another great idea, and also for the brine cure ratios.

Dan
Thanks, Dan. The brine cure method is largely thanks to Dave Omak. He was the one who posted that you are trying to get an equalization through the brine and meat of a certain part per million of cure.
 
Looks great Disco! Nice smoke!

points1.png
Thanks, Case. It was tasty.
 
"Curling Friends" LOL Who pics up the tab? 

I like the bacon. And the stick makes it mobile.  POINT! B
 
 
I had a couple of curling friends come up from Montana and I wanted to make something different so I decided to do bacon on a stick. I changed it up by using some Char Siu ingredients in the brine.

I used to use Pop's brine and maybe some added ingredients but I found that if I used a small amount of brine, there wasn't enough cure to give a good strong cure. I have started basing the amount of Prague Powder #1 I use on the combined weight of the water and meat and have had more consistent results. Many thanks to Dave Omak for putting me on this track.

I put the meat in a stainless steel pot and added enough water to cover. Then I weigh the meat and water. I add 3 grams Prague powder #1 per kilogram of water and meat or 0.05 ounces per pound. I find I get a perfect cure every time.

For this cook, I would add the Prague powder and the following ingredients per kilogram of meat and water:

3 grams Prague powder #1

40 ml soy sauce

10 ml Hoisin sauce

2 ml five spice

2 ml Sriracha

75 ml brown sugar

8 ml kosher salt

or for 1 pound of meat and water

0.05 ounces Prague powder #1

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 teaspoon Hoisin sauce

1/4 teaspoon five spice

1/4 teaspoon Sriracha 

2 1/2 tablespoon brown sugar

1 teaspoon kosher salt

I had one kilogram of meat and 2 kilograms of water for a total of 3 kilograms.

I added:

9 grams Prague powder #1

125 ml soy sauce

30 ml Hoisin sauce

6 ml five spice

6 ml Sriracha

250 ml brown sugar

25 ml kosher salt

I took the ribs out and added the ingredients and stirred to dissolve. I put the ribs back in and put a plate on to keep it submerged. I let it sit in the fridge for 4 days.




I took the ribs out of the brine and rinsed them under the tap. I let them dry for a couple of hours and rubbed on Louisiana Grills Bourbon Molasses Rub. I preheated my pellet grill to 210 F and smoked the ribs over Pit Master Blend pellets for 6 hours until the internal temperature of the ribs was 195 F. Then I brushed them with a mixture of one part barbecue sauce and one part maple syrup. I let them smoke for 30 minutes more.


I cut the ribs up and served them.


I also made up some Island Chicken (see the post http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/244000/island-chicken) for some variety.


The Verdict

The ribs had a nice hammy flavour and the char siu seasonings weren't very strong but gave a nice background taste. I do love bacon on a stick.

Disco
good golly miss molly, awesome....I would like to do that as cooks choice at the next bbq cook off...super job fellah.
 
 
"Curling Friends" LOL Who pics up the tab? 

I like the bacon. And the stick makes it mobile.  POINT! B
Tsk. You Texans just don't get curling! Thanks for the point!
Awesome looking bacon on a stick Disco! Love that you took it in an Asian direction. Very cool!
Thanks! It went well with the ham taste.
 
good golly miss molly, awesome....I would like to do that as cooks choice at the next bbq cook off...super job fellah.
Thanks for the compliment!
 
I'm interested in this recipe, but what is five spice ? measured in ml sounds like a sauce or liquid of some sort but google only seems to find powder. I've heard of Hoisen but no idea where to find it in the store but I got resources for that. Do I assume correctly that these are part of the char siu seasoning you mentioned ?
 
 
I'm interested in this recipe, but what is five spice ? measured in ml sounds like a sauce or liquid of some sort but google only seems to find powder. I've heard of Hoisen but no idea where to find it in the store but I got resources for that. Do I assume correctly that these are part of the char siu seasoning you mentioned ?
Chinese Five Spice powder is a blend of fennel, star anise, cloves, cinnamon and ground Sichuan peppers. It is very common in Chinese cooking and is available in the Asian section of grocery stores and Asian markets. You should be able to find Hoisin sauce in the same places.

Yes, five spice is a component of the Char Siu flavours.
 
I know this thread has been dormant since 2016. When curing ribs don't you take out the weight of the bones since they don't need curing? So the weight of the water and 50%-70% of the pkg rib weight to get meat weight and plug those into the diggingdogfarm calculator for proper cure #1 amount? What % is meat in back ribs?
 
I know this thread has been dormant since 2016. When curing ribs don't you take out the weight of the bones since they don't need curing? So the weight of the water and 50%-70% of the pkg rib weight to get meat weight and plug those into the diggingdogfarm calculator for proper cure #1 amount? What % is meat in back ribs?

I don't use digging dog's calculator so I won't comment on it. I go by Health Canada's guidline of 200 ppm of nitrite if surface applying or brining without injection. 3 grams per kilogram of Prague Powder #1 comes out to just less than 200 ppm. (The USDA has similar guidlines).

As for leaving the weight of the bones out, I am no expert on this but my reading on making hams and cured picnic all use the weight including the bones in calculating the amount of the cure. I understood that the bones would take up some of the cure but I would be interested in what others have to say.

Disco
 
  • Like
Reactions: dr k
I know this thread has been dormant since 2016. When curing ribs don't you take out the weight of the bones since they don't need curing? So the weight of the water and 50%-70% of the pkg rib weight to get meat weight and plug those into the diggingdogfarm calculator for proper cure #1 amount? What % is meat in back ribs?
I'm bumping this quote since my ribs are about thawed for wet curing. I've tried daveomak's 50-70% of the meat weight since so much bone in ribs and did 60% last time but can't find info on this here on SMF or outside this forum. Should I just take all the weight into consideration or 70% as the meat weight? Any feedback would be nice. This is the only thing with bones I cure.
 
SmokingMeatForums.com is reader supported and as an Amazon Associate, we may earn commissions from qualifying purchases.

Hot Threads

Clicky