Beef Bacon

[vance hanna]

I want to make Beef Bacon, but i am having a hard time deciding what cut of beef to use to make the bacon. I know Beef Belly would be preferred but i can not get it locally. I was thinking that maybe i could use a flat Brisket?

 

[rgautheir20420]

 
I want to make Beef Bacon, but i am having a hard time deciding what cut of beef to use to make the bacon. I know Beef Belly would be preferred but i can not get it locally. I was thinking that maybe i could use a flat Brisket?

I haven't the slightest clue :)

I don't think a flat would work though due to lack in interior soft fat like a pork belly has. You'd be making a MUCH meatier type of bacon...not really a bad thing though. It definitely wouldn't fry up like your usual bacon though.

Nothing ventured...nothing gained!

 

[themule69]

 Maybe a brisket point?

Happy smoken.

David

 

[vance hanna]

I dont mind a meatier bacon no problem there, but the lack of internal fat does concern me as well. Maybe a fatty type of Roast cut into slabs?

 

[Bearcarver]

Usually when someone around here says "Beef Bacon" we think a mix of Pork & Beef ground up with seasoning & cure. Then made into a loaf, smoked and sliced like Bacon. (Think Sizzlean).

However the only piece of Beef IMO that comes close to a Pork Belly would be if you could get a piece of "Beef Navel".

Bear

Just did a quick search----Below is a Pic of "Beef Navel":

 

[vance hanna]

Thanks Bear, Called my Local Butcher Shop, cant get them. I am thinking im gonna have to just give up on the Idea. Or use a Fatty Roast

 

[rgautheir20420]

 
Thanks Bear, Called my Local Butcher Shop, cant get them. I am thinking im gonna have to just give up on the Idea. Or use a Fatty Roast

DON'T GIVE UP!!!!

I've cured and smoked a beef chuckie before. I didn't use a spice blend like I would for bacon, but I can say it was VERY good! I say go for it. I bet a chuckie that's cured and warm smoked then sliced and fried would be awesome. Here a few shots of what I did. Just cure, salt, pepper, and onion and garlic powder. Smoked to safe IT though.

20150215_135909.jpg

• rgautheir20420
• Feb 15, 2015

20150215_122303.jpg

• rgautheir20420
• Feb 15, 2015

 

[Bearcarver]

 
Thanks Bear, Called my Local Butcher Shop, cant get them. I am thinking im gonna have to just give up on the Idea. Or use a Fatty Roast

Or you could go to Curley's & get the Kit for Venison Bacon, but use Beef & Pork, like I did below:

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/94181/beef-pork-bacon-qview

This stuff was popular here in 2011, and where I got the idea for my "Bear Loaf".

Bear

Venison Bacon with Beef substituted for the Venison:

 

[vance hanna]

 
DON'T GIVE UP!!!!

I've cured and smoked a beef chuckie before. I didn't use a spice blend like I would for bacon, but I can say it was VERY good! I say go for it. I bet a chuckie that's cured and warm smoked then sliced and fried would be awesome. Here a few shots of what I did. Just cure, salt, pepper, and onion and garlic powder. Smoked to safe IT though.

20150215_135909.jpg

• rgautheir20420
• Feb 15, 2015

20150215_122303.jpg

• rgautheir20420
• Feb 15, 2015

I think I will give it a try with chuck Roast, ill just have it split in half to the thickness of Bacon and go from their, I called the Butcher shop earlier, and cant get Beef Navel,Short Plate or Rib Cap so I will have to go with one of the Roasts i can get, and well for making bacon i want a fatty roast. Isnt Chuck Roast the least Lean of the roasts?

 

[rgautheir20420]

It's definitely a fattier cut of beef. It's often used for making 80/20 or so ground burger. I'd say a thickness of 1.5 - 2 inches would make for a nice final product!

 

[vance hanna]

What Wood do you guys think i should use, I dont think i want to go traditional bacon with beef, i was thinking maybe Cherry and Mesquite Or Apple and  Mesquite.

 

[vance hanna]

Well I think I found the Perfect Cut of Beef to use to make Bacon, and the lady at the local Grocery Store helped Greatly, AND she even cut the most fatty part off for me!

Beef for Bacon 1.JPG

• vance hanna
• May 5, 2015

Beef for bacon 2.JPG

• vance hanna
• May 5, 2015

Beef for Bacon 3.JPG

• vance hanna
• May 5, 2015

Beef for bacon 4.JPG

• vance hanna
• May 5, 2015

Now I just need to Wait for my smoker to get here(it will be here by the 11th) and either get cure or figure out how to do bacon without a cure lol

 

[rgautheir20420]

That looks pretty good to me! Don't do bacon without a cure. Especially since it's your first time. Do you already have cure? I know Morton's Tenderquick is usually available in grocery stores. I'm a Cure #1 user which MIGHT be available at a local butcher shop or you'd need to order it offline. I got mine in 2 days from Amazon Prime.

