Are you achin’ for some (beef) bacon?
Bacon. Luxurious gold that melts on your tongue. Everyone knows bacon, and most of us love bacon more than some of our more questionable family members. But we’re going to teach you how to make bacon EVEN BETTER.
Recently, Chef Charles went live on Facebook to show Hale Ranch Beef fans what goes into making beef bacon, so you can do it at home too! As long as you’ve got a smoker (or cold smoke box) and some extra fridge space, you should be able to make it yourself. It’s a cinch!
Feel free to substitute your own favorite flavours - smokey, sweet, spicy.. whatever you’d like! Just make sure to have enough sugar and salt to cure the beef.
Non-ingredient supplies: bus bin or large container with a sealing lid, refrigerator, smoker or smoking box, foodsafe gloves
Ingredients
5-7lb beef belly (beef navel, boneless short plate)
6 cups brown sugar
3 cups kosher salt, flaked or coarse
1/4 cups black pepper, cracked (not powder ground)
1/4 cups white pepper
1/4c smoked salt (optional)
6-8 cloves lightly crushed garlic
1/2 cups black molasses
1/2 cups liquid honey
2 tsp pink curing salts
Instructions
Combine all ingredients except the beef belly into a large container like a bus bin. Use your hands to mix everything up very well, creating a grainy mixture of all your spices and liquids.
Cover the bottom of the container with a layer of the mixture, and place the beef on top. Use the rest of the mixture to completely cover the beef, and pack it tight with all of the spice mixture.
Optional: place a heavy, foodsafe container on top of the beef and curing spices to compress the meat
Refrigerate for 5-7 days. The longer you cure, the stronger the flavour.
Remove from the cure, dust it off and rinse.
Smoke the beef at 200F until 150F internal temperature using your favourite wood or pellets.
Cut the rind off of the meat with a fillet knife.
Let the beef cool, cut into sections, then wrap tight in saran wrap and freeze.
When you’re ready to cook it, remove from the freezer and defrost in the fridge, slice and cook in a hot cast iron or your favorite pan, and ENJOY!
Pro tip: slice the beef bacon when it’s still frozen - it makes it way easier!
Be sure to tag us on Facebook or Instagram with all your beef bacon videos and pictures!
Live video Chapter 1 (click video above)
Live video Chapter 2 (click video above)
Live video Chapter 3 (click video above)
Beef belly, sometimes called beef navel, is available from our Hale Ranch Beef store! If we don’t have it in stock, we can pre-order from our butcher special for you.
