Beef Bacon

[Joe Hell]

If you haven’t had beef bacon you should really try it. I’ve had it a few times prior to trying this recipe from Jess Pryles. It’s been hit and miss at best. This recipe is super easy and provides excellent results every time. It’s been a hit at the shop and even sought out by Adventists buying meat on the down low. Resist the urge to cut thick slices as it tends to be chewy. Thin sliced is the way to go!

INGREDIENTS:

3-4lb beef navel
3 tablespoons kosher salt
1/3 cup white sugar
2 tablespoons pepper
2 teaspoons paprika
1 teaspoon pink curing salt

INSTRUCTIONS:

CURE: Add all the dry ingredients together to create a rub mix, then rub into the surface of the beef, pressing it onto the sides to make sure it’s well coated. Place the belly into a large zip top bag, making sure as much of the cure mixture as possible makes it into the bag. Place the bag into a fridge to cure for 3-5 days. Once a day, massage the liquid that accumulates in the bag and flip it over.

DRY: After the curing process is complete, remove the meat from the bag, and rinse thoroughly under cold water. Pat the belly dry with paper towel. Ideally, you will now return the uncovered belly to the fridge to dry out overnight, but if you can’t wait for this step it’s not essential.

SMOKE: Preheat a smoker to 200-215f. Place the belly into the smoker and cook until it reaches an internal temperature of 150f. Once at temperature, cool then return to fridge to allow for easy cutting.

COOK: Thinly slice the bacon and cook in a medium-low heat skillet until crisp. Bacon will last up to 14 days in the fridge - simply slice off pieces as needed. Unlike pork bacon, beef bacon is best when thinly sliced.

[Tex_77]

Only bad thing is, it’s pretty hard to find beef navel, you will almost always have to source it from a local butcher. The time I did find some at the local grocery store, I made pastrami with it.

[Joe Hell]

Tex_77 it’s a good thing I work for a local butcher! Lol. I’ve considered making pastrami t of it as well…you just talked me into it!

[dwilk1]

Joe Hell I will only use navel for pastrami! Cure it, smoke, vacuum pack it and sous vide it! Turns out great everytime!

[Joe Hell]

dwilk1 I’m on it!

[DougSmokes]

Why Joe, WHY ???!!!
Now I have to do this…
Merry Christmas to you too Brother. !!!

[Joe Hell]

DougSmokes I’m a food instigator! lol. Merry Christmas to you and the family!

[Stats77]

Joe Hell that looks amazing! Never had it

[Joe Hell]

Stats77 I almost prefer it over pork bacon. The one draw back is that the slices have to be pretty thin or it’s chewy as hell.

[DRMAXX]

I have made bacon out of pork butt but I never thought about beef. I have never come across beef navel but I do have a meat processor close by and will check on availability. Is there any other part of beef that could be cut to smoke as bacon. Just curious but is the cure necessary for beef or does help with the color?

[Joe Hell]

DRMAXX I think the cure definitely helps with the finished color. The paprika adds a great red hue!

[Jonathon]

Yes, cure is going to help set the color

[craigrice]

Joe Hell joe I have a question on the pepper you used on the beef bacon was it regular black or coarse ground

[Joe Hell]

craigrice It was whole pepper that I fan through my spice grinder just prior. I used the same cure on some pork belly yesterday. It will be interesting to see how that turns out in comparison. I’ll be out of town when it’s ready to hit the smoker so hopefully my co-workers get it right! lol

[craigrice]

Joe Hell Jonathon and I were talking about making some with the same process as Canadian bacon have you tried it that way ?

[Joe Hell]

craigrice I haven’t but I’d like to try!

[Jonathon]

Joe Hell Navel is a longer drive for me, have you ever done it with brisket?

[Joe Hell]

Jonathon I haven’t tried that either but I was planning on doing beef navel pastrami one of these days.