Buckboard Bacon (Step by Step)

[Bearcarver]

Ok I'll try to salvage them with miore cure. Glad I did this with butt and not bellys.

Oh---Wait a second, I forgot we were talking about BBB, not Belly. (Brain Wonder)

I generally take my BBB to 145° all the time anyway. Why not just take the ones with half cure to 145° a little faster?

Bear

 

[tailgate72]

Hey there Bear..doubt you remember me, been awhile. I was looking for your BBB recipe as we loved it before and Angie is asking for more. Thanks for having it up.

 

[Bearcarver]

Hey there Bear..doubt you remember me, been awhile. I was looking for your BBB recipe as we loved it before and Angie is asking for more. Thanks for having it up.

Of course I remember you!!
How could I forget you, and how is Angie?
I'm glad you found my Step by Steps again. I just rebuilt them not long ago, because of the forum changes.
Good to see ya!

Bear

 

[TomKnollRFV]

Curiousity Bear since I'm comparing your step by steps with Disco's step by steps just to see if I can incrementally increase the heat on buckboard bacon <Since i'm doing every thing at once in the smoker>.

He uses Pink Salt 1 vs you using Tenderquick, and he says to soak for an hour, and you only seem to rinse off. Is the soaking only done because of Pink Salt 1? Or can I forego the soaking with Pink Salt 1 and just rinse? I'm merely curious if you know why he soaks.

 

[Bearcarver]

Curiousity Bear since I'm comparing your step by steps with Disco's step by steps just to see if I can incrementally increase the heat on buckboard bacon <Since i'm doing every thing at once in the smoker>.

He uses Pink Salt 1 vs you using Tenderquick, and he says to soak for an hour, and you only seem to rinse off. Is the soaking only done because of Pink Salt 1? Or can I forego the soaking with Pink Salt 1 and just rinse? I'm merely curious if you know why he soaks.

Hmmm, You'll have to ask Disco that one, because some people say TQ is too Salty, but not many say Cure #1 is too Salty.
There can be a lot less salt in Cure #1, because you have to add your own salt, but the only time I ever made Bacon that was too Salty was the one time I used "Hi Mountain Cure & Seasoning", which I believe is Cure #1.

When I use my TQ, the short time I soak & rinse is just to remove the surface Salt.
I use TQ, because I find it easier when Dry curing to spread 5 TBS of TQ over 5 pounds of Bacon, than spreading 1 tsp over 5 pounds of Bacon.
If I was going to use Cure #1, I would use Pops' Brine curing method.

Bear

 

[TomKnollRFV]

Hmmm, You'll have to ask Disco that one, because some people say TQ is too Salty, but not many say Cure #1 is too Salty.
There can be a lot less salt in Cure #1, because you have to add your own salt, but the only time I ever made Bacon that was too Salty was the one time I used "Hi Mountain Cure & Seasoning", which I believe is Cure #1.

When I use my TQ, the short time I soak & rinse is just to remove the surface Salt.
I use TQ, because I find it easier when Dry curing to spread 5 TBS of TQ over 5 pounds of Bacon, than spreading 1 tsp over 5 pounds of Bacon.
If I was going to use Cure #1, I would use Pops' Brine curing method.

Bear

Well, I'll try the rinse method on the small piece I got. I just really hope it's properly cured..looks like it, but I am always worried it isn't when I do these things!

 

[Bearcarver]

Well, I'll try the rinse method on the small piece I got. I just really hope it's properly cured..looks like it, but I am always worried it isn't when I do these things!

Just read what I did on Day #10 on this Thread, and the color of the inside of the meat will tell you if it's cured all the way to center.

Bear

 

[TomKnollRFV]

Just read what I did on Day #10 on this Thread, and the color of the inside of the meat will tell you if it's cured all the way to center.

Bear

I just get worried about this with any cured meat product. They look just like they should. I'm just convinced I'll make some thing that'll kill people. I plan to coat the big one with Black pepper tommorrow before it goes on the smoker. I don't know if putting the pepper on before pellicle forms or not truly matters. It's really the appearance for me. It just looks nice with a bit of a black pepper crust.

 

[Bearcarver]

I just get worried about this with any cured meat product. They look just like they should. I'm just convinced I'll make some thing that'll kill people. I plan to coat the big one with Black pepper tommorrow before it goes on the smoker. I don't know if putting the pepper on before pellicle forms or not truly matters. It's really the appearance for me. It just looks nice with a bit of a black pepper crust.

Don't worry too much, Tom.
If it doesn't look like the pics below, you're good to go.
BTW: These were not mine---I had to search for them.
The cure didn't get to the center of these:

 

[TomKnollRFV]

Don't worry too much, Tom.
If it doesn't look like the pics below, you're good to go.
BTW: These were not mine---I had to search for them.
The cure didn't get to the center of these:
View attachment 374022

I might slice into all three now to check after seeing that.

