I was just pondering this thought - as far as I know, lean meat absorbs more salt than fattier cuts. These days most supermarket pork bellies (in the UK) appear very lean, maybe holding less than 20% of fat, yet when sourced from other outlets can carry as much as 50% fat or even higher. When we use recipes for curing a belly for bacon should we actually be taking into account the fat content ? Maybe this is the reason why older recipes appear to contain too much salt for modern palates, seeing as the earlier breeds used for bacon held a good covering of fat.
Any ideas ?
Yotmon.