BACON!

[ronbeaux]

Settle down boys before you break something, again ;D

I used 1 cup of kosher salt with 2 teaspoons of pink salt then topped it with about 1 cup of honey. This went for 3 days before I rinsed it and then re-coated it with molasses. I could tell by the color that the cure had penetrated to the middle of this very small belly in the 3 day period. The molasses coating got an additional 2 days before a good rinse and dry out in the fridge over night.

Started the OBS at 135 with no smoke for the first hour then kicked it up to 160 and started the smoke. It was about 4 hours of smoke with an additional 3 hours to get the temp up to 129 IT. I left it in the fridge over night again to let it settle and then:


Fried me some up to test


The verdict was just fantastic. Not salty at all and really not all that sweet either. I could distinguish between the honey and the molasses with just a hint of salt. Mrs RB loved it!


I vacuumed up 3/4 of it and left out the rest for a breakfast coming up soon!

[KevinG]

Good looking bacon RB!

[hal4uk]

Looks great, Ron...
We gotta try that.

KyNola, Thanks for trying...
There's a meat market on the north side of Springfield (somewhere on the North side of the state fairgrounds).  Never been to it - it's a good drive from where I live, but I'm working on a contract very close to there right now, so I'll check it out when I get a chance.

[squirtthecat]

Looks great, Ron...
We gotta try that.

KyNola, Thanks for trying...
There's a meat market on the north side of Springfield (somewhere on the North side of the state fairgrounds).  Never been to it - it's a good drive from where I live, but I'm working on a contract very close to there right now, so I'll check it out when I get a chance.

Y-T Packing (a.k.a. Turasky's)  They 'might' have them.  Another possibility would be Midstate Meats, over just N of the Super Walmart on Dirksen. (across from one of those farm stores) 

[classicrockgriller]

that does look delicious, I love me some good bacon.

[squirtthecat]

Looks great, Ron!   Thanks for the ingredient list.   This is a must-do for us.


Sorry to keep railroading your thread off topic...    ;)

[hal4uk]

I'm not venturing anywhere "extra" till after the holidays.
It's CHAOS out there...

With so many folks out of work, it's hard to believe - but it's just crazy out there...
(of course "shopping" ain't the same as "buying")

I'll try both of those in a few weeks...

---
Whatchu talkin 'bout, Squirt???
We're still talking about BACON ain't we?

[ronbeaux]

Since we are in the curing mode, I just took the turkey out of the brine/cure after 50 hours and I'm letting it dry out in the fridge. Gonna do a cold/hot smoke on it tomorrow at a max of 180 to 190F, with a step up method as called for. My goal is to have it ready for 1400 Christmas Eve. Of course this means I have to start late evening the 23rd and let it go all night and into the next day. I'm thinking starting it at around 1800 and doing the ramp up thing until bed time and letting it cook until I get up the next morning. If I get close to crunch time I can always use the oven, but I really want to use the OBS all the way through. The reason I bought it to begin with. I'll make sure it has plenty of water for the night this time!

Plus, this time I am putting the probe into the  dark meat at the thigh joint so I can monitor the temp of the dark meat. I'M NOT POKING HOLES INTO the white meat. It actually squirted me last time and I'm not wasting any juice this time!

This was a HUGE hit at TG even after screwing up and poking holes all in it and finishing it in the oven. I can't even imagine how good it will be when I carve it!

Anybody have any suggestions on my strategy??

I have a plan B involving a free ham if it sucks.

[hal4uk]

Sure would be fun to see it finished/crisped up in OLD GRANDAD ;-)
(I'm toasting to your grandaddy right now!)

[harper072554]

That is some fine looking Bacon... I been wanting to make some, but was unsure how to cure it... I just learned a little bit...