Busted!

Grey_Wolf · Member Joined: Aug 06, 2015 Posts: 186

Thanks guys. The only thing better would have been if junior shot it. Went out for the last night of his holiday and finally found some mule deer - didn't get a shot but we know where to find them when he gets a couple days off in a week or so.
Not sure what you call eye steak but the tenderloin will be coming out for BBQ when he gets back. Then I'm going to pull the backstraps and make bacon out of them, a pot full of jerky and a few steaks will finish off the rest. The trim will be saved for when junior gets back and we can add some mule deer trim for a batch of sausage - what kind I don't know yet but I'm sure I'll figure it out. Those darned elk are nowhere to be seen. Haven't been on the neighbours nor on the other piece that I have permission on. Good thing is, junior's cow tag is good till Dec. 20

Vince · Posted: Sat Nov 07, 2015 12:32 am Post subject: Re: Busted!

They say patience is a virtue GW...hang in there, keep your ear to the ground and eyes open...the buggers are there somewhere mate.

Grey_Wolf · Member Joined: Aug 06, 2015 Posts: 186

So, as promised the backstraps were started curing for bacon this evening. It was a really tough decision but the hockey game sucked (as in my team got their ass handed to them) so I got them going and then took a portion off the hind to turn into Pastrami. Never done this before so here's hoping. I'll take a few steaks and then a WHOLE bunch off jerky and the trim will be some kind of sausage - what kind don't know yet but we'll figure it out. Gonna get that smoker workin' overtime this year!

Picking up junior Sunday night for a couple of days then he gets three days the next week to finish things off. Though his elk will still be good till Dec. 20. Still nothing showing for elk. I think I'll get him in the stand and try a little calf calling

Suzanne · Posted: Fri Nov 13, 2015 8:20 am Post subject: Re: Busted!

Ok I have to ask how do you make bacon out of backstrap and why would you make bacon out of backstrap. To me the best of the best is the backstrap and so I'm just curious if bacon is even more wonderful. I've made pastrami from beef meat and it's amazingly good. Mine was a little salty but I had my cure time messed up a little. I love playing around with different cures, it can be easier than you think and such a change from every-day meals. Good luck with it!

Suz

Grey_Wolf · Member Joined: Aug 06, 2015 Posts: 186

Why? It's the perfect size and well .... it'll be bacon! Sorta like back bacon eh. Going to try a few things this year

Grey_Wolf · Member Joined: Aug 06, 2015 Posts: 186

Stoked up the BBQ tonight. Man that tenderloin was good! With a little shot of Jack mmm. Gonna get some jerky on the go tomorrow - sure wish there was more tenderloin on a critter

Grey_Wolf · Member Joined: Aug 06, 2015 Posts: 186

Grey_Wolf wrote:

Why? It's the perfect size and well .... it'll be bacon! Sorta like back bacon eh. Going to try a few things this year

Sorry, just realized I didn't answer all of your questions Suz. Any recipe for bacon can be used for game. I've had beef bacon made in a local shop and that was what gave me the idea to try deer. Did some a couple years ago with one of those kits and it was good but I wanted to try from scratch. So to google I went, found a few recipes and away I went. The backstraps are just the right size for bacon - not too thick or thin so should cure up nice. It's a non starter if you don't like back bacon though. Between my son and I we can get another three deer so never fear steaks will be had.

Suzanne · Posted: Sun Nov 15, 2015 8:31 am Post subject: Re: Busted!

Ok sounds like fun...was thinking you'd need some fat to crisp it up a bit. So I assume you dry cure a few days, cold smoke around 150 degrees a few hours and you're done.

Suz

Grey_Wolf · Member Joined: Aug 06, 2015 Posts: 186

Suzanne wrote:

Ok sounds like fun...was thinking you'd need some fat to crisp it up a bit. So I assume you dry cure a few days, cold smoke around 150 degrees a few hours and you're done.

Suz

Pretty much nailed it right there. Other than slice and enjoy!

Grey_Wolf · Member Joined: Aug 06, 2015 Posts: 186

Couple of good things. Junior got his Mule doe yesterday. And the bacon is done! Turned out pretty good. The only thing is it took so long to get up to temperature. Needed to get up to 150 internal and started low but kept bumping up after a while cause it was taking so long. Anyone have an idea at what temp to start smoking at when doing bacon or other non jerky meats?

Suzanne · Posted: Mon Nov 23, 2015 8:15 am Post subject: Re: Busted!

I'd start around 150 and towards the end of smoking time I'd bump it to 200-250. If you want a 150 internal temp, sometimes it's better to wrap in foil if you have a tough piece of meat, it'll help tenderize it, retain the juices and keep the temp more steady.

Suz

Grey_Wolf · Member Joined: Aug 06, 2015 Posts: 186

I started at 170 but after four hours the internal was only at about 120 so I bumped it up to 210 then 260 after another couple hours. Another guy said it this way - you are making bacon not jerky get the temp up fast. He recommended starting at 250 or higher and also mentioned that he only smokes his pork bacon to 125 because you are going to fry it later anyway - makes sense. I like the idea of wrapping it after the smoke is done.

So Junior cooked a little for himself the next morning (boy did it smells nice when I got home) while I was at work - he wants some from his deer too. I guess it turned out alright Very Happy

Suzanne · Posted: Tue Nov 24, 2015 7:41 am Post subject: Re: Busted!

Always seems to take some experimenting...take notes!

Then give me the recipe... Very Happy

Suz

Grey_Wolf · Member Joined: Aug 06, 2015 Posts: 186

Suzanne wrote:

Always seems to take some experimenting...take notes!

Then give me the recipe... Very Happy

Suz

Well Junior liked it so much he wants me to make some from his deer too. Gonna try the smoke at about 200 (we used maple wood) and only bring it up to 125 - you fry it up later anyway right. We figured to give brown sugar a try this time and I will cut back slightly on the pepper. I'm not a big fan of super strong pepper taste on most things. If your going to give this a whirl make as much of it as you can at once. I had to go buy another bottle of bourbon to make another batch for Junior. Who knew that bourbon evaporated so fast? Scratch

I used closer to 2 tbls. per batch and made two batches and the bottle was empty?!

This is the recipe that I used.
saltandsmokefood.com/h...ade-bacon/

While slicing the finished bacon our slicer gave up (we had troubles when slicing meat for jerky too) so had to go get a new one. The one we had was small and likely almost as old as me - well maybe not quite but certainly as old as Junior. Went to Halfords today after dropping Junior at home in the city and they just happened to have one on sale. I was just going for casing and to look at slicers but how could I say no? So I now have a new 8" slicer. Can't wait to give it a try, got some jerky meat that needs to be sliced up ... new toy! Very Happy

Suzanne · Posted: Thu Nov 26, 2015 8:47 am Post subject: Re: Busted!

Cool! That recipe brings the meat up the 150 and that sounds more right because the bacon will be more raw looking, but that's with pork belly and all that fat. Wonder if there's any other little differences when using lean meat? Seven days cure sounds like a long time too....but what the heck do I know, I'd give it a try in a heartbeat, it looks so good and sounds so good. Seems to me smoked bacon is hard to find anymore in the store, it's either pepper bacon or maple flavored but not smoked. Good luck, hope it comes out delicious!

Suz