I appreciate the comments guys. It is a great way to serve up something a little different.

Ok. Here is a rundown of what I’m currently doing on the hams and the buckboard bacon. I will say that the buckboard bacon has been such a hit at work that on our monthly Sunday morning breakfast I’m pretty much required to bring it. I call it a cross between country ham and bacon. Salty, smoky goodness.

To reduce the curing and smoking times on both products I either buy a whole butt and de-bone it or I buy a whole butt already de-boned. Alternatively, Walmart(I know) carries a Tyson butt roast prepackaged in twine that works great too, especially for the hams. They are compact 2 to 3 lb butts and you can do several at a time. I do rinse the prepackaged ones as they are a bit slimy.

Next I weigh my meat in grams and calculate my percentages. I do 2.5% kosher salt, 1.5% white sugar and .25% number 1 pink curing salt to my meat weight. Example-A 1000gr chunk would then get 25gr kosher salt, 15gr sugar and 2.5gr pink curing salt. You absolutely must weigh each piece individually and calculate for each one separating each cure mix into its own bowl or whatever. Don’t worry that it don’t seem like much curing salt as a little goes a long way. A level teaspoon does 5 pounds of meat so a smaller chunk ain’t getting much. Be sure to coat the meat all over and even massage it into crevices.

From there I rub each piece down and stick it in a ziplock bag and put it in the fridge, turning it every day or two. Give it a little massage when you turn it. The general rule of thumb is to let it cure for 2 days per inch of thickness plus one day. A 3in thick piece would then be 7 days. Both of these meats are going to be cooked and consumed rather quickly so don’t worry about a day either way. Kinda go by your schedule. When it’s time, pull it from the fridge and rinse it off. If you prefer less salty meat, soak it for 30 min to an hour in cold water. You can taste test it by frying a small piece but I don’t. I know pretty much what it’s gonna taste like. If for any reason your meat smells bad it probably is. Don’t take any chances. I’ve yet to come across that but I hear it can happen.

Here is where things get a little different. For bacon you’ll want to return the meat to the fridge uncovered for several hours or overnight to let it dry and do it’s thing. Hams I just air dry for an hr or so. I have smoked the bacon straight away like the ham but technically you’re not supposed to. I honestly don’t notice any difference. You want to smoke the bacon at around 175 degrees to an internal temp of 150 or so. Cooking it too hot or too fast will render fat. We want to avoid that. You won’t necessarily ruin it but you’d rather not get it too hot. It’ll take a few hrs to get to the temp you want. Pull the bacon off at 150ish to rest then wrap it in plastic wrap and into the fridge overnight to cool and set up. It’s gonna be smelling awesome. Slice it like you want. I’ve used a slicer and just hand cut it too. Both are fine.

For the hams you’ll want to smoke them as you would a regular pork butt. I personally smoke around 250 as my smoker likes that temp. I’ll pull it off when it hits 205 and let it rest for a bit. Using the smaller chunks of meat greatly reduces the smoking time. Pull and enjoy.

I have smoked both at the same time and just let the hams ride along as the bacon smoked then eased my temps on up after I pulled the bacon off. I do not add anything to the meat(rub,etc) though I guess you could but cooking them naked has been just fine to me.