Bacon Ground and Formed

[reinhard]

Well i got my batch of the bacon seasoning from Curley's a month ago and just made a 5 pound load to test it out before i make the full 25 pound batch.  First time i made this and it turned out well in my smoker.  I used 3 pounds of chuck roast and 2 pounds of pork butt. Ground it course the first time through and then put the seasoning and 1 tsp of instacure in a cup of cold water and mixed it up and poured it over the meat.  Mixed it up well and ground it again through a medium plate.  then i put plastic wrap in a 9 by 12 baking dish and put the mix in there pressing it down so it was about 2 inches high all around. Put the dish covered by plastic wrap in the fridge for the seasoning and cure to set in overnight.  Next day i set the smoker to 130 deg and opened the vent full and let it be for a couple of hours with no smoke.  Then i set it for 180 and added cherry chips for an hour and then no smoke until internal was 155 deg.  Put it on the counter to cool. I should add that putting the plastic wrap on the bottom and sides of the baking dish helped a lot when i fliped the dish upside down so the loaf went easily on the smoking rack.  then after getting cool i put the loaf in the fridge wrapped and then the next day i sliced it up with my knife and vacume sealed it.

I have to say the flavor was smokey and the bacon taste was there.  Instead of using it for "bacon" i decided to use it for snacks for crackers.  Next time i make it i'm putting it in fibrous casings and making "bacon summer sausage".  Great taste and will be making more. Reinhard

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[venture]

You are a sick puppy?

But, dam?  That sure does look good!

Good luck and good smoking.

 

[JckDanls 07]

looking good my friend... crisp that up in a frying pan or over a hot grill.... YUM YUM ....

 

[reinhard]

Thanks for the comments!  I haven't given up on using it as "bacon" but after i gave some to my mother-inlaw and grandkids, they liked it the way it was.  So, i'll be making some with venison/pork and have the best of both worlds, fried and with crackers or by itself.  i think this would be good as snack sticks also without casings in the smoker. Reinhard

 

[woodcutter]

That sounds great on a cracker!

 

[lennyluminum]

Dose this have to be smoked? I'm thinking this would make good venison burgers on the grill?.

 

[reinhard]

No this doesn't have to be smoked if your thinking of using the seasoning pack as a seasoning.  I'm assuming you'r talking making this as a non-cured fresh mix or use this as a seasoning?  I have not used this for that purpose but i would say you could add a certain amount as seasoning for a burger and would have a good flavor.  When you order a product like this it comes with a instacure #1 pack that is seperate from the seasoning pack. So you could put that cure pack aside and use the seasoning pack to flavor your burger to your liking. Let us know how it works out if that is what your thinking of.  Reinhard

 

[skully]

looks good, 

  ive got a butcher shop my way that has similar products, kolbasa loafs or pork salami loafs, beef/veal salami loafs, all done in loaf pans.  absolutely delicious.

 

[woodcutter]

I just tried Curley's summer sausage mix and am happy with it. Ever since I read this post I've been thinking about trying this bacon mix as well. Looks excellent.

 

[reinhard]

I haven't tried the summer mix yet because of the bacon mix LOL!!    I got a new shipment in so i'll be making more of the bacon summer soon.  Reinhard

 

[boykjo]

Looks tasty Reinhard....................... How did it fry up..... Any pics

 

[DanMcG]

Love the color of it after the smoke! It sure looks tasty too.

 

[reinhard]

Thanks Dan, the formed bacon is a must for a smoker.  Boykjo, sorry didn't take a pic of the fry test. it tasted very good the couple of slices i did fry up at the time.  I thought the mix i made was too lean for frying.  i am going to do a 5 pound batch with just pork butt for bacon. i'll post what happens then.  Reinhard

 

[fished]

Reinhead

That looks really good.  How much trouble was it to break down the recipe kit to only do five pounds?  It's just me and my wife here.  I do give some away.  But 25 pounds is too much for us to make at a time.  Anything that tastes like bacon has to be good.  Yours sure does look good.  I like the ideal of making it into a summer sausage.

 

[reinhard]

Fished,  it's no problem for a 5 pound batch. Here is what i used for a 5 pound batch:

3 pounds beef chuck [you can use ground chuck as well]

2 pounds pork butt [you can use ground pork as well]

6 T of Curley's bacon seasoning

2 T of diced garlic [used the stuff in the jar]

1 cup of powdered dried milk

1 tsp cure #1

1 cups cold water [i mix the cure and seasoning/garlic in the water] the powderd milk i spread over the meat mix before mixing after the first grind. I explained what i did as far as making the bacon in my original post which was only 5 pounds.  i also only make 5 pounds of the bacon at a time.  As i said earlier i will try straight pork butt on my next 5 pound batch for bacon. The above combo was great as summer sausage. I've been putting the above combination in fibrous casings for summer adding some hot pepper flakes for some members of the family including me.  I put one T of crushed red pepper flakes per 5 pounds but that's up to personal preferance. The garlic is optional also. Reinhard

 

[mossymo]

Been making the ground and formed bacon for about 9 years, good stuff!
Along with a few other sausage mixes my wife and I also offer the Ground & Formed Bacon seasoning on our website!

 

[mrh]

I got some bacon mix from Curleys this year and made some with 50/50 pork butt and deer....Awesome!  Will be doing it next year again for sure!

Mark

 

[donr]

If you could make 4 foot long strips of it, you could do a weave around a Torus Fatty formed in a bundt pan.

 

[woodcutter]

Have you tried this in casings yet? I'm thinking about making a batch in sheep casings for sticks. BACON STICKS!

 

[tr00ter]

I can't believe I missed this thread, Reinhard this looks great!