1St Time Venison Bacon

[uncle harley]

I was blessed this year to harvest 3 deer. So I thought I would try some venison bacon. Here's some pics & descriptions.

2 1/2 lb venison stew meat most of the fat & silver skin removed + 2 1/2 lb pork steak all partially frozen.

1st grind thru .175 dia hole plate, 2nd grind .115 dia hole plate

Making meat paste. I used Walton's imitation bacon unit seasoning,

Just enough to fill 2 8" x 8" x 2" deep aluminum pans lined with plastic wrap.

6 hrs on the smoker, then cooled on wire racks.

Sliced on Beswood slicer about 1/16" thk.

All done ready to vac pak & freeze.

My smoker setup. Homemade smoke generator powered by aquarium pump that my son & I built.
I used 4 lead Therm Pro thermostat to monitor temps. I had a hard time controlling temp as this was done on my 3 season porch with a couple windows open to evac smoke. Outside temp was 30 deg f & wing was gusting to 20 mph. Tried to keep temp between 200 & 250. Exceeded 250 more than a couple times due to wind. Finished product didn't have a real strong bacon flavor, tasted more like summer sausage. Next time I think I will spritz some apple juice on meat while smoking. The exterior was a little "chewy". For 1st time doing this I'm pleased. Any advice is welcome.

 

[chopsaw]

Looks good , and thanks for posting . Nice build on the smoke generator too .

Any advice is welcome.

Personally , I would only grind once .

I used Owens GFB mix when I did mine , and it had a good bacon flavor . Mine was all pork though .
Sugar , salt and cure 1 plus smoke will get you to bacon in my opinion . Owens mix is a good one , and I've had Curley's with all venison that was really good .

Yours looks great , and nice right up .

 

[Timber II]

I’d eat that!

 

[crazymoon]

UH, Looks delicious! I too use Owen's mix and I find it spot on using venny and pork.