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[Ssteppe]

Finally got around to trying buckboard bacon.

Recipe I followed called for the following proportions per kilogram of pork shoulder:
3 grams pink salt #1
40 grams brown sugar
15 grams kosher salt

Trimmed and deboned pork shoulder came to 1.765 kilograms, so adjusted cure accordingly.
Rubbed in thoroughly and put in gallon ziplock bag.

Let cure for 12 days, turning and massaging once a day.

Rinsed and soaked for about 90 minutes in fresh water.
Patted dry and cut off a slice to fry up to taste. Not really salty at all - might have left in the water too long. Slightly sweet.

Let sit in refrigerator overnight on rack.

Coated with coarsely ground pepper and cold smoked with Hickory for 4 hours. Back in refrigerator overnight.
Hot smoked at 180 F until IT reached 140 F. Back in fridge overnight.
Sliced and ready to freeze.

Have to say - much closer to ham than bacon. I might try again with less sugar and more kosher salt - wasn't as salty as I like.

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[Ralphie]

That's pretty cool.  I've never heard of buckboard bacon. 

[yorkdude]

Nice job on that, we have made it several times and find it to taste hammy also.
Its good but it is also a tad too tough for us, at least in our attempts.
We tend to try and keep our bacon (whatever kind) a tad saltier then some I imagine.
We always rinse a little, test fry, rinse more if necessary etc.

[LowSlowJoe]

I've never made buckboard bacon...   However, when I make regular bacon, I use about 2.0% salt, 1.5% sugar.    3% salt is as high as I'd ever consider going with salt, I just don't like anything that salty...  I'd likely never go above 2% sugar either, unless maybe I wasn't planning on ever frying that 'bacon'...   

Your recipe is almost the opposite relationship with sugar...   yours is 4% sugar,  1.5% salt.      You could leave that cure for 10 weeks and it'd never get very salty.


If your fine with that much sugar, then keep doing it... but if it were me, I'd increase the salt to around 2%  and reduces the sugar to not much more than 2%  .    I don't like really sugary bacon, because it tends to make this really messy sticky goo in the bottom of the frying pan.   

  Your 0.3% cure #1 is just a tad bit higher than the USDA would allow in 'bacon'.   Now, in Ham, they allow higher, so if you don't 'fry' it like bacon, your amount is not much of a issue, even for USDA.  However, for bacon, your supposed to be like 120 PPM of nitrite ( and no nitrate), this would be 0.192% cure #1  ( 1.92 grams per Kilogram of meat/water).

[Ssteppe]

I've never made buckboard bacon...   However, when I make regular bacon, I use about 2.0% salt, 1.5% sugar.    3% salt is as high as I'd ever consider going with salt, I just don't like anything that salty...  I'd likely never go above 2% sugar either, unless maybe I wasn't planning on ever frying that 'bacon'...   

Your recipe is almost the opposite relationship with sugar...   yours is 4% sugar,  1.5% salt.      You could leave that cure for 10 weeks and it'd never get very salty.


If your fine with that much sugar, then keep doing it... but if it were me, I'd increase the salt to around 2%  and reduces the sugar to not much more than 2%  .    I don't like really sugary bacon, because it tends to make this really messy sticky goo in the bottom of the frying pan.   

  Your 0.3% cure #1 is just a tad bit higher than the USDA would allow in 'bacon'.   Now, in Ham, they allow higher, so if you don't 'fry' it like bacon, your amount is not much of a issue, even for USDA.  However, for bacon, your supposed to be like 120 PPM of nitrite ( and no nitrate), this would be 0.192% cure #1  ( 1.92 grams per Kilogram of meat/water).

I'll probably give it one more try decreasing the sugar and increasing the salt, but only if I find it on sale again for .99/lb. If I'm going to pay more, I'd just as soon cure a pork belly, traditional bacon, or a pork loin, Canadian bacon.

[LowSlowJoe]

I keep intending to try some Buckboard Bacon, I just haven't ever gotten around to doing it.   At $0.99 a pound I certainly think it's worth a try... 

It's getting near prime time for bacon making around my parts.  ( Michigan )  I like to do it in the fall and/or winter months, it's easier to keep the smoking temperatures low.    I'll probably start making some again in the next month or two.  Maybe I'll get around to trying it with pork shoulder..