 

[Bearcarver]

One thing I should mention to anyone interested:

Curing Beef, no matter how fatty it is will not taste like Bacon. It will taste like Fatty Dried Beef.

When we make Dried Beef, we use the leanest Beef we can find, because you don't want fat in Dried Beef. 

That's why Venison makes Great Dried Beef---It's Very Lean.

That's also why when we make Ground Beef Bacon or Venison Bacon, like I showed above, we mix about 50% Pork with it. The only way to make it taste similar to Bacon is to have a good amount of Pork in it.

I know this because I have cure a lot of Pork, Beef, and Venison.

Cured Pork makes Bacon, CB, and BBB.

Cured Beef makes Dried Beef.

Cured Venison makes Venison Dried Beef.

The Cured & smoked Beef & the Cured & smoked Venison are hard to tell apart in a Blind Test.

Bear

 

[vance hanna]

 
One thing I should mention to anyone interested:

Curing Beef, no matter how fatty it is will not taste like Bacon. It will taste like Fatty Dried Beef.

When we make Dried Beef, we use the leanest Beef we can find, because you don't want fat in Dried Beef. 

That's why Venison makes Great Dried Beef---It's Very Lean.

That's also why when we make Ground Beef Bacon or Venison Bacon, like I showed above, we mix about 50% Pork with it. The only way to make it taste similar to Bacon is to have a good amount of Pork in it.

I know this because I have cure a lot of Pork, Beef, and Venison.

Cured Pork makes Bacon, CB, and BBB.

Cured Beef makes Dried Beef.

Cured Venison makes Venison Dried Beef.

The Cured & smoked Beef & the Cured & smoked Venison are hard to tell apart in a Blind Test.

Bear

Oh i know it wont taste like Pork Bacon, that is no big deal. I would love to hear what Wood you would Suggest tho Bear.

 

[rgautheir20420]

Bear, when curing beef and warm smoking (not cooking), I don't see that as dried beef. I agree that it won't taste like bacon....it's beef. But it will have a cured smoked flavor along with whatever seasonings were used in the cure and before going into the smoker. If he doesn't cook to IT when smoking like you do your dried beef, the he'll need to cook later like bacon. That's what I suggest doing. 

 

[vance hanna]

 
Bear, when curing beef and warm smoking (not cooking), I don't see that as dried beef. I agree that it won't taste like bacon....it's beef. But it will have a cured smoked flavor along with whatever seasonings were used in the cure and before going into the smoker. If he doesn't cook to IT when smoking like you do your dried beef, the he'll need to cook later like bacon. That's what I suggest doing. 

Yep i am gonna Smoke it Low and Long. I was able to get TQ at my Local Grocery store so im pretty stoked about that! It was also cheaper than getting it online!

 

[Bearcarver]

 
Bear, when curing beef and warm smoking (not cooking), I don't see that as dried beef. I agree that it won't taste like bacon....it's beef. But it will have a cured smoked flavor along with whatever seasonings were used in the cure and before going into the smoker. If he doesn't cook to IT when smoking like you do your dried beef, the he'll need to cook later like bacon. That's what I suggest doing. 

I agree---I use a little seasoning on mine. My main point was that Beef alone will never taste like Bacon, no matter what you do to it---It will always taste like Beef. To think that it could taste like Bacon could be disappointing. It will be good, but completely different than Pork Bacon. The only way that I know of to get a Bacon flavor, while including Beef is the mix I showed above. Curley's sells the mix, and it ends up tasting Great. Curley's calls it "Venison Bacon". Anybody old enough to remember a product called "Sizzlean" knows what it tastes like. I used to love it !!!

Bear

 

[Bearcarver]

 
Yep i am gonna Smoke it Low and Long. I was able to get TQ at my Local Grocery store so im pretty stoked about that! It was also cheaper than getting it online!

You lucked out. I never did find a place for the guy from Virginia to get TQ in his area.

Bear

 

[Bearcarver]

 
Oh i know it wont taste like Pork Bacon, that is no big deal. I would love to hear what Wood you would Suggest tho Bear.

LOL---I might not be the best guy to ask that question to, because I use Hickory for about 95% of my Smoking, However what you're doing would definitely benefit from Hickory. IMHO

Bear