Buckboard Bacon . . Again

Last week the buckboard bacon, which is simply a cured pork shoulder or butt roast, was ready for smoking. If you don’t have a smoker, but have a grill, and love bacon, I encourage you to try this.

I was happy to get this one on sale for $2.99/pound but this week, Kroger had them on sale for .79/pound.

In the past, I had cured the meat using Prague Powder #1 but for this one, I used Morton’s Tender Quick, which is available at most grocery stores. Considering the amount of curing ingredients used, the Prague Powder #1 is less expensive in the long run (it takes more Tender Quick) but it’s also not as easy to find and more expensive up front but if you’re just trying this, Tender Quick is fine.

It couldn’t be easier to make. If you’re going to do it for the first time, you’ll need to get a bit more detailed instructions but basically, here’s what you do:

• Start with a pork butt or shoulder roast. 
• Remove bone if there is a bone.
• Add the curing spices. Per pound of meat, add 1 T. Tender Quick, 2 tsp. brown sugar and any other ingredients you’d like (bourbon, juniper berries, cracked pepper, chopped jalapeno),
• Rub the cure ingredients onto the meat. 
• Seal in a bag.
• Place the bag in a container to catch any leakage.
• At least once a day, for 7 – 8 days, massage the meat and flip it over (bag and all).
• Remove the meat, drain, rinse.
• I like to leave the meat soaking in cold water in the fridge for a day to alleviate some of the saltiness.
• Remove from water (if used), pat dry.
• Add additional pepper or other coatings if desired.
• Smoke! You can really smoke it at any temp you’d like and the important thing is that you not let the internal temp rise above 150º. If the temp rises above 150, the fat will render and you will end up with a hunk of smoked meat that does not resemble bacon.
• Once it reaches about 145º, I remove the meat from the smoker. I’m going to cook it before we eat it so I’m not concerned about it reaching exactly 150º but I am real concerned about it going over that temp.
• Allow it to cool down before placing it in the fridge. It’s easier to slice after it’s been in the fridge for 24 hours. I only cut our bacon into hunks and then freeze it and slice it as needed. I don’t slice up the whole thing at once.

Confession time: This slab of meat was pulled from the smoker at about 140º because I wanted to take a nap and didn’t want to leave it on the smoker too long while I was being a lazy thug and sleeping the day away.

Here’s how I cut it into chunks and freeze it.

Here it is all cooked up for breakfast, along with blueberry pancakes.

As much as we loved regular homemade bacon, it doesn’t compare to the buckboard bacon, which has way less fat, and tastes like a combination of ham and bacon.