45 lbs. of BACON! Plain, Peppered, and Tatonka Dust

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mneeley490

Master of the Pit
Original poster
OTBS Member
SMF Premier Member
Jun 23, 2011
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Everett, WA
Decided to do a bunch at once, since it seems to go so fast around here. Bought 3 skinless bellies from Restaurant Depot, and one more skin-on from Cash & Carry. Soaked in Pop's Brine for 10 days, then divided. Most were plain, but I peppered about 10 lbs, and coated a 4 lb piece on both sides with Tatonka Dust. Smoked at 120° for about 12 hours, then bumped up to 130° for 3 hours more. Used a 50/50 mix of corn cob and cherry pellets in my AMNPS. They seemed to burn slow, but still put out plenty of TBS, so I never had to refill. I did have to re-light once about 5 hours in, but it couldn't have been out for more than 45 minutes.

Here's some pics:

One of the skinless bellies still cryovac'd. They came to about 9-1/2 lbs each.


The skin-on one at over 15 lb. It was still a little frozen. I brined with the skin still on, and found it is much easier to remove after brining.


Funny how something so delicious can be made from just a few ingredients.


45 lbs of belly and 30 lbs of brine made for a heavy bin. Not to mention the wrapped,10 lb flat brick I had on top of them. Lucky my daughter had a spare fridge in her garage.



Out of the brine.


Into the smoker with a box fan blowing on them overnight to form the pellicule. It was about 40° in my garage.


Done! The finished IT was about 105° Now I cut it into smaller slabs and vacuum packed, about 2.5 lbs avg, plus a couple bigger 5 lb slabs that managed to fit into the sealer bags. Should be set for a while.





Note the time on the clock. Yes, it was 11:45 pm when I got done. I started at 6 am.


And a test fry on a few small trimmings, as a reward. I don't believe in perfection, but these are very good. Skinny piece on the right was from the Tatonka slab. Dang, that's good! I should've made more of that. Next time for sure.

 
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Nice pile of bacon! There is just something about that belly meat.

Looks-Great.gif
 
Question, was the Belly from C&C in the meat locker or the freezer section? My C&C only has boxes of bellies, 50lb. per box.
 
I need to do more bacon.   Only 2 packs left.

Yours looks good.
 
Hey Mike,

What a great looking batch of bacon! Tatonka dust....I'm intrigued! I'll definitely have to give that a try.

Thanks for posting, there's got to be a happy bunch of bacon eaters in your house!
Clarissa
 
 
Just wondering what did the bellies run you as far as cost?
The skinless ones were about $2.60 or so per lb. @ Restaurant Depot. Skin-on there was $2.05, but I didn't want the hassle of removing all that skin.

Cash & Carry only has skin-on, and I think I paid about $2.65 lb. for that one.
 
Nice Job, Mneeley !!!

All looks Great !!!

I like your smoking times & temps!!

Bear
Yep, I took them directly from your "Extra-Smokey Bacon" thread. Thanks!  The AMNPS was still going, so I just let it go a little longer, as I was using a lighter wood than hickory.
 
Question, was the Belly from C&C in the meat locker or the freezer section? My C&C only has boxes of bellies, 50lb. per box.
It was in the freezer section, 1 per box, about 13-15 lbs avg.
 
Wow, your should have enough bacon there to last a few weeks... :drool:
The Tatonka Dust seasoning I feel takes bacon to the next level, tastes like your eating gourmet bacon...
 
Gave some of the regular to a friend the other day.  He called me at 9am this morning to tell me that he just fried some, and it is the best bacon he's ever had, & his kids were in agreement.
 
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Wow, your should have enough bacon there to last a few weeks...
drool.gif
:
The Tatonka Dust seasoning I feel takes bacon to the next level, tastes like your eating gourmet bacon...
MossyMo, you might think that. But about 15 lbs. (post smoking) of it went to a friend, as we split the cost of the box of skinless. Then, as I now have the brine recipe down to something I really like, I gave a few pounds to other friends to try. That may have been a mistake. The demand is starting to grow, so it looks like I will be making another big batch very soon.

MossyMo--how much Tatonka dust did you put in your brine?
 
Then, as I now have the brine recipe down to something I really like, I gave a few pounds to other friends to try. That may have been a mistake. The demand is starting to grow, so it looks like I will be making another big batch very soon.
People like bacon the way it is but when you give them something of this caliber you will definitely be hearing from your friends again!
 
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