 

[Bearcarver]

I might slice into all three now to check after seeing that.

Now you're worrying too much again!!!
That's why I said take your Test Cut through the Thickest part of the Thickest piece.
If it gets cured to the center of that one, it's obviously going to get to the center of the others.

BTW: If you don't get it cured to center, just turn your heat up & get it to 145 in less than 4 hours.

Bear

 

[TomKnollRFV]

Now you're worrying too much again!!!
That's why I said take your Test Cut through the Thickest part of the Thickest piece.
If it gets cured to the center of that one, it's obviously going to get to the center of the others.

BTW: If you don't get it cured to center, just turn your heat up & get it to 145 in less than 4 hours.

Bear

I always worry to much with this stuff! LOL

 

[Bearcarver]

I always worry to much with this stuff! LOL

I'm usually that way too, when doing something new to me.
My Step by Steps should give you the confidence.

Bear

 

[David Leopold]

I too worry on these things but at the same time I use some common sense, if I can use that term for it. Not to try offend by saying others don’t use it. I just realize that even if I had allowed something not so nice to grow in there, it will be killed off either in the smoker like mentioned when it gets up to 145, or it will certainly be killed off in the frying pan.

Remember you are making bacon, which you will later fry up nice and hot.

This is why I haven’t ventured into long cold cured stuff like salamis and such. That kind of stuff that is eaten uncooked like that makes me nervous to make until I have some more practice.

 

[Bearcarver]

I too worry on these things but at the same time I use some common sense, if I can use that term for it. Not to try offend by saying others don’t use it. I just realize that even if I had allowed something not so nice to grow in there, it will be killed off either in the smoker like mentioned when it gets up to 145, or it will certainly be killed off in the frying pan.

Remember you are making bacon, which you will later fry up nice and hot.

This is why I haven’t ventured into long cold cured stuff like salamis and such. That kind of stuff that is eaten uncooked like that makes me nervous to make until I have some more practice.

Not Necessarily!!
Many of us who take our Buckboard Bacon & Canadian Bacon up to 145°IT often eat it cold in a sandwich, so it doesn't get cooked twice. So if you don't get it to 145° the first time, it isn't safe to eat cold in a sandwich!!!

And if something doesn't get cured all the way to the center, like the Pics I posted in Post #49 above, it shouldn't be smoked low & slow, it should be treated as if it was never cured.

Bear

 

[David Leopold]

I guess that’s true! I just consider if I’m making bacon I’ll be cooking it. And I agree on the uncured stuff needing the quicker smoke. I’m not setup yet for colder smoking as I’m using an MES and it will only provide smoke at higher temps anyway, so my bacons get to 140/145 rather quickly.

 

[Bearcarver]

I guess that’s true! I just consider if I’m making bacon I’ll be cooking it. And I agree on the uncured stuff needing the quicker smoke. I’m not setup yet for colder smoking as I’m using an MES and it will only provide smoke at higher temps anyway, so my bacons get to 140/145 rather quickly.

Yup---I was there.
You should look into an AMNPS.
It's not just for cold smoking. I only Cold Smoke cheese, but I use my AMNPS on every smoke---For 8 years now.
It changes everything for the Better.

Bear

 

[David Leopold]

That’s on the top of my list of purchases to make for my smoking!

 

[jeromeking]

Made this recipe, smoked last weekend. I forgot to rinse of the meat and soak after the cure. Meat is excellent but is very salted. Do you think i could salvage this by soaking in water prior to cooking, and/or will i kill my smoke and flavor?? Cant believe i messed this up after 10 days of work. Thank you

 

[Bearcarver]

Made this recipe, smoked last weekend. I forgot to rinse of the meat and soak after the cure. Meat is excellent but is very salted. Do you think i could salvage this by soaking in water prior to cooking, and/or will i kill my smoke and flavor?? Cant believe i messed this up after 10 days of work. Thank you

Once it's smoked, it's hard to get rid of the salt, but you could give it a try. I don't think the smoke flavor will suffer that much. That's why I push the "Salt-Fry-Test" right after curing, because it's easy to fix at that time. Then all the genius Expert Smokers Brag about how "They never do the salt fry test". Well I actually rarely do it, but I push it to Newbies. Once they do it a few times, they can stop too. However Bragging about something like that is just not helpful in any way.

Note: This Salt Flavor sometimes goes away a bit after a few days in the fridge. It might end up less offensive to you. Sometimes even a "Freeze & Thaw" ends up helping.

Bear