Beef Bacon

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Never tried it but it is an interesting thought...
 
I just heard about it about a monthago and it sounds really yummy. I have n't done one but I would like to know how they came out or I will be making one maybe in Oct or Nov and I'll let you know. It's the point I think for bacon the fattier section of the brisket. Right
 
Thanks I think you are right I wonder if that buckboard bacon from High Mountain might work I think I will try someday

Thanks again
 
Well came across this don't know if its what your looking for.

Beef bacon is made out of the steers belly meat. This is the fat part of the belly region closest to the animal's flank area. After slaughtering the steer you will want to get the belly meat into a refrigerator right away. The best bacon is made out of meat that has been chilled at 42 degrees F for 24 hours before it is cured. Before refrigerating the meat, you should trim it into a square shape; this will make it easier to handle.

Cure the meat. The easiest way to cure the belly meat is a method called wet curing. Wet curing is accomplished when the meat is dipped into a brine that is made out of salt and sugar solution. Once the meat is completely submersed in the brine, let it soak for 3 to 4 days. The salt removes the moisture from the belly meat and the sager ads flavor. When you are curing the bacon you must make sure that the temperature remains at a constant 38 degrees F. If the temperature drops below that, the curing process will be halted, and if it gets any warmer the meat will spoil.

Once the beef bacon has sat in the brine for three to four days, pull it out of the refrigerator and rinse it off with cold water. Once the meat has been hosed off, dry it. The simplest way to dry the belly meat is to lay it out on some cooling racks and let a simple house fan blow across the meat. You will know that the bacon is sufficiently dried when a thick shiny coating appears on the top of the meat. This coating is called a pellicle and is basically the hardening brine. The pellicle will help the bacon absorb some flavor while it is being smoked. The bacon should be sufficiently dried within an hour.

Now that the bacon is dried, it's time to smoke it. In order to smoke the bacon you will need chips of hardwood and the type of wood you select will affect the bacon's flavor. Maple will give the meat a sweet taste, cherry will infuse it with a fruity flavor and hickory is what gives meat a good hearty flavor. Before you start the smoker, hang the slaps of beef bacon in the smoker.

When you are smoking beef bacon, you will get the best flavor if you keep the temperature inside your smoker between 80 degrees F and 100degrees F. Smoke the beef bacon for approximately eight hours.
 
What the article is referring to is the plate, located between the brisket and flank:




It is the 'sparerib/belly' section of the steer, same as on the pig. Off the top of the plate is the skirt steak, just like what you trim off a sparerib. Then you take the ribs off (the sparerib) and what's left is the belly (just like pork belly, except beef belly). Same thing, just different animal.

My dad would make beef belly bacon for Jewish families in the area who could not eat pork. It was quite good, but rather tallowy - very dense fat. We'd also slice up the belly fresh (sidebeef) and cured (cornedbelly) too prior to smoking. I'd take a couple slices upstairs (we lived over the store) and fry them up for lunch on many occasions.

You would take the fresh plate and bone it out, then soak in brine. We always brined beef at least 3 weeks, pork 30 days. If I remember correctly we'd pump (inject) the plate beef in the large (brisket) end a bit also as it was so thick. A couple times the plate came out of the brine with non-cure spots in the middle of the meat so pumping was necessary.

Then, hanging on bacon hooks, we'd hang in the afternoon, let dry overnight, then smoke all the next day. We'd smoke them with the regular pork bellies, usually 300lbs. or so total in the smoker (4 rows of bellies 10 in each row, 2 above and 2 below).

Once cooled, we'd slice them into 10 piles, one slice on each pile, shingled on bacon boards (cardboard boards you'd slice the bacon on to then wrap with butcher paper), rotating to each one so there was a variety of slices on each and lay out on a tray in the meat case and it sold for 79¢ lb. Regular pork bacon was 98¢ lb - (60's/70's prices, folks, lol! - little neck clams were 98¢ a dozen too!). It was a once-a-week special for Friday, and if any left, for Saturday, but we usually sold out. Fridays were always special because we got in our beef early that morning and get it broke down and set up the cases by 8am (we'd start at 5). We'd have fresh soup bones and chucks, rounds, briskets, etc., roll the rib and rump roasts, fresh cut loin steaks - it was an exciting day and we'd have at least 2 or 3 meatcutters on the counter waiting on customers too. Mom would come behind the meatcounter and help too, she could crack chine bones and serve up burger, oysters, salads, cut cold meats and bacons, use the hand saw and cleaver; she just did not like the powered meat saw though (watched a former employee cut off three fingers once). Anyways, I digress...

If you can find it, take plate beef, bone it out, pickle it and smoke it. It tends to be tallowy but has good flavor and just another variety that you can do with meats!
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