Cooking with Jonny69: Home cured bacon

[randomshenans]

Im giving this a go as we speak....

Just bought a couple of cheap belly pork cuts from the supermarket and the jobs a good'un

For the cure i have gone with 2 tablespoons of salt to 1 tablespoon of dark muscovado sugar, with some ground black peppercorns.

The Mrs has already said she wont eat it because bacon should be bought, not made

Will report back with some pics of the finished product in 48 hours.

That's not on. Push her down the stairs. With waiting home made bacon sandwich at the bottom.

 

[zootfloot]

Well, im reporting back as promised...

The bacon turned out great, although i have to admit that the end part was a little bit too salty for my tastes but every other piece was awesome.

I had a bacon sandwich this morning, but after i had sliced it all up yesterday i went back to my childhood and had the following...

Home Cured Bacon - 6 Rashers
Butchers Pork and leek sausages
Chips
Beans
Fried tomato's
Mushrooms - Fried in the bacon fat.
3 x slices Thick white bread

Just after being carved up, managed to get some really nice thick slices and then cut some up to get some "lardons" for cooking with.

Before

After - Not much shrinkage at all, and no water/slime

The finished product

Washed down with

The Ginger beer was the only disappointing part, no fire to it at all...Levi Roots i am disappoint.

Anyways i am already thinking about the next batch and different stuff i can use to make cures...maple syrup i think would be nice and possibly experiment with some herbs/spices.

 

[Jonny69]

Zoot, I've found that the leaving the bacon for a week after it has been cured allows the salt to completely permeate. It stops you getting the salty bits at the ends and firms the meat up quite a bit.

In J69 bacon news I had to physically stop myself bidding on a deli meat slicer on Friday. Tasty bit of kit but I had to be realistic and admit to myself that I haven't got the space

 

[-BA-]

Have just ordered a couple of books on charcuterie, curing and smoking. Very tempted to treat myself to a hot smoker bbq too. Looking at the Weber Smokey Mountain.

 

[zootfloot]

Zoot, I've found that the leaving the bacon for a week after it has been cured allows the salt to completely permeate. It stops you getting the salty bits at the ends and firms the meat up quite a bit

I COULD NOT WAIT THAT LONG

But now i know for next week.

 

[Jonny69]

Thought I'd bring this thread back to life. I've sorted out some new hosting for the images and I've changed the opening post slightly as the original recipe made bacon that was a bit too salty. Cure time now 48 hours and I add 2% saltpetre to the rub.

 

[Stretch]

I've often wondered about saltpetre. I made some bacon back in 2009 (inspired by this thread) and whilst it tasted pretty good, it didn't look quite like bacon should. A bit grey like some of the others members have posted.

I did find that a thorough rinsing and a 24-48 hours air drying did help reduce the saltiness and remove the last traces of moisture giving extra crispiness.

Look forward to seeing how your next batch turns out

 

[FrenchTart]

Nitrates are indeed the main thing that will make your bacon look pink/red. Definitely a must for all curing.

 

[Flibster]

Funny this is back up top. I have 2x1kg lumps curing in the fridge at the moment. One for slicing for butties and one for lardons for my many stews and other things. I'm using a ceramic roasting tray with a plastic insert to lift the meat out of the liquid. Seems to work pretty well.

Must stick up my recipe for tartiflette. Found a great source close to my parents for proper Reblochon cheese. Unpasteurised nom.

 

[FrenchTart]

Well, im reporting back as promised...

The bacon turned out great, although i have to admit that the end part was a little bit too salty for my tastes but every other piece was awesome.

Looks great You may want to consider looking into equilibrium curing if you want to avoid things being overly salty. It does increase the time it takes to cure the bacon however.