Bacon rations

[Mcguire]

I have been trying to determine what exactly is being issued in regards to bacon at events such as Land between the lakes, BGR, and most recently Marmy's raid. Is it side pork? Salt pork? I have been trying to explain it to people in an attempt to purchased it but no one in the 20th cerntury world has a clue to what I'm talking about.
By the way I brought a slab home from Marmy's Raid and was wondering about the shelf life. It was veeeeeeeeeery salty so I assumed that it should be good for the next millenium. Anyone who can advise me I would appreciate it.

[Huck]

Well for the rations issued at the raid, I thought it was salt being held together by pork fat and hide.

[Silas]

Scott hams good! (http://www.scotthams.com/index.php?method=Detail&ItemsId=2)

http://www.scotthams.com/pictures/2_whole_slab_bacon.jpg

[fedcampaigner]

I have had product from Scotts Ham before and it worked very well. I store my bacon in the fridge and the last batch I had lasted four months or so without going bad.

[unclefrank]

If you arn't going to eat it at home, I would freeze it. If you used a "food saver" system and freeze it, it will last for years.

[MO-Pard]

Places like Scot Hams and Turkey Foot Traders do what is known as a 'dry cure', in the traditional old way. This 'bacon' will be much saltier, but will last a very long time unrefriderated. (Turkey Foot claims their's is good for a year unrefridgerated.) This process came from a time when they hung them from the rafters near the fire to slow cure or in a smoke house. Usually done in the winter months due to lower temps.

Commercial bacon is 'wet cured', and really only a partial cure to a point. It is injected with water, flavor and sodium nitrate, (i.e. "salt peter", which I am sure your spooning mates appreciate!) but must still be refridgerated for any longevity. There is generally a lot more fat, (and therefore weight) to this. This is generally one of the reasons rations are fried-up at the beginning of an event as well to prevent spoilage. (I am by no means saying troops did not in any give scenario fry up rations ahead of time; they did. But this is a modern concern at warm weather events when the bacon is not dry cured.)

For Marmys, the event was donated two sides of commercial bacon to supplement the supply, by Doug Jones of Lamoni, IA. They were commerically wet-cured and then I further dry-cured them, and smoked them prior to the event. These were paper-wrapped in about a dozen packages for Marmys. I believe based on my sampling, and have been told, they came out well. If you got one.... before or after the event.......enjoy!....

Best Regards

[Huck]

The bacon that jay made for the event, " I wish I had for the event not after" is out of this world, even my wife liked it. Now as for the source of the mass issue at the river, I don't remember the source.

[ephraim_zook]

I've used double-smoked bacon for a number of events now, and it will last for a season if you freeze it between events. If I need a small quantity I can get it from a local butcher who does the smoking himself. When I need several hundred pounds to feed an entire event we get it from a Dutch farmer nearby. An advantage of living in our part of PA.

Ron Myzie
"Stolzfus-the-Dutchman"

[PogueMahone]

I was the first person to approach Mr. Scott about providing sowbelly bacon for reenactors at the Chickadusty event. Since then, he tells me it has become a nice little side business for him. He had never used that cut of the pig before I asked him for it.

I prefer Scott's bacon over others because it tends to have less salt and more smoke in the flavor. I have kept a side of bacon in a box in my house and the trunk of my old car for over a year and it continued to remain edible, although the smell can overtake anything and infuse itself into everything after a while.

Scott's will cut the bacon into whatever sizes you ask or ship the entire side. They generally deliver the next day or the day after ordering. Nice people and good meat.

[john duffer]

I've issued Scott's at an LBL event that had been in my trunk over a year from a previous event with no known deaths. Joe is right about the service.

[mboyce]

If you dry cured bacon starts to grow green fuzzy hair, just wash it with some vinegar and it's still good.

[5thMIkeydet]

Here is a follow up question that this thread reminded me of-
How do you carry your food at events. I have attempted to follow the accounts of the period that mention cooking up the entire ration, and eating it as you go. it seems you need to eat that fairly quickly though, because it gets nasty tasting as the weekend goes. I've also tried just wrapping it raw in a hankercheif or pokebag, but it always seems like I am having to throw out the cloth afterwards because it just gets nasty. Does anyone have a particularly clever method for taking care of their meat at events?

[gilham]

Here is a follow up question that this thread reminded me of-
How do you carry your food at events. I have attempted to follow the accounts of the period that mention cooking up the entire ration, and eating it as you go. it seems you need to eat that fairly quickly though, because it gets nasty tasting as the weekend goes. I've also tried just wrapping it raw in a hankercheif or pokebag, but it always seems like I am having to throw out the cloth afterwards because it just gets nasty. Does anyone have a particularly clever method for taking care of their meat at events?

It dosen't matter if I am carrying fresh beef or dry bacon I just throw it in my haversack wrapped in a piece of huck towel. Then at the soonest oppertunity I cook it all and put it in a ration bag at the top of my haversack for easy access.
I just opened my duffle bag on Saturday and found in my haversack about 5 small pieces of cooked dry curred bacon from an event 3 weeks ago. It was stil good. I also have corn pone and corn dodgers from several events back that I am still eating on.

[ephraim_zook]

I've also tried just wrapping it raw in a hankercheif or pokebag, but it always seems like I am having to throw out the cloth afterwards because it just gets nasty.

Rags are cheap. What the washing machine can't take care of, the trash can will. A greasy rag helps get a fire going, too.

Ron Myzie

[flattop32355]

Here is a follow up question that this thread reminded me of-
How do you carry your food at events. I have attempted to follow the accounts of the period that mention cooking up the entire ration, and eating it as you go. it seems you need to eat that fairly quickly though, because it gets nasty tasting as the weekend goes. I've also tried just wrapping it raw in a hankercheif or pokebag, but it always seems like I am having to throw out the cloth afterwards because it just gets nasty. Does anyone have a particularly clever method for taking care of their meat at events?

Boil it rather than fry it. Less grease and easier on older digestive tracts.

Boiled or fried (or roasted, for that matter), you can "dry" it off with a rag and it won't get as nasty as fast.

Poke sacks are nice things, or the wrapping paper if comes in (good fire starter). Turn the poke sack inside out to wash it well.

If double smoked bacon gets mold spots, take a Dobie or other rough dish scraper and rub it off under running water. The mold comes right off and the bacon is none the worse for wear.

[PogueMahone]

Bernie,

I thought you had heard my story about a certain feller that boiled his bacon and ate it, then woke up from a dead sleep in the middle of the night just as it made a hasty exit down his trouser leg. He left a pair of drawers and some nice knit socks in the bottom of that stream.

I've told that story in great detail at least twice on the OTB.

"help me! help me! OH LORD GOD, PLEASE!"

hahahahahahaha ...

[PogueMahone]

Cadet,

Sounds to me like you are doing it correctly. Fry it up, wrap it up, eat it up. If it starts tasting bad it probably isn't a properly cured meat. Just consider the resulting runs as "authentic".

[flattop32355]

Bernie,
I thought you had heard my story about a certain feller that boiled his bacon and ate it, then woke up from a dead sleep in the middle of the night just as it made a hasty exit down his trouser leg. He left a pair of drawers and some nice knit socks in the bottom of that stream.

Nope. That one is news to me.

I'd be curious as to whether it was double smoked or something else.