Types of Bacon

[pineywoods]

I've seen and been asked a few questions about different bacons and here is what I think is right but I'm not 100% sure.

Canadian Bacon is made from Pork Loin
Buckboard Bacon is made from Pork Butt
Slab or Regular Bacon is made from Pork Belly

Now I know some of us use a Buckboard Bacon seasoning kit to make Slab bacon but its still made out of Pork Belly.

I also know some people make Beef Bacon but I don't have a clue as to what cuts they use or what its called.

If I didn't get this correct feel free to tell us the proper terminology or info

 

[DanMcG]

Looks right to me Piney. I'm also not sure about the beef bacon.

 

[kurtsara]

It's a little know fact that the beef bacon is made from the beef belly closest to the flank (trying to sound like Cliff Clavin)

Just kidding, I believe that is what I have read somewhere that it is indeed made from the belly fat and is about 80-90% lean

Actual Cliff Clavin quote "It's a little known fact that cows were domesticated in Mesopotamia and were also used in China as guard animals for the forbidden city.
"

 

[tasunkawitko]

i'm not sure what the "technical" name is, but there is also a type of bacon made from chopped beef or venison -

any information on this would be appreciated as i am cerrently looking for a method on this that involves making it from scratch rather than from a kit or package.

 

[richtee]

MossyMo's yer man. A ground venison bacon. I only have a link to another site, and that's not allowed, altho there may be a post here somewhere?

 

[mulepackin]

Good thing I often keep the "bible" handy for just such emergencies. According to Rytek, beef bacon comes from the plate, which as Kurtsara noted is near the flank. Kinda between the brisket and flank area.

 

[carpetride]

Don't think I have ever eaten beef bacon nor did I realize that was missing something but now that I do...

 

[pops6927]

You're spot on with the bacons, Pineywoods! Great job!
Beef bacon does come from the plate, which is adjacent to the brisket and below the standing rib; it is the beef version of belly after removing the 'spare ribs' from them:



My homemade drawing doesn't have any artistic quality at all but shows what part of the forequarter the plate is from.

 

[pops6927]

Oops, meant to preview it, not post it! lol!
Anyways, it's made in the same fashion; take off the ribcage from the plate (which would be the beef version of spareribs), brine it, smoke it and slice it. The fat is quite dense and the meat is on the tough side so slicing thin is recommended.
My dad made plate bacon for those who couldn't eat pork (Jewish community) and it sold quite well. He would get Kosher plates and process them, and at every step of the process they had to be blessed by the Rabbi to maintain its Kosher status (going into pickle and going into smoker) which raised the price quite a bit, but it didn't deter sales (of course you had to pay the Rabbi for every visit!). He would do 5 or 6 plates at a time and no pork could be smoked with them (he'd do dried beef instead).
I would take regular plates from the forequarters we'd break down and slice and fry it up fresh for lunch, it made a great meal, too. Or, I'd slice up some of the trimmings from the pickled plates (to square them up) before smoking for lunch too, tasted like corned beef.
Today, unless you're processing your own cattle, I doubt if you could find whole plates to use. An alternative would be the flat end of the brisket, which would be an extension of the plate on the forward side, leaving it untrimmed (all the fat left on) and pickled, smoked and sliced. The commercial use of the plates in cattle processing is for adding fat to lean for proper ground beef ratios.
The beef ribs you see COV'd in meatcases are from the plates' spareribs removed from the top of the plates, the ligament section cut off.

 

[Bearcarver]

Alright you meat men out there, this brings up a question that confuses this "old" rookie:
Jerry says the Buckboard Bacon is made from a "Pork Butt".
The packages at the store say "Pork Shoulder" & some of the same ones say "Pork Butt" or "Boston Butt".

This really confuses me, because my butt is much farther from my head than my shoulder is (THANK GOD!).

Now----Are they both the same (Boston Butt & Pork Shoulder) or what's going on here in this world that's new to me???

Seems odd that a butt & a shoulder would be the same piece of meat, or in this case do they say "butt" meaning a stub or stump, as in cigarette "butt"???


Please help---My bears want to know too,
BC

 

[richtee]

Butts and shoulders are pretty much the same hunk. Be aware a "picnic" shoulder is not. It may contain some of the "butt" portion, but is cut down lower on the front leg to include the shank portion.

I have no idea where the "butt" moniker came from?

 

[Bearcarver]

Thanks Richtee,
That's what I thought, but I wasn't sure. I did see some "Picnic shoulders" mixed in with the Butts at BJ's. I avoided them. The Picnics were about 20 cents a pound cheaper, so I figured they weren't as good.

BC

 

[pops6927]

History and origin of the name 'pork butt' is on Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pork_butt

The butt is the upper part of the shoulder of a hog, whereas the picnic or arm shoulder is the lower part connecting to the foreleg:

On this picture of a half hog, you can see where each comes from:



Hope this helps!

 

[Bearcarver]

Thanks Pops,
Your a handy guy to have around for such a young fellah.
I knew you & Richtee would "splain" this stuff, and I was right.

Thanks guys,
Bearcarver

PS: This picture is going into my reference files.

 

[mballi3011]

I know that you can make buckboard bacon out of butt and shoulder. I like the idea of making bacon out of beef. But I thought I had seen it here that someone made it from a brisket and not the plate. I'm not sure but I might be able to get my hands on a plate slab of meat.

But nice job and thanks for the info Jerry.

 

[dangerdan]

It's Beecon man...