Subj : 9/2 Int'l Bacon Day - 1
To   : All
From : Dave Drum
Date : Sun Sep 01 2024 03:27 pm

MMMMM----- Recipe via Meal-Master (tm) v8.06

     Title: Dirty Dave's Pork Butt "Bacon"
Categories: Pork, Preserving
     Yield: 3 Pounds

     4 lb (to 5) boneless Pork Butt
     1 ga Water

MMMMM---------------------CURING INGREDIENTS--------------------------
     1 c  Pickling Salt
          +=AND=+
     3 oz Prague Powder #1
          +=OR=+
     3 oz Modern Cure
          +=ALTERNATIVELY=+
 1 1/4 c  Morton's TenderQuik can be
          - used place of pickling
          - salt AND Prague Powder or
          - Modern Cure
     3    California bay leaves
 1 1/4 c  Brown sugar
     3 cl Garlic
     3 tb Dirty Dave's All-purpose Rub
     1 tb Juniper berries; lightly
          - crushed
   1/2 tb Black peppercorns

 Equipment: 8 qt or larger stock pot, stoneware plate,
 weight(s), marinade/brine injector (opt)

 Make a bag (bouquet garni) of cheesecloth for the juniper
 berries, bay leaves, garlic and peppercorns. Put the
 gallon of water into the stock pot with dry ingredients
 and bring to a boil. Boil hard for about 10 minutes to
 insure all the flavour is obtained from the bouquet garni.

 Remove pot from heat, fish out the packet of bouquet garni
 and let cool to 38oF, which is your ideal temp. Add the
 butt and weigh down with a plate if necessary to ensure it
 remains submerged in the brine.

 You can use a cooks' syringe to inject strained curing
 brine into the heart of the meat to ensure complete
 curing. I just did a straight soak for 7 days. Suggested
 soak time is 5-7 days. If using multiple pieces of pork
 that might be resting on each other, it wouldn't hurt to
 flip them within the brine about halfway through the
 curing process to allow brine to reach all surface area of
 the meat.

 After the 5-7 days of soaking, remove the pork from the
 curing brine. At this point it can be rinsed/soaked in
 clean, cold water or cheap (Carlo Rossi) red wine to
 remove some of the saltiness of the brine. Depending on
 your taste/tolerance of salt content in cured meat, you
 may want to skip this step entirely or soak/ rinse for up
 to 2 hours (change the water a couple of times if going
 this length of time).

 Next, pat the loins dry with paper towel or dry cloth.
 Apply a thin coating of Dirty Dave's All-purpose Rub.
 (recipe follows)

 Prepare an indirect fire in your cooker, aiming for a temp
 of 225oF/105oC. Use the smokewood of your choice. Cherry,
 oak chunks, pecan, apple, or even grape vine trimmings.

 The target internal temperature of the cook will be
 determined largely by your finished intention for the pork
 butts. If you are looking for a breakfast bacon to be
 fried before eating, then an internal of 140-145oF/60-63oC
 will be ideal. For a finished fully-cooked product, keep
 cooking to internal of 155-160oF/68-70oC.

 The bacon can be fried up immediately or kept in the
 fridge with much the same shelf-life as other commercial
 cured bacons. It also freezes well, especially when
 pre-sliced with pieces of waxed paper placed between the
 slices.

 Recipe and MM Format by Dave Drum - 09 September 1997

 Uncle Dirty Dave's Kitchen

MMMMM

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