A problem with bacon

Mrs Seabiscuit · 29 Jun 2020 at 08:13

Morning Gents, And Secretspy. (sorry)
I wonder if someone could assist me, basically someones tastes are changing, and they are now finding it harder to tolerate bacon (among other things)due to it tasting over salty (we have tried a few different shops including M&S and tesco) Can anyone suggest a brand that is specifically less salt? I will add this is unsmoked bacon and to you or I it may not taste salty however to this person it does.
Thank you very much.

haaammit · 29 Jun 2020 at 09:33

Had you thought about making your own? When I cure my bacon I add sugar to the curing mix to make it less salty.

It's an easy process to do. Take either belly for streaky or loin for back bacon. Weigh it and add 5% weight of curing salts (then I add 10% of the weight of the cure as sugar). Rub over the meat and seal in a ziploc back. Curing times are generally 1 day per 1/2 inch thickness of meat plus 2 days, so a 2" thick piece will be ready in 6 days. Wash it off, dry and allow to rest 1 day before smoking, or in your case, easting (as green bacon).

I use Weschenfelder for curing supplies: https://www.weschenfelder.co.uk/bacon-curing/curing-salts/supracure-dry-cured-bacon.html for their "Supacure" which containes nitrates and nitrites for safer curing and retention of colour (if you don't add nitrate the meat will go grey. That's not a taste issue, just aesthetics).

Haze · 29 Jun 2020 at 09:53

Think you can buy low salt bacon in some supermarkets, not sure what brand it was, would have to check a search engine

Mrs Seabiscuit · 29 Jun 2020 at 10:17

Thank you, I will look into doing our own bacon and also low salt varieties in supermarkets.

HeadlessChicken · 30 Jun 2020 at 10:38

Check proper butchers. Many cure their own, so with the shortened product lifecycle may use less salt (certainly true of my local butchers).

peterwalkley · 3 Jul 2020 at 14:48

Bit late here but how are you cooking it ? If its fried or grilled on something flat then there's nowhere for the cooking juices to go so the salt will stay as they evaporate off. If you can grill it in on a rack, the juices will drip down and take some of the salt with them.

Sainsbury's "Be Good to Yourself" range was what my wife tended to choose as she doesn't like salt and its usually very lean too, but that range hasn't re-appeared here since COVID.

robfosters · 3 Jul 2020 at 14:56

I still love the taste of bacon, but I hate the all day unquenchable thirst it seems to give me. I can eat it at 10am and still be thirsty 6 hours later.

arknor · 3 Jul 2020 at 15:21

most supermarket bacon seems to be pumped full of water

robfosters · 3 Jul 2020 at 16:15

arknor said:
most supermarket bacon seems to be pumped full of water

Always try to get a bacon that is made with slightly more pork than weight of product. A good ratio for supermarket bacon is about 105g of pork per 100g of finished product.

Any bacon with less than 90% pork is always going to be average supermarket bacon.

Semple · 3 Jul 2020 at 16:28

robfosters said:
I still love the taste of bacon, but I hate the all day unquenchable thirst it seems to give me. I can eat it at 10am and still be thirsty 6 hours later.

This is definitely true if you have bacon on pizza! I certainly find myself going to bed very thirsty.

I'm sure i've seen at Aldi they now sell low salt bacon.

wesimmo · 3 Jul 2020 at 16:37

Agree about the grilling it on the rack.

Although we don't, we get proper thick butcher slices from round the corner. When I flip the bacon I drain off the excess liquid into a salsa jar.

It does help reduce the saltiness, it also gives you a fantastic base for sweetcorn, butter and bacon fat mixed to your taste and gently sautee canned sweetcorn. That's lovely with pulled meat and smoky mash.

pinkpound · 3 Jul 2020 at 19:33

I found M$S nitrate free to be less salty and grill as other have said or in a griddle pan and drain

Mrs Seabiscuit · 3 Jul 2020 at 23:23

Thank you for all the lovely replies!

Thank you, i will double check the bacon is being drained etc but i think it is. Unfortunately, the persons tastes are changing (no comments on this required) rapidly and we are just trying to help. The M&S bacon i will look into thank you. The be good to yourself bacon less convinced but i will buy some and try it. Thank you almost everyone, i do appreciate it.

secretspy · 4 Jul 2020 at 17:04

It could be the sodium nitrate making it taste more salty. I only eat nitrate free bacon now which I either source from a butchers, farm shop or get the "naked" bacon from a supermarket

Mrs Seabiscuit · 5 Jul 2020 at 09:18

Ah thank you Secretspy, will look into this also.

Dave M · 10 Jul 2020 at 22:13

secretspy said:
It could be the sodium nitrate making it taste more salty. I only eat nitrate free bacon now which I either source from a butchers, farm shop or get the "naked" bacon from a supermarket

I've not looked it up, but I have heard before, the 'nitrate free' bacon has celery juice - which during the curing process converts to nitrates. So at best you're getting 'natural nitrate' rather than 'nitrate free'.

To the OP I'd suggest making your own bacon, but be aware the salt is what makes bacon taste like bacon, not the nitrates - nitrates don't taste salty, it just stops botulism (not a concern for home made, constantly refrigerated).

You can reduce the salt to a point, considering shelf life isn't a concern, but below a certain point it will be less 'bacon' and more 'pork'. Of course you can adjust to taste and find the level you're happy with.

wesimmo · 10 Jul 2020 at 22:20

Have you tried eating it with different things to take the edge off?

Although a BLT might be traditional, the acidity of tomato might be too much for someone with rapidly changing tastes, IME.

Avocado, though, takes away some of the saltiness without being a strong flavour.

PlacidCasual · 14 Jul 2020 at 08:41

Most commercial bacon is already very heavy in sugar to mask the salt. For contrast go and try a butchers own dry cure and be prepared for very salty bacon. Try looking for sweet cure or maybe Wiltshire cure both normally mean a higher level of sugar in the cure.

Doctor McNinja · 15 Jul 2020 at 19:46

I find Spoilt Pig to be much less salty than the supermarket own brand stuff. Whether it's low enough in salt for your tastes is another matter but it might be worth a try.

Mrs Seabiscuit · 15 Jul 2020 at 20:40

Dave M said:
I've not looked it up, but I have heard before, the 'nitrate free' bacon has celery juice - which during the curing process converts to nitrates. So at best you're getting 'natural nitrate' rather than 'nitrate free'.

To the OP I'd suggest making your own bacon, but be aware the salt is what makes bacon taste like bacon, not the nitrates - nitrates don't taste salty, it just stops botulism (not a concern for home made, constantly refrigerated).

You can reduce the salt to a point, considering shelf life isn't a concern, but below a certain point it will be less 'bacon' and more 'pork'. Of course you can adjust to taste and find the level you're happy with.

Thank you David. We have done!
you do know who OP is right?