Monday, May 28, 2012

Meat Miscellany

So, first of all...



The bacon is done!  Well, most of it was done before, but the pieces I wanted to smoke were done yesterday. I didn't have a "bacon hanger" (yes, there is such a thing) nor the desire to get one.  So, I used what we had.  Since we make a lot of sausage, we have a lot of twine.  So, here you go...

Hey, how's it hangin?
The pepper cure is in front and brown sugar in back.  I didn't want a lot of heat under it, so I started a separate fire and put the coals in a pan.  Those were topped with wet wood chips and sawdust.  The wood chips were a mixture of oak and mesquite.  There was also a little pecan in there since that was part of the coals from the fire.  After 2 1/2 hours of waiting...

Beer:  Shortening wait times since 5,000 B.C.
this is the result:


I know it doesn't look much different, but you can just see the color change.  It took on a perfect amount of smoke.  One of the suggestions which I'm glad I paid attention to, was to make sure the surface of the meat is completely dry.  I let it sit, uncovered, in the refrigerator to ensure dryness and it paid off.  The droplets of water collect smoke particles and can cause almost a bitter, smudgy surface.  So, after this I cut it all into nice thick, uniform pieces and vacuum packed them in Ziploc bags.  FYI, if you want a good tip put a few boxes (or more) of Ziploc vacuum bags and a hand pump in your "go" kit.  The possibilities are endless and no batteries or electricity required.  I did a little test before packaging and must say the smoke was the perfect final touch.  Of course, now I wish I would have smoked all of it.


And now, on to more curing.  I mentioned the peameal bacon and it started tonight.


I cleaned up two large back loins (back-straps for you hunters) today and cut the center section of each out for this project.  I'm excited about this because I fell in love with it while visiting Canada and you can't get it down here.  I'm sure this is the item from which the misnomer "Canadian Bacon" was coined.  So, this is step one, curing for 5 days.  More to come.

P.S. I chose the title so kymber would not try to avoid the post.  :)

18 comments:

  1. These are getting difficult to find in Fayetteville, NC. I scarf them when I see them.
    "Ziploc vacuum bags and a hand pump in your "go" kit"

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    1. mike, maybe I need to go back to the store and check availability. We have (had) many boxes but I just used a lot so we were planning on getting more. Uh oh.

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  2. With all these bacons posts, you are going to become the most popular blogger around...looks delic!

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    1. Thanks, Agirl. We're really enjoying all of the testing phases of this process. Everything has turned out well. Again, when you come down you'll have to swing by and try some (if there is still some left).

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  3. oh the bacon will always keep me coming back. i know better. i really do. i just can't help myself! it all looks fantastic and i can't wait to hear how the pealmeal works out. dang - now i'm hungry for proper bacon again!

    your friend,
    kymber

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    1. I know it's torture, kymber. I'm actually more excited about the peameal than the bacon. Mrs. 45er misses it and we just can't get it down here. I'm hoping it will bring a nice taste of home for her when it is done.

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  4. Yum!!! :-) Glad it worked out well!!!

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    1. It did, NFO. Thanks again for the push toward the pepper cure. That was by far the best of the lot after the smoke was put on it.

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  5. Now I have a bad case of bacon envy...well done.

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    1. Thanks, Stephen. Glad to see you still posting after the little storm. I truly wish I could have my blog friends over for a big bacon fry.

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  6. Yum. Yum. Yum. Looks excellent. I can't wait to see how you do the peameal. It sounds interesting

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    1. Thanks, LB. The cure for the peameal used pretty much the same recipe as the bacon, but with a little regular sugar added. I have already started the post for that one, but decided to not string it out like I did with the bacon. I just get too excited about bacon and had to post every step, lol.

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  7. Love it! What satisfaction, just don't eat it all at once. I'm not familiar with peameal bacon.

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    1. Thanks, Rose. It really was a fun process and nice to have the knowledge to do something like this yourself. It actually was quite a simple process after a curing recipe was decided upon. The 10 pounds of bacon at the end didn't hurt, either. I'm trying to parse it out and we usually only eat bacon on the weekend so I tried to package it accordingly. Peameal bacon is a very Toronto area Canadian thing but popularity has spread and for good reason. My first experience was a couple of years ago at my in-law's place near Toronto and I fell in love with the first delicious bite. The original cured peameal bacon used actual yellow peas as the coating after the cure as part of the preservation process. At some point, the small yellow peas were replaced with cornmeal, I'm sure due to easier accessibility. I can't wait to try it out. I always love introducing people to new things and I can't wait to cook up some grilled peameal sandwiches for some friends.

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  8. mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

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    1. Oh, Brigid. I wish I could share. Just your comment here made me think of other uses for this stuff, this is the affect you can have. Bacon bread. I'm going to have to make your bacon and black pepper bread recipe using this bacon.

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  9. Mr. 45er, was sent to your site by kymber after I wrote a little post on how much I love BACON!looked through some of your past posts and this sir is an awesome blog! I am pleased to join your followers list.


    the mohave rat

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    1. Excellent, mohave rat. Welcome. kymber is indeed a sweetheart. Thanks very much for checking things out and the kind comments. I will check out your place shortly.

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