The Quest for Real Bacon

[DanMcG]

hey Robert, are these still curing ? Would love to see and hear an update.

Would you believe me if I told you I binned it

I'd believe ya if ya told me. But I'd have a hard time believing it.

[BriCan]

Ya get worse!

Just think what I would be like if I was well/sane

[BriCan]

hey Robert, are these still curing ? Would love to see and hear an update.

Would you believe me if I told you I binned it

I'd believe ya if ya told me. But I'd have a hard time believing it.

Don't worry lad; it's still anging there

ready next week

[DanMcG]

LOL Son of a *****, got me.

[NCPaul]

I was about to cry. We're all at your feet watching the master at work.

[BriCan]

LOL Son of a *****, got me.

[BriCan]

I was about to cry.

To be totally honest so was I

[Yannis]

edit

You got me too

[saucisson]

I was momentarily suspending disbelief

[BriCan]

LOL Son of a *****, got me.

5760; 5759; 5758; 5757; 5756 ....................

[BriCan]

And so the Quest (journey) continues it seems to be have plagued with obstacles along the way and there have been times that one wonders if the end would get here or if I would end up binning it and calling it a loss and chalk it up as a (bad) learning curve.

The most ironic thing about this cure was that it was started when Tom was out visiting – date was written on the big white board --- 13th January 2012 -- yep! there it is that foreboding date – Friday the 13th

I have said it before and I will say it yet again; ‘I honestly do not know what I am doing’ it seems that I am driven by an inhered feeling (gut?) of what to do and when to do it with the daily/weekly checks just make sure things are fine.

Maynard says that once the middles have been in the cure for sufficient time to remove the muslin and take off the rind – this step (taking off the rind I did at the onset of this cure) and take a “meat hammer, which is a very long piece of wood like a cricket bat and hit the middle and you will find that the middle will spread and become flat”

Problem is I don’t av a cricket bat nor a baseball bat, these was my weapons of choice



The next part of this project was the spicing of the meat so I mixed up the seasoning that was called for; 1 oz of Nutmeg; 1 oz of Mace and 1 oz of Coriander (to make life easier I went to metric as the numbers are more precise so used 30 grams of each)



Mixed and well blended



I went out and bought a special salt/pepper shaker for this next step



As you can see, it worked rather well. The meat side of the middle lightly covered with the seasoning combination





The next step is to roll the loin into the belly so that we end up looking like this. One has to keep in mind that this step is critical as one has to roll this up as tight as possible so that we do not get the bacon going bad on the inside.



This is the shoulder end of the loin, notice how the lean and the fat are just about even



The leg end of the loin, see how much leaner this end is



Middle rolled with strings at 1 inch spacing and pulled as tight as one can do, the tighter the better. Looking at this I see I would be hauled up on the carpet by my old boss as my knots are not all in a line – I would have to redo the whole thing



Close up of the leg end of the roll



Close up of the shoulder end of the roll




Ready for the ham netting



Ageing/maturing in the cooler for four days



The finished product after maturing for four days with the combination of spices





The first few slices need to cook some up now



I think there should be enough for the taste testing



Frying pan with a very light coating of lard – (we are lightly cooking the bacon and not masking the flavour but letting it shine) over a low to medium heat (more to the low side) as we need to gently cook our treat



Just over a minute in



The first turn – one side done



It’s done; low and easy is the way to go. Timer being used only



Cooked and ready for snacking





The project was interesting and well worth the effort although it was slightly time consuming in the parameters of my heavy load which brings the question! Would I do this again? In a heartbeat as the end product justifies the time well worth spent on doing it.

Would I change anything? He*l yes; don’t leave it down as long although I went lightly on the curing side the extra time down made for a slight increase of saltiness which is not that bad as it might have been

Hope that this is of some help to you and that I have not bored you to tears, I will be more than likely starting very soon on the next Quest

[NCPaul]

Wow! How long did you let it cure before you rolled and tied it? What did you think of the spicing mix? Did you make what you remembered as real English bacon? When I don't know what I'm doing, it never comes out like this.

[salumi512]

I can't decide whether I want that with a poached egg or a beer. Maybe a bacon and beer breakfast. That looks great!

[wheels]

Nice job Brican, those round 'slices' are just the right size to fit a nice crusty roll... ...Mmm

Phil

[BriCan]

What was the weight of the meat?

Boneless, ready on the table as Tom saw it was 10.015 kg

Finished weight was 7.590 kg which equates to a (approx) 24% weight loss, to be totally honest it more likely would be less as I missed making sure that cure was on the ends so had to a slight trim plus the extra time in the curing stage