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Dry curing bacon
Today i will be dry curing bacon, its easy and fun and the end result taste 10 x better than shop bought.
I buy a pre mixed cure but you can make your own feel free to experiment with different ingredients.
Basic dry cure
2 kilograms of salt
15 grams of saltpetre, optional
200 grams sugar, optional
2 tablespoons black peppercorns crushed, optional
If you plan on smoking the bacon then you don't need to add sweetners like molasses and sugars which takes away some of the saltiness from the bacon. The recipe above will cure a whole piece of belly pork.
MIx all the ingredients together or can give them a quick grind if you want. Rub a hand full of the mix into the belly pork (I usually cut a whole belly into 3 pieces for easy of handling and storage), rub it thoroughly into the skin and meat keep rubbing the mixture in until the whole piece is covered.
When it is well and truely covered place it in a food grade plactic container, place in the fridge or an ice box with ice packs. After 24 hrs remove the meat and drain off the liquid that is released. Rub some more cure into the bacon and place back in the fridge or ice box do this for anything upto 5 or 6 days. General rule of thumb bellies take 5 or 6 days while pork loins will do in 4 or 5 days. The longer you leave it the saltier it will be.
After your choosen curing time soak the bacon in fresh water for a couple of hours, then refil the the container with more fresh water and soak for another hour. Remove and dry the bacon, the bacon will form a layer called 'pellicle' it is a layer of potein this serves 3 purposes it seals in moisture, it helps when smoking the bacon and finally it stops the fat coming to the surface and spoiling the bacon. We normal hang the bacon for the pellicle form for a day or two. Now it is ready to eat, store or smoke.
Hope you try this at home easy simple and great tasting bacon without that white watery mess in the pan when cooking.
Failure is NOT an option
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