Home Cured Bacon

[galopede]

As there doesn't seem to be enough bacon on these boards, I thought I'd tell you about my first attempt at curing my own bacon!

Home curing method

Got a cure recipe and method from one of our tv chefs, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, who has had many complaints for shooting his own ingredients on tv!

Very simple though I did cut down a bit on the sugar. A few minutes work a day for four or five days and I have two kilos of REAL bacon! No water and white goo in the pan and hardly any shrinkage and the flavour, Mmmm.....

Anyone else tried home curing?

Gareth

 

[SRock]

I've never tried doing it myself but this sure sounds great!

 

[wedwards]

Thats a tried and true recipe that you really cant go wrong with.....and i just have to say that anyone wo has a go at Hugh, has no idea about where their food comes from...i always say that if you cant slaughter the animal you want to eat, then you shouldnt eat it. Hand in hand with that is a good understanding of nose to tail use of an animal, which Hugh is a big proponent of.

Thats a far cry from the wasteful society we live in these days.

 

[ouch]

Thanks, Gareth!

 

[curtis909]

Now i am hungry

 

[galopede]

I've just finished getting the first two piece wrapped and hanging in the shed. Reading the web tells me it improves with a week or two's ageing.

Time to get some more pork I think! Quality stuff this time. As this was my first attempt, I went with a few kilos of the cheapest belly pork I could find in case it all went pear shaped I wouldn't be much out of pocket.

I was amazed at how easy end effortless the curing process was. Literally no more than about ten minutes a day for a few days and the result is far better than the supermarket stuff and on a par with the butcher's best.

Might try a bit of smoking next. The neighbours will think I'm mad, standing at the barbeque with the temperature below freezing and snow forecast!

Gareth

 

[royalcrown]

I keep seeing Kurobuta Pork Bellies at the commisary for pretty cheap and the tempature has been nice an cool lately. If they have some in stock I will be trying htis tommorow!

 

[SpydieNut]

thank you - i've printed that off and will give it a go.

 

[Jim]

Nice! Thanks for posting this.

 

[_JP_]

Thanks for this, I'm thinking that I'll be trying it! Finally, I can have bacon cured the way I want it.

The process is very different from what commercial meat packers do. They basically inject the pork sides with a water based solution instead of that more traditional curing process. The added water makes a big (and not that welcomed) difference in the bacon.

 

[galopede]

Thanks for this, I'm thinking that I'll be trying it! Finally, I can have bacon cured the way I want it.

The process is very different from what commercial meat packers do. They basically inject the pork sides with a water based solution instead of that more traditional curing process. The added water makes a big (and not that welcomed) difference in the bacon.

You are right about the injected water and polyphosphates to make it retain more water. Water is cheaper than meat!

I've cooked up a few slices of my first batch and you do have to keep an eye on it in the pan as it cooks quite quickly and will turn crispy far sooner than the waterlogged supermarket stuff. No white gloop or shrinkage either!

Gareth

 

[tsmba]

Haven't ever thought of making my own. I tried a number of "premium" brands and settled on the products from a place in StLouis called "The Smokehouse Market". They have four varieties and they are all great!

 

[tejasjeff]

http://indirectheat.blogspot.com/2009/09/home-cured-home-smoked-bacon.html

 

[Phog Allen]

As there doesn't seem to be enough bacon on these boards, I thought I'd tell you about my first attempt at curing my own bacon!

Home curing method

Got a cure recipe and method from one of our tv chefs, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, who has had many complaints for shooting his own ingredients on tv!

Very simple though I did cut down a bit on the sugar. A few minutes work a day for four or five days and I have two kilos of REAL bacon! No water and white goo in the pan and hardly any shrinkage and the flavour, Mmmm.....

Anyone else tried home curing?

Gareth

Thank you for posting this Gareth. The above bold quoted area is enough to make me want to watch the guy. I have to find some of this man's shows. I hope they are on the web somewhere.

The same is true of Clarissa Dickson Wright of the Two Fat Ladies fame. I have her cookbook and she is a big fan of game hunting and more importantly, game eating. Truly a renewable resource. I agree with the poster who said if you are not willing to kill it (or at least be there/watch it done) then don't complain about it to others.

Regards, Todd

 

[Phog Allen]

Gareth. On another note, which type of bacon do you like best? Streaky rashers or back bacon? We tend toward only the streaky rashers here in the States but a bacon butty with proper back bacon is quite good. Does your back bacon types typically come smoked or just cured with rub? We tend toward the same swine breeds here that you chaps do in the Isles but I wondered if you had a preferred breed for certain cuts of bacon? Thank you again for the post.


Regards, Todd

 

[highball]

First attempt at making home cured bacon, hardest part is finding pork bellies. The key is to soak the bellies in fresh water a few times to remove the salt before smoking

 

[superbleu]

First attempt at making home cured bacon, hardest part is finding pork bellies. The key is to soak the bellies in fresh water a few times to remove the salt before smoking

What time is breakfast?!?!

 

[Scotto]

Awesome! I have a big piece of pork belly (from a local pig) in the freezer. I'll definitely be doing this.

 

[galopede]

Just finished off another three kilo, Two bellies for streaky and a loin for best back.

Not a lot left of my first lot but I'll be keeping this new lot longer before eating as the flavour has developed so much on the old stuff with a bit of age.

Time to start another load!

Gareth

 

[Alacrity59]

Wow this sounds like a bit of fun. I wonder how I'll sneak some pork belly into the house.