We decided to make some bacon after reading in Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall's Meat book how easy it was and how much better it tasted.
(http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/meggymoo/bac1.jpg)
First of all, find a nice friendly local butcher and get your piece of belly pork. This piece is roughly a third of a belly
(http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/meggymoo/bac2.jpg)
Bone it out - this is easy
(http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/meggymoo/bac3.jpg)
Make a rub from salt, muscovado sugar, crushed juniper berries, crushed black peppercorns and bay leaves
(http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/meggymoo/bac4.jpg)
Mix it all together
(http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/meggymoo/bac5.jpg)
Rub it into all sides of the meat. Store in a covered non-metallic container somewhere cool
(http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/meggymoo/bac6.jpg)
Drain off any liquid and re-apply rub every day
(http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/meggymoo/bac7.jpg)
Keep on doing it for about a week until no more liquid seeps out. Wash off any excess rub and dry
(http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/meggymoo/bac8.jpg)
Chop up and use as lardons
(http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/meggymoo/bac9.jpg)
Or thinly sliced use as rashers. What you see here is only a fraction of what you get.
This is our second one and it's really worth the little effort it takes. No water comes out during cooking and it tastes like bacon should! If you do buy your belly pork from a friendly local butcher it takes away a few pennies from the likesof Mr Tesco too. ;D
We're just about to do our third and considering curing a leg for gammon.
I am extremely impressed Looby Loo !!! I cannot claim that I will end up doing this, but I am so tempted, and have been privileged to taste 'real' bacon from rare suppliers ... I would also be interested to know how practical it is to smoke one's own bacon, for I adore smoked meat ...
Derekthefox :D
WOW! Bow down before the great HFW, long may he reign. Very inspirational character. This bacon looks great stuff. And pretty straightforward too. Will give it a try, I think.
Inspirational. Looby Loo!
You ought to team up with Denning? http://www.denning.org.uk/cooking/mains/bolognese/
Brilliant post. Is it easy enough to slice?
Thanks all, I can post up the exact recipe if anyone is interested in either trying it themselves (it is worth it I promise, after boning out the meat and making the mix it takes just a couple of minutes each day to drain the liquid and re-apply the cure) or just want to have a read on Hugh's take on it.
Quote from: northener on December 12, 2005, 18:53:46
Brilliant post. Is it easy enough to slice?
Thank you, well we bought a cheap(about a tenner+postage) new hand cranked meat slicer from e-bay before we made our first one, that slices it a treat, but as long as you have a good sharp knife and peel back the rind it should'nt be a problem I wouldn't have thought.
One of these is the next thing on my wishlist.
(http://www.sausagemaking.org/acatalog/electric-kit.jpg)
From THESE PEOPLE (http://www.sausagemaking.org/)
Well, you've got to do something when you can get down the plot as much haven't you :)
EDIT.....
DerektheFox...you can buy a smoked cure mix from the sausage people I linked above..
http://www.sausagemaking.org/acatalog/bacon_cures.html
I might have a bash at that after Chrimbo, I'll let you know how it turns out. :)
...and if you don't want to pay through the nose for parmesan - Aldi
sell parmesan reggiano for approx £2.
Debs
Weeeee ;D deffo going to try this one. Have a good butcher just down the road
Many thanks for that looby
Helen
Oh! Forgot to ask - what sort of salt? (table' sea salt etc)
and
any particular ratios for the ingredients?
and
light or dark Muscovado?
Thanks
Helen
My approach would be to go with the ratios you feel are right ... I would choose dark moscavado as it has more molasses ... mmm
Derekthefox :D
Oooh, Looby Loo, I really enjoyed reading through your post about your bacon making. I've just finished making 10kg of bacon, streaky and back, for the first time. We had someone raise a pig for us this year and collected it a few weeks ago. It is sooooo easy to make bacon, I'll never buy bacon again now, it tastes so much better than anything in the shop as well and so much cheaper when you make your own. Next on my project list for pig processing is making sausages, we had the butcher make them for us this time around but next year I'll be trying that for myself. Great post, well done, your bacon looks lovely. :)
PS, I used the classic dry cure mix from Franco's shop (www.sausagemaking.org) it works a treat.
