Follow this step‑by‑step checklist to cure, cold smoke, and taste‑test your own homemade beef bacon from scratch.
Based on: I Made Bacon From A Cow Does it Suck by Justin Rhodes
▶ Watch the source video on YouTube
What if the best bacon you ever tasted came from a cow, not a pig? That question stopped most people cold — until Justin Rhodes actually did it on his homestead and put it to the ultimate taste test against traditional pork bacon.
If you raise cattle, buy grass-fed beef, or simply want a leaner, more sustainable alternative to pork bacon, you have probably wondered whether beef bacon is actually worth the effort. The problem is that almost nobody talks about the specific cure recipe, the cold smoking method, or the rookie mistakes that can ruin a week's worth of cured meat before you even get to the frying pan. You end up wading through vague forum posts and guesswork, hoping you don't waste a beautiful cut of beef on a failed experiment.
Imagine pulling a perfectly smoked slab of beef out of your smoker after 11 hours of cold smoking, slicing it up, and hearing your family say it tastes like a bacon-flavored steak — in the best possible way. That is exactly what Justin Rhodes accomplished on his grass-fed homestead using nothing more than maple sugar, salt, pepper, a simple tube smoker, and a week's patience. His wife's honest verdict? Beef bacon won on flavor. That is not a small thing.
Justin has been homesteading and sharing real, unfiltered farm-to-table experiences with hundreds of thousands of followers. He documents what works and what doesn't — including the moments he forgot to check the smoker and had to course-correct. That kind of hard-won, honest experience is exactly what makes this process trustworthy and repeatable for you at home.
This checklist translates everything Justin demonstrates in this video into a clear, numbered action plan you can follow from your first day of curing all the way through the taste test. You will know exactly what cure ingredients to use, how to set up your cold smoker with pellet tubes and starter cubes, how long to smoke in rounds, how to slice for best texture, and how beef bacon compares to pork so you can decide which cut to prioritize next time. Pick up this PDF checklist and make your first batch of homemade beef bacon the right way.
Every checklist item comes with actionable notes to guide you — things like "Don't forget to do this before you start," "Avoid this common mistake," or "Set a reminder for 30 days out." Nothing vague, just clear next steps.
+ 15 more action items inside...
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