Buckboard Bacon

     Today i started making Buckboard bacon.I have been wanting to make some for over a year now.I have read about it on other blogs and wanted to have a go at it.Normally i BBQ 8 to 16 Boston Butts a weekend so i always have them on hand.This weekend i cooked 14(not bad for January on the side of the road)and had 2 left over .I debone 1 and cut it in to2  4 lb pieces.The cure i used was from this blog http://simplyselfsufficiency.blogspot.com/2012/02/buckboard-bacon.html   the only changes i made was i used 8 oz salt and 8 ounces brown sugar and no nitrate salt.I used 2 oz of rub from the BBQ in the mix (my preference).
   In 10 to 12 days i will be cold smoking this overnight and then finish smoking it to 140 to 150 internal temp.I hope it turns out close to this  pictures marbling.

     The name Buckboard seems to have come from cured and smoked pork carried on wagon trains out west. It was packed in a box or barrel of buckwheat.To head west a family was required to have 50 lbs of salted cured pork packed in Buckwheat.Remember this was late May through  September.
    

Propane tanks do have a expiration date.

    Last summer i was out making a round of yard sales in my area.They are a good place to pick up great deals on some items.On one trip came across 3 20 lb. propane tanks for 20 dollars.Of the 3 two were old and didn't even have the new safety valves on them but one was newer and almost full so i jumped on them.I have been using the one that was full on my vending trailer but it ran out just before Christmas.
    I took all 3 down to the local ACE Hardware to be refilled this week.I have dealt with this store for years they are good people.They put 17 to 20 lbs in a tank for 12.00$.The last time t carried my other tanks they showed me how 20 lb tanks are stamped on the collier with different weights of fill.I always assumed a 20lb tank held 20 lbs .

   This trip they refused to fill the tanks.The 2 old ones were made in 1997 and one i had used was made in 2000.The man showed me the date stamp and informed me they wouldn't refill any over 8 years old and by law any over 12 had to be re-certified as safe.I do go in there a good bit so he told me to take them to Wal-Mart and swap them out.If i could he said grab the newest of the 17lb plus ones. I swapped the 2 oldest ones for 2 made in 2011 that held 15 lbs but are stamped as 17.8lbs safe for 36$.The other tank i will take later with one i found i already had that was dated 8/07 its being used first.
       I now have 6 tanks my goal is for them to be all refillable with 17+ lbs and under 4 years old so i can refill them before swapping them out.Around here a refill is 12.00$ for what a tank is rated a swap is 16.00$ for 15 lbs.
     P.S. Propane never goes bad but the tanks do have a refill date for some its not an issue but for me it is because some months i can run through 3 or more tanks.


   

a new tank has a date and fill weight stamped on collar

Perfect BBQ pork at home

       With the New Years Day almost here you may want some good BBQ.This is a easy way to cook and smoke a whole pork butt at home that is very close to competition quality.
  1 pork roast (butt) 8 to 10 lbs
   Rub Weber's makes a good one I use half rub to half brown sugar.
      Take the butt and rub it all over with your spice rub at 8 at nite.Place it in a pan atleast 4 inches deep fat side up, tent it with foil but don't wrap and seal it.At 1030 to 11 place it in oven at 210 degrees.Now GO TO BED.The next morning around 7 check it with a meat thermometer it should be 175 to 185 in the center.Let it rest for about an hour.
       If you have a smoker place it unwrapped in it and heavy smoke it for 3 hours.If your using a grill place it in the grill and take a tin can with 10 or so charcoal briquettes that are well lite and add hickory,oak or pecan that's wet in it.Place the smoke can in grill and close it up.On a grill it needs 4 hours of smoke.
     It sounds like a lot but you have 15 minutes of work in it and most of the cooking was while you were asleep.After it has smoked you can pull it chop it it will yield about 6 pounds.

Have a Merry Christmas every one !!!!!!!

        Sorry i havent posted in a while with the holidays almost here it has been verry weird around here.Me and the wife have to large a family that think they are still kids .We wish there was a way we could have skiped the kids but still got grandkids.
       I hope every one has a Merry Christmas

survivalism trash talk

     Last post was to make you think about what risks trash could put you and your prep's in.The disposal of packaging is as important as disposal of human waste. Everyone situation is different but you do need to have a plan so that no one knows where it came from.
   Cans need to be crushed or cut and flattened.
   Cartons and bags need to be broke down
    Bottles need to be reused or shattered and bagged
   A spot needs to be set aside for burying what cant be reused

  At present i burn most of our trash.After SHTF i will sort and bury it.Last week i came in from burning the trash my wife asked me what i was cooking? She said it smelled good,I asked what did she think it smelled like she said fry ed chicken.I then informed her it was 2 bags of garbage.It was grease she had put in one bag from chicken wings.The smell of burning trash can carry a long way just like a wood fire.
   This is just one of those things we take for granted trash is bagged and then disappears.You better have a plan,for sanitation and secrecy.

Survivalism Trash Talk Part 1

     Yesterday i was in the back burning the trash.We use a 55 gallon burn drum to dispose of the garbage here at home.Rural pickup runs almost 20$ a month around here i go 2 the dump every 6 to 8 weeks and empty the burn barrels for 8$.Every time i go to burn i fish out the cans that was in the trash from before.In regular times we have a lot of cans.To cut down on the bulk i crush them and throw them in a bag till its time for the dump.Burnt tin cans are easier to crush than just emptied.As i was doing this chore i looked around and wondered if the SHTF how many more cans there would be!

     Now most peppers have a large number of can goods in there food storage.I have read a lot of blogs on food storage but i have never seen any one write about the trash.Have you thought about it?Look at your food storage how many cans will you have to open per day to feed your family?Do you have any idea what your going to do with the cans,have you ever tried to crush a # 10 can ?I have its not easy.Would it be safe where you live to burn your garbage in a SHTF situation?Do you have room to store your waste boxes cans,bottles and other packaging.Will putting bags on the street and risk someone knowing you have food or store them in the corner of your property and risk your families lives?

   

Holiday Blues

          I know a lot of people get the blues around the holidays its normal they think of past family and friends.Some people just dis like the crowds and what Christmas has become.I haven't posted for over a week because i have always been in group 2.It never fails at some point between thanksgiving and Christmas i shut down for a week.this year it was last week.Monday the 25 was my twins birthday They turned 22.Was kinda hard on me when i thought about it now i understand how my mom feels on my and my brothers birthday. I am much better now i am not just sitting and staring at my computer.I did read a lot finish the Dark grid books I highly recommend them. Also read Breakers it was different. Read a short book  Barrows Road it was a housewife point of view survival book.

     Will be back to posting  tomorrow.