I also am up for this. So off to the village butcher in the morning, not had good bacon in years
I will have to wait until after Christmas now I think ...
Derekthefox :D
I stored the bacon in the fridge whilst making to keep it cool, fortunately we've got a spare fridge in the garage, I certainly wouldn't have the space in the kitchen fridge over christmas. :)
Tip about slicing, I've got a meat slicer which makes slicing a pleasure but even with that I found partly freezing the bacon keeps it firm and makes slicing much easier. :)
Done !!!
I got 5 lb of draft pork as it was termed in our butcher, mixed up the spices etc by eye (the way I do everything), and rubbed the pork as in the picture ... The meat was essentially boned when I bought it, just a couple of tiny rib ends to remove.
Just got to wait now ...
Derekthefox :D
I'm gonna give this a go for SURE and many thanks for posting the recipe. Have sourced a farm which breeds/butchers its own meat in as far as a stress-free environment as is possible when you're for the chop - so to speak - and I'm already drooling about eating bacon again....
Thanks again.
Well mine is on its 3rd day Alishka and it is looking good. The only think I have done in addition to the apparent method is sprinkle a little extra salt over the meat, it seemed to help with drawing the liquid ... I can't wait until I cut the first slices ... !!!
Derekthefox :D
Can we have a recipe of sorts please ? Approximation would be good - tablespoons to pound of pork ??
Derek, go easy on the salt, I've heard that the RC recipe can be a little on the salty side if it is left too long.
I have a bag of bacon cure left over from www.sausagemaking.org, the bag makes 30kg and I only made 10kg, don't plan on making any more bacon for a while now, if anyone is interested in trying it I'll be pleased to give some away. It's the traditional dry cure and there's a recipe/instructions on the website or in here (http://www.sausagemaking.org/acatalog/dryCure.pdf). I found leaving the cure on for 5 days for streaky and 6 days for back bacon is perfect.
Baggy, from RC Cookbook:
"pork bellies (thin ends)
salt
Optional
saltpetre (available from sausagemaking, link above)
soft brown sugar
black pepper
It's hard to give exact quantities for your dry-cure mix but for 4 thin ends, 1kg fine salt mixed with a teaspoon of saltpetre will get you started. Add 100g brown sugar and a tablespoon of cracked pepper if you like. You may need to make up a little more cure mix after the first few days.
The process couldn't be more smple. Place one belly at a time on a clean work surface and, with clean hands, just grab a handful of the dry cure mix and start rubbing it with your fingers into all the surfaces of the meat. When it is thoroughly salted all over, place in a clean wooden or plastic box, move on to the next belly and follow the same procedure.
The finished bellies can be stacked on top of each other and left, covered, in a cool place safe from flies. Keep the leftover cure mix. After twenty four hours you will notice that the meat has leached salty liquid into the bottom of the container. Remove the bellies, pour off this liquid and rub the bellies with handfuls of fresh cure mix. Re0stack the bellies, preferably moving the two from the bottom on to the top. Repeat the process daily. Your bacon will be ready after just five days, though if you cure it for longer (up to two weeks) it will keep for longer."
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
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
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 :-\
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.
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
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.
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
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.
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
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
Well done Derek, you'll never buy bacon again :D
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
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.
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.
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
Blight, that sounds good. I quite fancy trying that. Could you give me some quantities?
Blight, that sounds a bit like guanciale (http://www.freedomway.co.uk/Recipes/Guanciale_Frame.htm) (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.
@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.
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.
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.
I did think about that blight but the pig lived about 4 hours drive from us, it went to slaughter on the Monday and we only collected the meat on the Friday so blood pudding wasn't really an option, I believe it needs to be used straight away, is that right?
Quote from: Jesse on December 26, 2005, 21:20:49
so blood pudding wasn't really an option, I believe it needs to be used straight away, is that right?
Yes, this is right, it has to be constantly stirred whilst still warm (according to the HFW book -) to remove the 'strings' which are natural clots which form whilst the blood is cooling; use a wooden stick or a wooden spoon handle. Destringed blood will keep for 48hrs in the fridge or can be frozen.
Apparently some lage abatoirs will destring it for you; so it may be worth asking your local butcher for some destringed blood.
You have all made me very envious, and I may need to buy some loin sometime, to try and make my own "back" bacon!
mat