Bacon

Good quality bacon can transform a dish, never mind make the most superior of sandwiches. Tired of bad quality bacon I decided to have a go at curing my own and have discovered, as many others have, just how easy and rewarding it is. My bible for adventures in home curing is Curing and Smoking by Steven Lamb. This recipe makes awesome streaky bacon.

Step 1 - The cure

• Add the salt and sugar to a large food container with a lid

• Grind the peppercorns in a pestle and mortar and the crush in the juniper berries

• Top tip: here you can add other flavourings such as shredded bay leaves or crushed fennel seeds

• Mix the spices in with the dry ingredients. This is your cure

 

Step 2 - The meat

• Take the belly pork and remove any large flaps of tough fat. Trim to ensure the piece is even and square.

• Top tip: If your pork contains bones, that won’t affect the curing process and it can be easier to remove them after. If you aren’t confident you can remove them at this stage leaving an even piece of meat, then ask the butcher to do so. I’ve tried both ways

• Place a handful of the cure in a food grade container that is roughly the same size as the meat. I use tubs approximately 22 x 28 cm which are perfect. Then place the pork belly on top, skin side down.

• Lightly cover the top of the meat with a handful of cure and rub it gently in.

• Now put the container in a fridge covered with a tea towel.

• Each day lift out the meat and pour off the thick liquid that has been generated. Then add another handful of cure to the bottom and another to the top

• Repeat this last step for 5 days. You should see the pork shrink slightly and less liquid produced each day

Step 3 - The hang

• With the curing finished, it is now time to hang the meat to air dry it. Remove the pork and wash it clean under a running tap

• Wipe the surface with a cloth soaked in vinegar to protect the meat

• The meat should now be hung in the fridge or similar cool place (this can be outside, although you may wish to cover it with a muslin to protect it from insects). I find this much easier using a ‘bacon comb’, and it looks rather good hanging in the top half of my wine fridge

• After 5 days hanging the meat will be ready to slice into rashers. It will keep in the fridge for weeks as a block, but keep it wrapped so it doesn’t dry out too much further. Note that when cooking the meat will turn slightly grey to start with (commercial bacon contains nitrates to keep the pink colour - yours is far healthier without this additive), before going a lovely golden red

 

 Ingredients

• 300g PDV salt (pure dried vacuumed - high quality food grade salt)

• 300g demerara sugar

• 15 juniper berries

• 25g black peppercorns

• 1kg (approx) piece of pork belly