I wanted to give making ground beef bacon a try. I ordered some Imitation Bacon #2 cure from Waltons Inc. and mixed up a 5 pound batch. Used a rolling pin to press it into a casserole dish that I lined with plastic wrap. Let it sit overnight in the refrigerator and the next morning I put it in the Masterbuilt 40 using competition blend pellets at 140º and raised it every hour until I reached 175º. It took about 8 hours to reach an IT of 155º
It came out looking fabulous. I let it rest then sliced. It tasted good but not great when I tried a sample piece. Then this morning I fried up a few pieces and a couple of eggs. Gotta say it tastes great fried. It has a similar taste and consistency to an old product called Sizzlean.
I plan to do several things different the next batch I make. First, I want to get a pan that is not as deep as the casserole dish I used so the bacon will not be as tall. Second, I will only take it to an IT of 125º so it will not be quite as dry when I fry it.
Overall I am very pleased with my ground beef bacon.