Making your own Bearded Butcher Maple Bacon has never been easier! Follow these simple steps and, with a little patience and a hot griddle, you will have a delicious product that will be the envy of everyone else's breakfast tables. Be sure to make plenty because it goes fast!
Watch Now On YouTube: How to Make Venison (Deer) Bacon at Home | The Bearded Butchers
Required Tools:
- Meat Grinder with a coarse (10 mm) and fine grind plate (4.5 mm)
- Mixer
- Smoker or Oven
- 9x13 Cake Pans (4)
- Food Grade Plastic Wrap
- Large Mixing Bowl
- Mesh Grill Mats (4)
- Slicer
- Meat Thermometer
Ingredients:
- 25 lbs. Meat Trim (we use 12.5 lbs. pork butt and 12.5 lbs. venison trim)
- 1 Bearded Butcher Maple Bacon Kit: 1 pack of Bearded Butcher Maple Seasoning (2.15 lbs), and1 pack Sodium Nitrate Curing Salt (1 oz) for 25 lbs
- 1 Shaker of Bearded Butcher Blend Seasoning for Topping (Optional but we recommend Cinnamon Swirl or Black)
Instructions:
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the 25 lbs of meat, sodium nitrite curing salt, and maple seasoning and mix well.
- Feed the seasoned meat through the grinder with the coarse plate, then again with the fine grind plate on.
- Move the ground mixture to the mixer and mix 4 minutes forward and 4 minutes in reverse. Add about 16 oz of ice cold water during the mixing to help bind the seasonings and meat and achieve a tacky consistency.
- Line the cake pans with plastic wrap and press the mixture evenly into them.
- Season the top of the loaf with Bearded Butcher Blend Seasoning of choice.
- Cover the tops of the loaves with plastic wrap and put the pans in the refrigerator overnight.
- Remove the plastic wrap and flip loaves over onto the grill mats.
- Season all other sides with seasoning.
- Preheat smoker to 180°F.
- Load bacon loaves onto the smoker.
- After 4 hours, if the internal bacon temperature has not reached 150°F, increase smoker temperature up 200°F until it does, then remove from smoker.
- Let loaves cool and set up in refrigerator overnight.
- Slice loaves into whatever thickness you desire your bacon to be.
- Vacuum seal and freeze any bacon that won’t be consumed within a couple days.
- Fry bacon and enjoy!
Tips:
- For best results, keep the meat cold through the mixing and grinding process.
- If you don't have a mixer, it can be mixed by hand, but it will take longer to achieve the desired tacky consistency.
- Check temperatures throughout the cook and rotate loaves if they are not cooking evenly.
- We recommend using Bearded Butcher Blend Black or Cinnamon Swirl to season the loaves.
This Maple Bacon Recipe is a fan favorite! Let us know how your homemade bacon turns out by sharing a picture on Facebook or Instagram and don't forget to tag us!
