I love my butcher! I walked in and he tells me to come around the counter because he saved something for me. He walks into his cooler and comes out with a 12+ lb beef navel from back rib area. I immediately thought, "Beef Bacon."
Now I've seen Beef Bacon listed in the Cabelas Catalog and considered ordering some until I saw it was $32.99 for a 2 lb pack (plus shipping) YIKES!!!
Here's the beauty and at $2.00/lb (bulk ground beef price), how could I pass it up?
![](https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-8sy8EtJW1mc/T1Q6Hl8BR8I/AAAAAAAACgI/qKhVILMW5Zg/s640/BFBAC0N1.JPG)
After trimming I was left with this almost 7 lb slab...
![](https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-IhDyNItCJQ0/T1Q6HSazGHI/AAAAAAAACgI/5KG45zwg6dg/s640/BFBACN02.JPG)
The rest (mainly fat) got ground up for later use in venison sausage.
![](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-PTlYzHN6LUE/T1Q6Hhd474I/AAAAAAAACgI/tPIqwHe_AX0/s640/BEEFFAT3.JPG)
Getting wet cured for 6 or 7 days in my basic Ham Brine (flipped once every day).
![](https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-qf2m52jrw9k/T1Q6H4CkJ5I/AAAAAAAACgI/eZMRZtEpItA/s640/BFBACN03.JPG)
Time to go onto the MAK on smoke mode with Hickory until an I.T. of 120° (roughly 5 hours) then temp bumped to 200° until an I.T. of 150°
![](https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-MOImYG11tpo/T1Q6II59DSI/AAAAAAAACgU/nnNBGXo2AD4/s622/BFBACN04.JPG)
![](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-tkj1s1Hi-ng/T1Q6IbX9ZGI/AAAAAAAACgI/r24uHXSx82A/s640/BFBACN05.JPG)
Cooled overnight & sliced.
![](https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-MTKW5ZXoJHI/T1Q6I8KNo5I/AAAAAAAACgI/jd_n3j1mWnI/s640/BFBACN06.JPG)
You gotta have some quality control
![Roll Eyes ::)](https://letstalkbbq.com/Smileys/akyhne/rolleyes.gif)
...
![](https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-ypkstAV6eqY/T1Q6IqMaYzI/AAAAAAAACgI/Ie24AoDEruQ/s640/BFBACN07.JPG)
In a word... YUM!!!!!
The whole family loves it! Some of this will be a gift for a friend I have who doesn't eat pork!