I want to make a small bacon test.

[mikemikemike]

I just got my order from Waltons and want to test making buckboard bacon with a small 2lb leftover piece of pork shoulder i have from making snack sticks.

I want to use these ingredients:
2lb piece of boneless pork shoulder
Sodium Erythorbate
Cold Phosphate
Bacon Taste Booster
Cure#1
Sugar
Pickling salt
Distilled water

I am going to be injecting and then vacuum tumbling with an over night brine.

Need some help figuring out how much of those ingredients to use for an injection into a 2LB piece of pork shoulder.

Thanks

[mikemikemike]

Ok i attempted to give this a try (my math is terrible)
2 lb pork
4 cups distilled water
2g sodium erythorbate
1/2 cup cold phosphate
42g bacon taste booster
5g cure#1
35g sugar
47g pickling salt
10g MSG

Total brine weight is 2 1/2 lbs
Am i close?

And i would inject 30% of pork weight (2 LB) so around 1 1/2 cups?

Then weigh remaining brine and add 50% of distilled water then tumble and let brine overnight?

[mikemikemike]

So i put it in the tumbler under 29.5 inHg and im going to tumble for 45 minutes.( should be plenty of time) then i will add 2 cups of distilled water to the 2 cups left over, and let it equalize overnight in the fridge.( i think i got it right?) Or do i weigh what is left after vac tumbling? Im soo confused.

[mikemikemike]

12 hours overnight in the 50% diluted brine. Getting ready to smoke it.

[Jonathon]

mikemikemike Math is important in cure calcs! Keep us up to date on how it goes!

[Chef]

Jonathon You said it. Many of my old recipes that I started with uses Potassium nitrate and Sodium nitrite. I always maintained safe level, but measurment is very important. Cant’t do that on an ounce scale.

[mikemikemike]

Jonathon

Does my math sound right?
Can you at least tell me if your products directions for oz is by weight or volume?

[Jonathon]

mikemikemike It will be by weight, always do by weight, it will be more accurate. How heavy is your ham? That’s what you want to go on, also 30% pump sounds like a lot, most of Excaliburs are 10 and some are 20%

[mikemikemike]

Jonathon

The list of ingredients and weights is right above. 2 pound ball of pork shoulder.

[AaronSilves]

mikemikemike I’ve never done the brine, but I have done buckboard with the dry rub and its come out great, I go 5-6 days turning every day on a boneless butt that I’ve cut in half. It kind of naturally is in half when you take the bone out. I just finish cutting thru the rest. Then rinse reallly good just like the instructions say( I always rinse more don’t like mine real salty), then let sit in fridge for 2 days to dry out, then fallow the instructions for smoking it comes out great

[mikemikemike]

Hit 140F IT. Turned off smoker, letting it slowly climb to 145F.
Looking good. Total time: 5 hours, 23 minutes
Update: It reached 143.8F before it started to decline. I am happy with that. Going to let it drop down to 135F before i pull it out of smoker.

[mikemikemike]

Oh man did i nail it! It weighs 2 oz more then starting weight, flavor is spot on. Well balanced smoke/salt/sugar/and seasonings.

[glen]

Man that looks good! Where’s the beer?

[mikemikemike]

glen

In Mah Belly!

Im just drinking my usual Franziskaner and miller lite.

[Jonathon]

mikemikemike Nicely done sir, sorry about missing that it was 2 lb, somehow I read the amount of solution you created but didn’t see the 1st thing listed was 2 lb of pork. You got a really nice smoke on that, by the way!

[mikemikemike]

Jonathon
Made eggs benedict with the buckboard bacon. Man was it good. I am really happy how well it cured just overnight with a quick injection and vacuum tumble. The cold phosphate and sodium erythorbate really are game changers.

[Chef]

mikemikemike Looks beautiful Think I’ll make eggs benedict and banana fosters tomorrow morning. Just like breakfast in the French Quarters…

[mikemikemike]

Chef

Sounds like a breakfast of champions.

This buckboard bacon is probably the best canadian bacon ive ever had. If Belly wasn’t so expensive, i would probably cure my own, but its cheaper to buy it already cured which really makes no sense.