Home cured bacon

We finally got round to making some home cured bacon!

We kinda guessed the salt to sugar ratio about 50/50 I would say. We didn’t use any ‘pink salt’ so the bacon didn’t get the pink colour we normally associate with bacon but it tasted just as good if not better than any shop bought bacon I have had.

Got ourselves a piece of belly pork about 2.5kilos. We took the skin off so that the curing mixture could get into the meat easier. This was such a task, so if you don’t mind a bit of chewing don’t bother!

The mixture we used was half sea salt and half light brown sugar – I don’t know if this is the right ratio, we just guessed it. Also, we didn’t use any ‘pink salt’ because I saw on a river cottage episode you don’t actually need to. But I know there are some risks associated with curing pork, So please ask advice from someone more experienced at curing before trying it out.

Basically, we rubbed the mixture all over both sides of the meat and tried to cover as much of the flesh as we could. We then put the meat into a food safe freezer bag and heat sealed it closed. We put the meat onto a tray and into the fridge for 7 days. Water will gather in the bottom of the bag, this is normal. As the water accumulates, the meat will get firmer to touch.

After 7 days in the fridge, we took the meat out and rinsed off as much of the cure as possible under cold water. We then took the meat home and sliced up most of it for the freezer. I don’t know how long the bacon would last in the fridge but as you know we have a new freezer to fill and bacon seemed like a great thing to fill it with.

With the rest of the bacon we fried it up and had it for tea and it was delicious!!!! Very salty but delicious!!