Beef Bacon???

[Saber 4]

Looks like pork belly!

That's what I tried to explain to the head butcher lady (the owner wasn't there) but she just kept getting frustrated and saying that it was the brisket, which blows my mind that she doesn't know the difference and has been cutting meat for 20 years. When I told a friend of mine who used to be a butcher he knew immediately what I was looking for. But at least it forced me to go do some research and learn some new info.

[pz]

That's what I tried to explain to the head butcher lady (the owner wasn't there) but she just kept getting frustrated and saying that it was the brisket, which blows my mind that she doesn't know the difference and has been cutting meat for 20 years...

That's pretty bad when the consumer knows more than the "professional".  Brisket doesn't look anything like pork belly.

[rveal23]

That's what I tried to explain to the head butcher lady (the owner wasn't there) but she just kept getting frustrated and saying that it was the brisket, which blows my mind that she doesn't know the difference and has been cutting meat for 20 years...

That's pretty bad when the consumer knows more than the "professional".  Brisket doesn't look anything like pork belly.

Exactly what I was going to say..
I go into an electronic store and It always seems as though I have to teach them things.. You go into a professional place, they better know the in's and out's of everything, and not try to play the part, cuz they are going to run into someone that knows their Sh!t and make them look Stupid.

[Saber 4]

That's what I tried to explain to the head butcher lady (the owner wasn't there) but she just kept getting frustrated and saying that it was the brisket, which blows my mind that she doesn't know the difference and has been cutting meat for 20 years...

That's pretty bad when the consumer knows more than the "professional".  Brisket doesn't look anything like pork belly.

Yes brisket comes from the belly, but it's not the only thing that comes from there, she totally ignored short ribs, skirt steak and hanger steaks and most importantly the piece I wanted to buy from her the short plate!

That's what I tried to explain to the head butcher lady (the owner wasn't there) but she just kept getting frustrated and saying that it was the brisket, which blows my mind that she doesn't know the difference and has been cutting meat for 20 years...

That's pretty bad when the consumer knows more than the "professional".  Brisket doesn't look anything like pork belly.

Exactly what I was going to say..
I go into an electronic store and It always seems as though I have to teach them things.. You go into a professional place, they better know the in's and out's of everything, and not try to play the part, cuz they are going to run into someone that knows their Sh!t and make them look Stupid.

Ain't that the truth, Stupid is as Stupid does....

[Ka Honu]

I'm guessing it's not as much about "stupid" as it is about the difference between a butcher and a meat cutter.  Butchers know how to break a whole carcass all the way down into retail cuts.  Not many of them around since most meat is purchased in grocery stores that don't deal with whole carcasses or even primal cuts nowadays.  The store normally purchases case lots of sub-primal cuts in Cryovac (like the big chunks they sell at Costco) and then their meat cutters trim and slice them down to retail portions (e.g., chops, roasts and steaks).  Many of the more "esoteric" cuts that we'd like to see in our grocery stores are ground before they ever get there.

Not stupidity, just poor training - if you've never seen half a cow, you don't necessarily know where all the parts are.  I guess that's the way things are in modern America (said the "geezer" while bemoaning the "good old days").

[Saber 4]

Normally I'd agree with you KH but this particular meat cutter has been working at our local meat locker slaughter house for the last 20 years and all they do is kill em and cut em up... Like you I usually try to be more charitable

[Saber 4]

Success!! I found two 5# flat plates this afternoon in Dallas, finally found a butcher who understood what I was looking for and wanting to do and they were only $4.99/lb, only a dollar more than pork belly. The plan is to start the cure tomorrow with one going in Beefman's Beef Bacon Brine and the other a dry cure based on Cure #1. I'll keep posting pictures and progress reports as it develops, keep your finger's crossed for me, this will be the first carefully measured out cure instead of using a Hi Mtn product.

[Tenpoint5]

This will be better than any himountain pre mix.

[beefmann]

Success!! I found two 5# flat plates this afternoon in Dallas, finally found a butcher who understood what I was looking for and wanting to do and they were only $4.99/lb, only a dollar more than pork belly. The plan is to start the cure tomorrow with one going in Beefman's Beef Bacon Brine and the other a dry cure based on Cure #1. I'll keep posting pictures and progress reports as it develops, keep your finger's crossed for me, this will be the first carefully measured out cure instead of using a Hi Mtn product.

sounds like a great plan... cant wait to hear the details when compleated

[rveal23]

Congrats on te find!  Keep us posted with pics and details!

[Saber 4]

will do, I am going to try and get them both curing this afternoon if all goes well or tomorrow if Mr. Murphy shows up... :D

[Saber 4]

Got them both curing this afternoon. Here's the 6 pounder in Beefmann's brine



Since his was a 14 pound brisket I adjusted the recipe as follows
1/2 gallon apple juice
6.6g Lem's cure #1 by weight
1 cup Packed brown sugar
1 tbsp. garlic powder
1 tbsp. onion flake(didn't have any onion powder)
1 tbsp. pepper
I'll rotate it in the brine every 12 hours like Beefmann did.

Here's the 5 pounder that I used 10.5's recipe on with some minor tweaking



Here's the adjusted recipe I used
2 oz kosher salt
5.5g Lem's Cure #1 by weight
1/2 cup packed brown sugar (didn't have any maple syrup so I doubled up on the brown sugar.

I'll flip daily for 6-7 days then smoke it up, hopefully it turns out good enough to take to the Smokeout.

[beefmann]

looks like a great start cant wait till then end

[rveal23]

Keep the pics and updates coming!

[Saber 4]

Here's the good news updates, it's in the smoker now.

Took it out last night to rinse, pat down and into fridge to form the pellicle



Bringing it up to room temp and rubbing with Beefmann's Beef Bacon Rub
2.5 tbsp. black pepper
2.5 tbsp. ground mustard
1 tsp. all spice
1 tsp. ground cloves
it really left the house smelling good this morning



In at 220 with apple for 3 hours, then on to Beefmann's magic IT of 169-170, this picture was taken after the smoke during the water pan swap and rack rotating.