As was mentioned in the smoked beef belly thread I posted a couple weeks ago, I'd been on a quest for beef bellies for a LONG time. The original intent was for making bacon but since I had plenty, I smoked one of them while the bacon was curing. I went about the beef bacon the same way I've done pork belly bacon for years as far as technique and flavoring. This time though I did one full belly that was pepper crusted and one that was seasoned with Jeff's Texas rub. For some reason that just seemed appropriate for a big slab of beef.
The bellies in the cryovac
One each in a pan. For reference, these are 18 x 13 pans.
All seasoned up and cure applied.
Into vac seal bags to cure. Sure glad I bought that 16" Vacmaster 360 Pro that
SmokinAl
recommended. These would have never fit into a 12" vac seal machine.
Two weeks in the cure, rinsed, and second round of seasoning applied. Now for an overnight rest in the fridge
Into the smoker the next day. I did two 6-hour cold smoke sessions with an overnight rest between each session. Using Pitmaster Choice pellets in the 12" tube
After 12 hours of cold smoke. They took on some nice color but not as much as I'd expected.
Another overnight rest then onto the Rec Tec the next day. Running low temp / extreme smoke
After about 5 hours on the Rec Tec, they definitely took on some color. The aroma is amazing.
Once again, an overnight rest, then slice the next morning. These are the same 18 x 13 pans. This stuff is huge!!
Texas rub
Pepper
A few slices of the TX into an electric skillet for breakfast. Again, for reference, that is a 16" skillet. That's probably about 3/4 pound of bacon, maybe a bit more taking into account how thick it was sliced
All done cooking. Man this stuff looks and smells crazy good
And my breakfast. I know...looks like I made some smiley faces with the butter but it was not planned that way
After all of this, if I could only make one type of bacon and had a readily available supply of this, I'd be doing exclusively beef bacon. There is just so much more flavor to the meat than pork. Before anybody asks, no, it does not taste like pastrami. Similar texture I guess but the flavor is all the way around the world different. Anybody who makes their own bacon and can lay hands on some beef belly, I'd recommend going for it!! This stuff is outstanding. A couple words to the wise though. I sliced this at 5.5 mm and probably should have done it at 5. The first batch I cooked was just a bit tough but not bad at all. The next day I did some of the pepper for breakfast and cooked it longer. That made a huge difference in the tenderness. I guess you gotta kinda treat it like a brisket
Well gonna call this one done. Just got home from TN a little while ago and got a few chores to catch up on. Y'all take care and thanks for posting all of those amazing Labor Day cooks!!
Robert
The bellies in the cryovac
One each in a pan. For reference, these are 18 x 13 pans.
All seasoned up and cure applied.
Into vac seal bags to cure. Sure glad I bought that 16" Vacmaster 360 Pro that
SmokinAl
recommended. These would have never fit into a 12" vac seal machine.
Two weeks in the cure, rinsed, and second round of seasoning applied. Now for an overnight rest in the fridge
Into the smoker the next day. I did two 6-hour cold smoke sessions with an overnight rest between each session. Using Pitmaster Choice pellets in the 12" tube
After 12 hours of cold smoke. They took on some nice color but not as much as I'd expected.
Another overnight rest then onto the Rec Tec the next day. Running low temp / extreme smoke
After about 5 hours on the Rec Tec, they definitely took on some color. The aroma is amazing.
Once again, an overnight rest, then slice the next morning. These are the same 18 x 13 pans. This stuff is huge!!
Texas rub
Pepper
A few slices of the TX into an electric skillet for breakfast. Again, for reference, that is a 16" skillet. That's probably about 3/4 pound of bacon, maybe a bit more taking into account how thick it was sliced
All done cooking. Man this stuff looks and smells crazy good
And my breakfast. I know...looks like I made some smiley faces with the butter but it was not planned that way
After all of this, if I could only make one type of bacon and had a readily available supply of this, I'd be doing exclusively beef bacon. There is just so much more flavor to the meat than pork. Before anybody asks, no, it does not taste like pastrami. Similar texture I guess but the flavor is all the way around the world different. Anybody who makes their own bacon and can lay hands on some beef belly, I'd recommend going for it!! This stuff is outstanding. A couple words to the wise though. I sliced this at 5.5 mm and probably should have done it at 5. The first batch I cooked was just a bit tough but not bad at all. The next day I did some of the pepper for breakfast and cooked it longer. That made a huge difference in the tenderness. I guess you gotta kinda treat it like a brisket
Well gonna call this one done. Just got home from TN a little while ago and got a few chores to catch up on. Y'all take care and thanks for posting all of those amazing Labor Day cooks!!
Robert
