Buckboard Bacon, our new love is makin’ bacon. It’s very easy to do and better than any store-bought bacon we’ve ever had. That said there is no such thing as “Bad” bacon, just some is better than others. A beautiful, buckboard bacon is made from pork butt. There is something special about making your own bacon. It’s Bacon Candy that your friends will love when you give them a package… and unlike the market when we give away a pound of bacon it’s not 12 oz.

We cured it for 14 days, and then we did 6 hours in maple smoke. We’ve made the best BLT’s ever! It’s great on pizza, in calzones and a lot of your recipes where you want bacon. We won’t even say anything about just out of hand… It’s All Good!!

Patti and I have set one night a week just for us. It’s our date night. We usually put something special on our Green Mountain Wood Pellet Grill/Smoker but sometimes we cook inside. We always eat outside on our patio where it is very comfortable with a rainforest theme.  Wood Pellet Patio Heater, little lights, candles, lanterns and surround sound. We enjoy a little wine, or strawberry margaritas using frozen strawberries for ice, good food, music and sometimes a dance or two…

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If you like this you may enjoy these:
http://datenightdoins.com/maple-canadian-bacon/
http://datenightdoins.com/canadian-bacon/

Backyard BBQ
A Wood Pellet Grill Recipe

Prep Time: 14 days
Cook Time: 6 hours at 150* (66c)
Grill: Green Mountain Wood Pellet Grill
Pellets: Green Mountain Grill’s Apple blend, Hickory, Red Oak and Apple

Ingredients: Buckboard Bacon
Peppered Bacon Cure (15 pounds of pork butt)

• ½ cup Morton’s Tender Quick
• 2/3 cup brown sugar
• 2/3 cup cracked black pepper
• ½ cup crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 Tbsp. hickory seasoning (optional)

Backyard BBQ
A Wood Pellet Grill Recipe

Cooking Directions: Buckboard Bacon

I made my bacon cure with Morton Tenderquick, and couldn’t find it in any stores around here so I ordered it at Amazon. I also ordered the “Hickory Seasoning”. Mix all the ingredients in a bowl.

Do a nice heavy coating on all sides of your pork. I have used zip lock bags in the past and they always leak. Big mess in the fridge. So, this time I used my vacuum sealer. But, I only sealed the bags, so I could mix the pork around when I roll the bags over. There are covered plastic trays that work great for curing, but I don’t have one.

After you bag your pork it needs to cure about 7 to 10 days, I did a 14-day cure because these were so thick and wanted the cure through all the meat.

If you want you can check the cure after 8 days you can test the cure by cutting a slice off, the pork butt should be pink all the way through. If it’s not put it back to cure a day or so longer or until it’s pink. I don’t bother with this as I am not in a hurry and just do the standard time for the cure.

On the 14^th day I rinsed it off in cold water to cut some of the salt and pat it dry. Then we returned it to the fridge to develop a sticky skin called a pellicle. I placed them on our Bull Racks System so the cold air can get to it for 12-24 hours. This will help the smoke really penetrate the meat because of the tacky exterior.

After the “Air Cure” you can add additional seasoning like pepper or whatever you like. I loaded them up on my “Bull Racks” and smoked it for 6 hours at 150* (66c) until I reached an internal temperature of 145* (63c).

Let it cool before slicing. (I put it back in the fridge overnight). Meat slicers are expensive; I wanted to show you one I have from Harbor Freight for $20. It works just fine for the home chef. We ran it through the slicer, doing both thin and thick sliced bacon. We vacuumed sealed most of it and put it in the freezer. (It’s time to get more out already, this is so good)

 

I use a Maverick ProTemp Instant Read Thermometer (Our Store) for checking meat temps.

Note: The tray I am using is from one of my Bull Rack Systems.

Note: I get a lot of questions about the kind of pellets you can use with a recipe. Keep in mind that a recipe is just an outline. Some you need to follow closely like when you are making bread, but most you can do anything you can dream, our favorite way to cook. Feel free to mix and match the pellets until you find a combination you really like. Also, you are only smoking at temps less than 250 degrees (122c), anything higher is cooking and there will not be much if any smoke, so it does not matter what kind of pellet you are using.

Backyard BBQ
A Wood Pellet Grill Recipe

 

Backyard BBQ
A Wood Pellet Grill Recipe

 

Backyard BBQ
A Wood Pellet Grill Recipe

 

 

 

Backyard BBQ
A Wood Pellet Grill Recipe

 

 

Backyard BBQ
A Wood Pellet Grill Recipe

 

About our Recipes

We do our recipes on our patio where we have a lineup of grills, including Green Mountain, Uuni Wood Fired Pizza Oven, Sawtooth, Louisiana, Royall, Memphis, Traeger pellet grills, Char Griller side box smoker, Saber, Charmglow, Char-Broil, The Big Easy, Lodge Sportsman’s, Brinkman and Weber. I call it our “Wall of Grill”. Our grilling styles are healthy and low fat and will fit pelletheads, gas, natural wood and even charcoal purists. Almost any of our recipes can be done on any kind of good BBQ.

The important thing to keep in mind is TIME & TEMPERATURE. You can do our recipes on any grill, even some of them in the oven or crock pot, but, then you lose all the flavors you get from cooking outdoors. But sometimes it does rain.

Remember that a recipe is simply an outline; it is not written in stone. Don’t be afraid to make changes to suit your taste. Take it and run with it….

Live your Passion and Do What You Love,
Ken & Patti

Check Out Our Cookbooks
They are “How To BBQ Picture Books

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