Buckboard Bacon

[Ted Calver]

A few weeks ago the local Kroger had bone in pork butts on sale for 99¢ a pound, the lowest price around here in quite a while. I picked up a couple and rather than slow smoking them for traditional pulled pork decided to try something called buckboard bacon. Cut out the bones and opened up the butt like a spatchcock so it was flat, then did a dry cure in sealed bags for 14 days. After rinsing the meat and letting it sit on a rack in the fridge overnight to form a pellicle, I put it in the smoker until the internal temp hit 150F. After another overnight on the rack in the fridge to firm things up it got sliced up, drizzled with real maple syrup and oven baked at 425F for 25 minutes. It came out great...like a cross between real bacon and ham and absolutely delicious!! I need to make more and the missus tells me that this weeks Kroger ad has Boston butts on sale for 88¢/lb!

Real bacon average price $6.90/lb vs buckboard bacon at 88¢....no contest. It's yummy.
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[Brent Dowell]

Looks awesome

 

[Darren Wright]

Looks good! What's the dry cure recipe?

 

[Ted Calver]

Darren, There are a couple of Equilibrium (EQ) curing calculators out there. Here's one.
I use a dry bacon cure calculator I found on the web and I'll be darned if I can find the source. It's an Excell file which I don't think I can attach, but will be glad to send you if you pm me your e-mail addy.

 

[Vaughn McMillan]

Looks awesome, Ted. My local Costco has been selling 4 - 5 pound packages of pork belly, so I've been enjoying playing around with cure recipes myself.

 

[David Johnson]

That looks great. LOML said ditto and she is a bacon fanatic. Have to try that when I can find a cheap Boston butt. Pork bellys around here are just as expensive as real bacon so can't see making my own bacon. Love to smoke stuff but at over 100 degrees don't need the smoker. I stay in where the A/C keeps the sun at bay.
David

 

[Bill Arnold]

Now, that's something I'm going to try - soon!!!

 

[Bob Gibson]

A few weeks ago the local Kroger had bone in pork butts on sale for 99¢ a pound, the lowest price around here in quite a while. I picked up a couple and rather than slow smoking them for traditional pulled pork decided to try something called buckboard bacon. Cut out the bones and opened up the butt like a spatchcock so it was flat, then did a dry cure in sealed bags for 14 days. After rinsing the meat and letting it sit on a rack in the fridge overnight to form a pellicle, I put it in the smoker until the internal temp hit 150F. After another overnight on the rack in the fridge to firm things up it got sliced up, drizzled with real maple syrup and oven baked at 425F for 25 minutes. It came out great...like a cross between real bacon and ham and absolutely delicious!! I need to make more and the missus tells me that this weeks Kroger ad has Boston butts on sale for 88¢/lb!

Real bacon average price $6.90/lb vs buckboard bacon at 88¢....no contest. It's yummy.
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