Beef Bacon
Everyone loves bacon, except those who can’t enjoy it for religious reasons … but I’ve learned something recently that not all bacon is made from Pig, and bacon made from beef is not only every bit as delicious as pork bacon, but it’s cheaper to buy and fattier.
I started out getting a special cut of meat from my Butcher. I wanted the “Plate” which is the beef version of the Pork Belly, it’s also called a rolled Brisket.
That was about 8.5 Kgs of meat for $155. We sliced it all up and used a vacuum to cryovac the bacon and now we have a freezer full of Beef Bacon good to go.
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Tray
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Ingredients
Meat
- 1.5 kgs Beef belly (AKA Plate or Brisket)
Curing Salts
- 3 tbsp Salt
- 4 g Prague Powder #1 AKA Curing Salts #1, or Pink salts
Pepper rub (optional)
- 1 tbsp Black Pepper
- 1 tbsp Szechuan Pepper
- 1 tbsp Pepperberry (Native Australian pepper - you could substitute green peppers or just double the black pepper)
- 1 Sprig Baking Powder
- 1 Sprig Rosemary
Ingredients
Meat
Curing Salts
Pepper rub (optional)
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Instructions
- Wash the beef and pat dry with a paper towel cut it to size to fit your curing tray. You can also use a bag but as the process will create some liquid a pan is easier.
- Grind the rub spices and herbs mix with the salt and the prague powder in a blender until well mixed.
- Rub the meat with the salt cure. Make sure to get into any cracks and crevices in the cut that were left from the trimming process.
- Cover the pan with cling film and place in the fridge for a week to cure (turning the meat daily to make sure that both sides are in full contact with the salty liquid that comes out of the meat)
- Remove the cured meat from the tray and rinse it thoroughly and pat it dry with paper towels.
- Put the cured beef belly in a fresh tray skin side down. Stick a BBQ thermometer into the meat.
- OPTIONAL STEP: Smoke the meat in a hot smoker for 30 mins to impart smoky flavour to the 5 non skin sides of the cured beef belly.
- Now cook the bacon in a 95C (200F) oven until the internal temperature has reached 65C (150F). About 2 hours.
- Let the bacon cool down to room temperature.
- Slice with a kitchen slicer or sharp knife into thin rashers ... or since this is your bacon and you make the rules ... into THICK rashers.
Thanks! Great article!
I just came back from a quick stopover in Iceland and had LAMB bacon – absolutely delicious. I’m guessing it’s the same idea – belly fat makes good bacon, no matter what the animal, AND helps us to get rid of our OWN belly fat! Whoda thunkit???
Thanks for the recipe.