[Clonesmoker]

I think doing a porkloin would be easier. Even though I just smoked 60 lbs of $.99/lb pork should in the last 4 days. A 9 lb porkloin cut into thirds and cured for a week turned out great.  I paid about $1.58/lb but didn't have to remove a lot of fat off of it either. A lot less work than deboning a shoulder.

[LowSlowJoe]

Yes, pork loin is very easy to cure and smoke.  Makes a pretty darn good substitute for ham...   I don't have the patients or desire to cure a actual ham, but   can easily make 'canadian bacon' and find that my time and effort is being used well.  I like it because i can tweak the salt/sugar to my own desire/needs.   A lot of store bought ham is just too salty for my tastes, so doing pork loins is great for me, and so easy to do really.

[BigDave83]

I like to cure butts or shoulders for ham, just a little modified Pops Brine recipe with pumping as much as I can into the meat especially around the bone. then into the brine bucket and weighted down and I go for 3 weeks but 2 is probably enough.

 The just smoke to your temp. I found I like to do butts this way and then smoke like I would for pulled pork and shred and have pulled ham, a great change up for me as I get tired of pulled pork.

I have not done BB bacon for a few years but do remember I used little sugar to salt in comparison, and found that if you slice it thin ir is more like bacon that the ham taste when sliced thicker.

[SparkyLB]

Thanks for the post.  Looks great!  I'll try buckboard one day, but I'm still chasing down the perfect bacon recipe using the calculator on diggingdogfarm.com.  I've tried 2.75% salt with 1.5% sugar at 165 ppm, but it was a bit too salty.  Next batch I split one belly in half and tried a slightly different recipe on each.  I took the salt down to 1.9% on 1/2 a belly, and 2% on the other half, with 1% sugar on each, and added 1 tbsp of pure maple syrup to one, and 2 tbsp of maple syrup to the other.  There wasn't enough maple to discern a taste, and the one with 2 tbsp had the propensity to burn.  Done with maple syrup.     

The one I'll have on the smoker tomorrow will be 2% salt, 1.5% sugar at 165 ppm with no maple.  This might be the winner.  I'm not sure if the saltiness is effected by the amount of sugar, but I enjoy a hint of sweet in my bacon. 

If that works, next attempt will be buckboard.  If it comes out like ham, it'll be cut deli-style.  Never was a fan of ham with a fork and knife.  Just too salty for a main course protein, but that's just me. 

[Bar-B-Lew]

Thanks for the post.  Looks great!  I'll try buckboard one day, but I'm still chasing down the perfect bacon recipe using the calculator on diggingdogfarm.com.  I've tried 2.75% salt with 1.5% sugar at 165 ppm, but it was a bit too salty.  Next batch I split one belly in half and tried a slightly different recipe on each.  I took the salt down to 1.9% on 1/2 a belly, and 2% on the other half, with 1% sugar on each, and added 1 tbsp of pure maple syrup to one, and 2 tbsp of maple syrup to the other.  There wasn't enough maple to discern a taste, and the one with 2 tbsp had the propensity to burn.  Done with maple syrup.     

The one I'll have on the smoker tomorrow will be 2% salt, 1.5% sugar at 165 ppm with no maple.  This might be the winner.  I'm not sure if the saltiness is effected by the amount of sugar, but I enjoy a hint of sweet in my bacon. 

If that works, next attempt will be buckboard.  If it comes out like ham, it'll be cut deli-style.  Never was a fan of ham with a fork and knife.  Just too salty for a main course protein, but that's just me.

Maybe try maple syrup powder instead of actual maple syrup

[SparkyLB]

Maybe try maple syrup powder instead of actual maple syrup

Never heard of it!  Thanks.  I'll look into that.  If it's just the taste without the sugar, that'd be an idea.  Come to think of it, they do make maple extract, too.  Right in the section with the vanilla.  There's orange extract, maple, and a few others.  That might work, too.  The sugar in the real stuff sure doesn't benefit the finished product when it comes to makin' your own bakin'. 

[Bar-B-Lew]

I bought it on Amazon or from Great American Spice Co.