Before I Go and Poison Myself

JohniusMaximus · August 17, 2008, 10:38:56 AM

So I want to try a recipe I found called Hillbilly Bacon. Here's the basic recipe:

1 Boneless pork butt roast
1/2 Cup brown sugar
1/2 Cup Morton's Tender Quick**
1/2 Cup honey

Basically you slice the butt roast in half, rub on the cure mix, and let it got for 6-7 days. The instructions in the recipe say to cook it in the smoker until it hits 140 degrees. I just want to know if it'd be safe enough to do a cold smoke and then slice and fry it later on. I'm new to the curing game and kinda hate to go against a recipe that specifically tells you to cook it to 140 degrees, but I tend to like cold smoked bacon a bit better.

Any thoughts?

KyNola · August 17, 2008, 11:38:56 AM

JM,
First of all welcome to the forum. The first thing I want to bring to your attention is the use of Morton TQ. If you are going to split the butt in half, you need to know how much each half weighs and make your cure mix to correspond with the weight of each half of the butt. Essentially, one Tablespoon of TQ and one tablespoon of brown sugar per pound of meat. You don't want to guess at the weight and amount of cure as you can do some damage to your family.

I'm going to yield to the true bacon experts here but I see no reason you couldn't cold smoke and fry later on as long as it has been properly cured. Hopefully, Habs will come along shortly and give you his absolute expert advice. Always yield to Habs when it comes to curing anything. He is the best.

KyNola

pensrock · August 17, 2008, 11:44:01 AM

I agree with Kynola. Since there is cure in the meat it should be fine to cold smoke. Although I would probably follow the directions but only take the internal temp to 100-120. This way the meat is partially cooked and would fry up faster.

FLBentRider · August 17, 2008, 11:51:24 AM

I'm on board with Pensrock and KyNola - make sure you have the correct amount of TQ per lb. Pork butts can be a small as 5lb and as large as 14lb.

I have thought of cold smoking the way you describe, but I have not. We cannot tell the difference in cooking commercial belly bacon vs home cured, except the home cured usually has more sugar, so I fry at a lower temp.

Oldman · August 17, 2008, 12:52:54 PM

Hillbilly Bacon is also called Buckboard Bacon... here is a link to check out: http://playingwithfireandsmoke.blogspot.com/2002/10/buckboard-bacon.html BTW I so suggest you take it to the 140F -- it is still raw enough for good frying, or grillin" if you cut it into 1/2 inch "steaks."

This is one I did (took it to 180F) and it still fried up quite nicely.

If you want to do belly bacon there are several recipes on the recipe site for that. Here is one that I've done and it quite good. It is a true cold smoked belly beacon: http://www.susanminor.org/forums/showthread.php?t=34

Good Luck and let us know how your do.
Olds

manxman · August 17, 2008, 02:15:31 PM

Hi JM and welcome to the forum. :)

I have done a lot of cold smoked bacon and I roughly follow the process outlined in the link below, although I prefer not to vacuum seal whilst curing and pour off the liquid daily. You can adjust it depending on cure used.

http://www.sausagemaking.org/acatalog/dryCure.pdf

Once cured I cold smoke (<80F) the bacon slabs for between 6 and 8 hours depending on size, slice and vac seal. It is then either fried or grilled at a later date prior to eating.

I have kept it for up to 3 months in the fridge done like that, I see no reason why you cannot modify the recipe to cold smoke. :)

JohniusMaximus · August 17, 2008, 09:36:25 PM

Thanks for the information! That helps. I'm going to buy a kitchen scale for accurate weighing before I attempt this. I've been wanting one anyway. This'll be my excuse.

Gizmo · August 17, 2008, 10:37:21 PM

JM,
Welcome,
If you haven't shopped for a scale for a while or haven't done much in the way of mixing ingredients by weight of meat, and weight of cure I thought I'd add a couple of things to look for in a scale. Accuracy and total measurable weight.
When I was looking for a scale to measure ingredients, primarily for jerky and sausage making. I wanted to be able to measure up to 15 lbs or more and needed 1 gram (or .5 grams) of accuracy. Unfortunaly the higher in weight you look for, the less accuracy I found. I ended up getting a scale that goes up to 11 lbs with 1 gram (.05 oz) accuracy.
I ended up with the Escali Aqua scale (as the name implies, it also does liquid). So far it has met my needs. It is battery operated and you can also purchase an AC adapter.

Habanero Smoker · August 18, 2008, 02:55:16 AM

Gizmo has given you some good advice on scales. Another scale you may want to consider is the Soehnle Model Digital Kitchen Scale Silver 65055. It looks fragile, but it's very study. Currently it is part of the Amazon.com 4 for 3 promotion.

deb415611 · August 18, 2008, 03:50:58 PM

Quote from: Habanero Smoker on August 18, 2008, 02:55:16 AM
Gizmo has given you some good advice on scales. Another scale you may want to consider is the Soehnle Model Digital Kitchen Scale Silver 65055. It looks fragile, but it's very study. Currently it is part of the Amazon.com 4 for 3 promotion.

If you need items to get the 4 for 3 -- Last time I looked the apple bisquettes were back on it.

westexasmoker · August 18, 2008, 04:03:19 PM

I can't find that scale model on amazon, probably just overlooking it! Hey Deb they also have mesquite!! ;D

C

deb415611 · August 18, 2008, 05:23:02 PM

Quote from: westexasmoker on August 18, 2008, 04:03:19 PM
I can't find that scale model on amazon, probably just overlooking it! Hey Deb they also have mesquite!! ;D

C

Yes they do :) , Maybe after the brisket 101 lesson.

Habs - is that the scale that CI likes? I have a My Weigh (can't think of the model # right now maybe 7000) and like it but the tare button is getting funky.

JohniusMaximus · August 18, 2008, 07:50:34 PM

Thinking about this scale. Seems to meet the requirements. Eleven pound max., accurate...doesn't look hideous. Also has the negative measurement feature where I can put something on the scale and take out an amount and it tells me how much has been removed.

http://www.amazon.com/Escali-Primo-Digital-Scale-Navy/dp/B0007GAWTG/ref=sr_1_13?ie=UTF8&s=sporting-goods&qid=1219113762&sr=8-13

Habanero Smoker · August 19, 2008, 02:46:48 AM

Hi Deb;

Yes. That is the scale that CI recommends. They use to cost around $60.

Here is the link to Amazon:
Soehnle Digital Kitchen Scale

The capcity is 9lb. 15oz. I like it because it is easy to read the display, even when you have a large bowl or cut of meat on the scal.

Tiny Tim · August 19, 2008, 07:31:03 AM

Quote from: JohniusMaximus on August 18, 2008, 07:50:34 PM
Thinking about this scale. Seems to meet the requirements. Eleven pound max., accurate...doesn't look hideous. Also has the negative measurement feature where I can put something on the scale and take out an amount and it tells me how much has been removed.

http://www.amazon.com/Escali-Primo-Digital-Scale-Navy/dp/B0007GAWTG/ref=sr_1_13?ie=UTF8&s=sporting-goods&qid=1219113762&sr=8-13

That's the scale I have, only in Grey. Works great. Only thing I don't like is it doesn't do "exactly" 1/3 pound weighing....I like to weigh 1/3 of ground beef to throw into my patty press for hamburgers, and the closest I can get is 5.30 or 5.35 ounces. But I guess that's close enough.