i am just going to say it.

[crusader rabbit]

Some of the most amazing bacon I ever ate was in Cuba. 

They raise pigs there the old fashioned way, in pens, on farms, feeding them pig slop.

Pigs get fat, not like the "lean" pork we find here.

Then they smoke the fatback for what must be a very long time to get that tremendous depth of flavor.

The slices are thick, and not cooked so long they become crispy.  Rather, they still have some chewiness and juiciness left.

Real, honest pig flavor mingled with a deep smokiness in a slice thick enough to truly enjoy...

And now, I have to go into the kitchen and make a sandwich.

I can resist anything...  except temptation.

Crusader Rabbit

[tombogan03884]

My wife has switched our family to the Paleo diet.  At first I was not real keen on it until I learned that bacon, along with every other tasty meat, is OK to eat.

I think I'm in love with your wife !   

When I first went to Montana, my friend and I caught no trout on the first day, but some white fish. They called them "smokers" up there, because they said they didn't taste so good. We both thought they looked like blue gill and the dumb Yankees were just spoiled by eating wild trout. So, being starving students, we kept a limit. We pan fried a couple up as a test batch. Yep, they tasted like cat food. Maybe the Yankees weren't so dumb. So we looked in the cooler, and there it was, bacon! Everything tastes good cooked in bacon right? Wrong, but we were hungry, so we added a little BBQ sauce and what the hell, it was edible. Then, sitting around the camp fire a thought struck us. We were in grizzly country.  "Uh,  did we just do what I thought we did"? You mean cook up fish in a bunch of bacon grease at our camp site?" Yep, we did.  We could just picture the bears out there. "Umm, is that fish, and BACON! I LOVE BACON! BACON, BACON, BACON! Not a lot of sleep that night and not an error we repeated.

ROFLMAO   

[Solus]

I'd like to learn more about that Solus, can you recommend any source for bean, roasters, etc...?

Start at Sweet Maria's. 

Lots of great reviews, how to videos, tips and pointers, gear and an education in coffee, coffee roasting and coffee appreciation.

http://www.sweetmarias.com/index.php

The roasting gear I use is no longer in production.  I have 2  I-Roast model 1 roasters and they are getting old.  I have seen some I-Roast stuff on Amazon, but prices are getting high. 

You can see some pictures of the I-Roast here

https://www.google.com/search?q=i-roast&client=firefox-a&hs=s1g&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=MC1HUrPgPOuqyQHa-YDoAg&ved=0CE4QsAQ&biw=1348&bih=960&dpr=1

One of my I-Roast machines is starting to fail and I just started looking for a replacement.  Found some advice on a coffee forum in the UK.  Guy said he is using a heat gun and dog bow.  He said he got the heat gun from Harbor Freight.  I am guessing the dog bowl is a steel water bowl.

I checked on that gear.  Harbor Freight has a heat gun for $15 that has enough heat.  For the darker roasts you need to get the beans to 470F.   You might never use this...it is a French Roast and at that level of roast some of the qualities of the coffee are lost...but get a gun that will handle it just in case.  Above 470F, you will have charred beans.

I have found stainless dog bows for under $10.

You will need a coffee grinder.  Blade grinders can be cheap, but they "shave" the beans and the oils are then released to early in the roast cycle.  A good burr grinder is better, but costs more.

So you can get your feet wet pretty cheap.   Or you can go the expensive route and spend over $500 on gear.  You get bigger batches and more automation....with the heat gun, you will be stirring the coffee yourself and controlling the heat. 

You might want to get a temperature probe to help keep an eye on the progress of the beans.  I have one, but seldom use it any more since I have a good "feel" for where I am by the color of the beans.  Sweet Maria's has pictures of the beans in the different stages of roast and you should use them.

There might be other issues with the gun and bowl set up.  Chaff is one.  Depending on the green bean and how it was processed, there might be much flaky "skin" produced in roasting and the gun might blow it about...I'll know more when I try it.

Sweet Maria's talks about using a hot air popcorn popper.  It does work but you have way to little control over the roast process and it is a mess with chaff and beans getting blown out of the popper...when I was using it, I put it in a big card board box to try to contain it all.  It worked, but it was a pain.  Beans blown out did not get roasted and the roast was uneven...not all beans were roasted to the same degree.

If you want, you can start with a frying pan and your stove top..I've not tried it, but I'd guess stirring would be more important since the heat is only from the bottom.

Home roasted coffee might not be cheaper with the gear you might buy....sort of like reloading....but the quality will be better when you learn what you like and how to produce it....again like reloading.

Here are some "timelines" on where a degradation of the flavor and quality of the coffee will occur:

Brewed coffee should be consumed within an hour or so after brewing.  (brew to a carafe and not on a "keep warm" plate)
Ground coffee should be used within a few hours.  (I grind my roasted beans just before I put them into the brewer)
Roasted coffee should be used within a week of the completion of the roast.  let it sit a day to "off gas" in a one way  vent container
Green coffee is good if stored dry for several years.  They say that after two years the taste will change, but it will not be a degradation...just different.  I doubt I'll ever keep green beans that long.

be glad to answer any questions you might have.

Good luck and enjoy.

[TAB]

i am just going to say it...  taters fried in bacon fat is the 2nd best thing.   lol

[Pathfinder]

i am just going to say it...  taters ANYTHING fried in bacon fat is the 2nd best thing.   lol

FIFY

I picked one of these up in Asheville, NC last month. Not a big fan of microwaving bacon, but when there's just you and the wife, and you don't want to waste a whole pan for cooking bacon, it comes in handy

[Sponsor]

[philw]

as much as I like Bacon  I DO NOT recommend this beer..

[kmitch200]

i am just going to say it...  taters fried in bacon fat is the 2nd best thing.   lol

That's something I haven't had in a loooong time. Brings back a whole bunch of memories though. 

[santahog]

i am just going to say it...  taters fried in bacon fat is the 2nd best thing.   lol

I take exception to that.. Eggs and taters fried in bacon fat, in a cast iron skillet, over a small open fire, beside a river, early in the morning is "at least" the second best thing..
(Long way to go but it's worth it..)

[MikeBjerum]

Directly accross the street from St. Mary's Hospital (Mayo Clinic) there is a nice little place.  Of course you walk through Coronary Care to get there.  Busquetts and gravy with two eggs on top and nice strong coffee    I'm set for a while, and in the right place if something lodges where it shouldn't.

[PegLeg45]

When I was a kid, my grandmother would get up every morning and make up a griddle of biscuits and fry up a pan of bacon (which she sliced from a side).
The secondary treat was when she scrambled up a settin' of eggs in the leftover bacon grease.
Talk about happy happy happy!!!!