Bacon strips ? That was the old days


(Dirty Lazy Keto'er, Sucralose freak ;)) #21

They are pretty good in my area (Sacramento) and to be honest, if I were to drive just a bit farther, to the actual Super Walmart, vs. the much smaller WM Family market, they have better prices yet.


(Dirty Lazy Keto'er, Sucralose freak ;)) #22

Only thing I don’t like about Grocery Outlet, is that you have to pick and choose those certain items that save you a good amount, but can’t do all of your shopping there, unless you settle in a lot of other areas. So if I have extra time, maybe there first, but then always Walmart after.


(James Walters) #23

If you happen to live in Utah, Reams is great. They regularly have 15lb boxes of Bacon for $2 per pound on sale (regular $3.50) and occasionally ends and pieces for $0.99 per pound. The ends and pieces are rare so last time I saw them I bought 45 lbs.


(Dirty Lazy Keto'er, Sucralose freak ;)) #24

.99 cents !?!? WTH ? I spend my pay check on bacon :slight_smile: lol


(Doug) #25

:smile: Nice going, James - zeroing in on some true “value eating,” there.


#26

I found and purchased Burger’s Smokehouse Bacon Ends once and it was wayyy cheaper and the best bacon product I’ve ever eaten. Went back to same store two weeks later and they no longer carried it :cry: It was almost pure fat and when crispy it just melted upon crunching into it…


(Bunny) #27

The uncured bacon is mighty expensive and would break anyone’s pocket book, and as you know when eating this kind of bacon it does not have the same taste as cured sugary bacon when cooked and you must cook and eat it within a few days of being refrigerated (they will tell you that before you buy it) or freeze it to avoid things like botulism (which will kill you dead if your not aware of it’s possible potential) thanks for sharing the tip.

We have farmers meat market right around the corner from my house that sells exotic meats from all over the world you can get organ meats of any kind (which I can organ meats for free from another location a/k/a slaughter houses), wild bore, duck, gator, roo and almost any critter you can think of on the planet, it is amazing, they can barely keep it in stock with all the carnivores out their. I don’t know how they do it with all the laws concerning wild game local, federal and world wide.


The others I like when it comes to saturated fat are raw (non-hydrogenated) suet and tallow which is another nice grass fed livestock that has more fat soluble vitamins and better omega 6 to omega 3 fatty acid ratios.

What’s up with celery powder in “nitrate free” bacon, ham, etc…?

As mentioned above, green vegetables contain nitrates. If you want to cure meat without the pure synthesized form of sodium nitrite, the naturally occurring nitrate in celery can be used. During the curing process, the nitrates in celery powder break down into nitrites and provide all the benefits of botulism prevention, bright pink color and that delicious cured flavor. For full disclosure, the USDA does not consider celery powder or any other “natural” form of nitrate to be a curing or preserving agent but rather a flavoring agent. …More. SAY WHAT? :scream::exploding_head::face_with_symbols_over_mouth::rage::thinking:

Richard gives a breakdown in this post:


Enjoy Your Bacon! 🥓🥓 Ken Berry MD 🤣
(Wendy) #28

I do. I’ll check it out. Thank you.


(Wendy) #29

Funny we just made those yesterday. I thought the bacon was a bit thick that I used but they were delicious. I was worried they would be hot but they weren’t. They were filling too. My DIL put them together. We used garlic powder, onion powder, some finely cut chives and parsley from the garden. It was my first time to make homemade poppers and I liked them fine without the breading. She also added cheddar cheese to the cream cheese filling. Do you use similar seasonings in you recipe?


(Eric - The patient needs to be patient!) #30

There are precautions you have to take to avoid botulism. If you want urls let me know.

Sugar is not required. I used it for this bacon but I rinse the pork belly before smoking it.


#31

Y’all do realize that a strip of bacon becomes an end and a piece after one bite. Tastes same too.


(John) #32

If you want uncured bacon it is called “pork belly.” Good stuff.


#33

The Queen doesn’t want Shredded Cheddar in hers, so I abstain from adding much of anything OTHER than spices to the creme cheese filling. Salt, Pepper, Garlic Powder, and a spice mix of whatever happens to strike my fancy at the time gets mixed into the filling.

350° F for 30-40 minutes is usually enough to crisp up the bacon if it isn’t too thick.

On the subject of HEAT, (spicy heat, that is…) in addition to removing the seeds and inner membranes, if you dislike so much jalapeno ‘heat’, coring and pre-baking the halved peppers for 15 minutes or so @300F helps. Plunge the heated jalapenos directly into an ice-water bath for a brief swim, removes a bit of the extra sizzle. I like a little heat myself, so I don’t treat ALL of them that way.

Stan


(Wendy) #34

Yes we deseeded ours and they were fine. I did stuff a couple sweet little peppers I had a well. That was tastey too.


(Wendy) #35

That looks Awesome!!!


#36

Your bacon looks awesome @daddyoh!

Eric, is that a Masterbuilt Electric in your pics? I have one in my stable of Q Tools. To make a Masterbuilt really sing The SIREN SONG OF THE SMOKE without fiddling with them all day, I use an A-MAZE-N-PELLET-SMOKER tray.

YouTube Demo

I have the MES 30 and actually use The Mail Box Mod with mine, but the MES 40 works just fine with tray seen in the video above.


(Eric - The patient needs to be patient!) #37

yes - MBE40 I use the A-MAZE-N-PELLET-SMOKER-TUBE 6" and a wedgie.

I had a 30 for 7 years and it finally died. I’ve had the 40 for maybe 3 years. I don’t use it a lot but I do use it enough to enjoy it.

Send pics of the mailbox mod, please. I’ve been considering it, especially for cheese.


#38

I am not finding my pics right now. But here is a thread:
Mailbox Mod

I just bought some 3" elbows and routed my smoke through one of those. So my mailbox sits tightly against the legs and the smoke goes right in. I’m guessing, a longer run would yield cooler smoke and expand your usable cheese smoking season.

Gotta have some tin snips and a bit of savvy. I like the Wiss Aviation Snips best of all. The other stuff is pretty basic for the average doityourselfer.


(Eric - The patient needs to be patient!) #39

I have great tin snips and more. Thanks.


#40

Perfect!

My pics may be in an old phone. I’ll look in a bit. Your cheese looks GREAT!

I’ll be honest, it is just a stupid EL CHEAPO BRINKMANN CHARCOAL SMOKER and the stuff I’ve smoked that has played a SIGNIFICANT part in my restored health. (160# weight loss.) I didn’t have all the fancy BBQ rigs I own now!!

I’ve modded several of those old Brinkmann bullet smokers to work like a Weber Smokey Mountain. (Better maybe even, but they don’t last. They rust sooner.) When the WSM’s get pretty dirty they seal up better and last waaaaaay longer than the ECB’s (El Cheapo Brinkmann) although the ones I always modded were the Gourmet Version. I miss being able to buy and mod them.