Topic: Making bacon! (Not as smutty as it sounds)

[Derekthefox]

I am being very meagre with the salt Jessevieve ... but in the original mix, I was so sparing with the salt it appeared as if there weren't any, and since it is the main constituent for drawing the liquid, I sprinkled a dusting over the meat after the spice mix was rubbed in. The amount of salt I have used is probably still less than if I had been generous in the beginning ...

Derekthefox :D

[Derekthefox]

Halfway through curing, it smells rather yummy ... the meat has gone all blackish, is it supposed to do this ? I had an accident earlier this evening, opened the cupboard door to get the salt, and a packet of coriander fell out, all over the pork ... I picked the meat up and dusted it off ... good job it wasnt rat poison ...

I hope this is working ...

Derekthefox :D

[Jesse]

Mine didn't go black Derek but then I used a different cure, one which I believe doesn't contain sugar so perhaps that is the difference :-\

[Looby Loo]

Heh, I'm dead chuffed that some of you are having a bash at making your own bacon, I reckon once you've done it once, tasted the results and realise how quick and simple it is you'd never go back to supermarket stuff, well I know I won't.

As I mentioned in a previous post I'm thinking of trying one of the prepared cures available especially the smoked one. But at present I'm more than happy with the way it turns out now, it's lovely to have plenty of pancetta on hand this time of year just to use to add a little something to braises etc.

Here's the list of ingredients from HFW's Meat book.

This is enough to cure 1 whole pork belly cut into 3 equal pieces.

About 1kg of course salt

2 teaspoons saltpetre (optional)

A few fresh bayleaves, finely chopped.

About 20 juniper berries, lightly crushed.

200g soft brown sugar.

25g freshly cracked black pepper.


LL's OH.

[Derekthefox]

Black is perhaps an overstatement, Jesseveve, but definitely a very dark brown !!! However it doesnt smell disgusting ... so I hope that is a good sign. Looking at the final recipe, I see I have been meagre on salt, but I prefer that , it is easy to adjust things after the first try...

Derekthefox :D

[Looby Loo]

Derek, don't worry about the colour.  Ours is quite dark but more bacony-pink in the middle.  You can always use saltpetre in your mixture as this is supposed to keep the colour.  I prefer not to add anything that isn't really necessary.

[Derekthefox]

I haven't used saltpetre, if it is purely there for colour then I am not interested in adding it. I have checked on the meat before going to work this morning and it is looking quite yummy. Very dark ...

Derekthefox :D

[jennym]

I'm having a go too - didn't have all the ingredients, so have just used salt, white sugar, spoonful of treacle rubbed into the sugar and salt mixture, and black pepper, and of course the pork.
Have it in a dish in the fridge, and am pouring off the liquid morning and night, and adding fresh cure every night.
Started Sunday, it's looking dryer and more reddish now, no discernible smell. So far so good! Did a tiny costing exercise, and apart from my time (minimal) I guess that it's going to cost about a third of what I would pay for ready made bacon of the same quality.

[Derekthefox]

I have not costed mine yet, as it looks like I was stung by the butchers I used ( a big high street so called cost conscious butcher). But the meat itself is looking good, and the week is up tomorrow. I am going to taste the meat myself (against all the ethics of using onself as the guinea pig ...) to discern the quality of the finished product, then slice and freeze, ready for christmas day.

Derekthefox :D

[Derekthefox]

Final update ...

Rinsed the meat off today and sliced off 5 rashers to check for quality control purposes. Defrosted a couple of sweetcorn as well, and a slab of french stick.

The bacon was out of this world !!! wow, slightly salty, but I can soak it a bit to balance that. It may be because I had the outside pieces ...

Definitely to be done again ...

Derekthefox

[Jesse]

Well done Derek, you'll never buy bacon again :D

[Derekthefox]

I can well believe this, the flavour is beyond comparison ... After Christmas I will get some more on the go ... I need to buy a large bag of salt though ... My dad was telling me that the saltworks in Winsford used to prepare a special large crystal salt for curing pork ...

Derekthefox

[Looby Loo]

Excellent Derek.  So glad you liked it. 

I paid £10 for half a belly from a huge pig.  I cut it into 3 pieces and just cured a third at a time, so it works out at less than £4 for vast quantites of lovely bacon that doesn't ooze water when I fry it.

[blight]

i have made bacon all my life. ingredients very much like #23 only without saltpetre.
but i only salt the meat for 48 hours . this is sufficient for today´s thinnish pork-bellies. i make a brine though (just enough water to cover the meat, bring meat to the boil add salt and spices, let cool, pour over meat.)
there is another slight difference. my version like all other continental and southern eruropean bacon is eaten raw and is left to mature after salting.
aftter rinsing i hang my pieces of bacon in some cool draughty frostfree room (attic).
after 3 weeks it´s ready and can be cut into very thin, seethrough slices.

[Derekthefox]

Yes I will buy larger quantities of pork in future, firstly to get economies, and secondly, it is as much effort to cure a large piece as it is a small piece ...

Derekthefox :D

[Looby Loo]

Blight, that sounds good.  I quite fancy trying that.  Could you give me some quantities?

[Jesse]

Blight, that sounds a bit like guanciale (sp?) which I am making, should be ready in another week or so. Made with pigs cheeks which are for free and there's a lot of meat on them.

[blight]

@jesseveeve
thanks very, very much for the recipe. i shall surely try this. do you eat it raw like
jamon serrano  or parma ham and these things?
and surely you must be joking: pigs cheeks for free? the muscle in a pig´s cheek is
to my mind the best bit in the whole animal.

[Jesse]

Blight this is the first time I'm making it but apparently you can eat it thinly sliced like serrano and parma ham or you can cook it and use like bacon and add to pasta sauces etc. It does sound really nice. Pigs heads are often given away for free here because most people don't want to deal with head. We had a friend (someone I found on another forum) who raised a pig for us this year on his smallholding. The most fantastic tasting pork I've ever had as the pigs were allowed to free range and including in his apple orchard eating windfall apples, you can taste the difference in the meat. This chap raised 4 pigs, one for me, one for a friend and two for himself. I was directly involved with the butchers and was able to tell them exactly how I wanted the carcass cut, I wanted my pigs head for making brawn but the other three pigs heads weren't wanted, I only had room for one extra head, the other two I believe were wasted, he posted on the forum for any takers but no-one wanted them. With the two heads I made a large batch of brawn and two guanciale things which should be ready in the next week or so. The cheeks as you say are prime pieces of meat, I find it difficult to believe that this meat is often wasted, it's shocking.

[blight]

Jesseveve,
the way you did it must be the best way to get good pork.
if you get the butcher to clean the intestines maybe you could make some blood pudding the next time. not so bad either if one gets it right. the spanish are good at it by the way.