bacon.uk wrote:A lot of points raised there, but the object of home curing should be to produce a better quality bacon than commercial bacon.
100% agree with you on this
My own bacon markedly improved when I stopped using the bag method and simply rubbed 4% of cure (in two stages)
Now slow dow here -- we need to define something that most/all reading this being new to curing would get them selfs into a whole load of trouble and could in fact kill people -- 4% cure?? -- thats a lot of cure when we only use 0.25% cure #1
into the pork laid into a sloping tray on a shelf in the fridge (not covered).
I do this all the time -- but on a bigger scale -- anywhere from 10 to 20 bellies at a time (streaky bacon) or the same amount of loins (shortback bacon)
I pour off the liquid produced and leave for 6 to 8 days depending on the thickness.
Because I elevate the meat off the bottom of the containers I can and do leave mine as is for 7 days for the bellies and 14 days for the loins -- then again I am doing a EQ cure where salt and cure along with spices are weighed out as to the weight of the meat which means that I can leave for 6 months without any worry about being overly salty
I then rinse and hang in a cool place for two weeks or preferably three weeks. It is much easier to slice when it has lost at least 15% of its original weight.
Now rinse most of the time due to using the EQ method -- hang to dry at 13 degrees C but no higher than 15 degrees C for no less than 7 days (3 days are fine but preferably no less) which will give me 15% weight loss
-- hanging is to age and mature the meat
In the UK we do not have the same sweet tooth they have in Canada/USA.
Depends -- most bacon this side of the pond is bland and is overcooked (cremated
) -- On the other hand Gammon bacon is on the sweet side as it is cured with a good amount of sugar
If you like your bacon crisp any sugar present tends to burn.
Real bacon should not be overcooked and made crisp in my most umble opinion ....
The presence of air and a lengthy mature period seems to be most important in flavour development
This is only part of it -- Pork, spicing, TLC all have a part in this making of bacon
By the way --- Welcome