wheels wrote:There's no doubt that a good period of maturing after the bacon's cured also adds to the quality.
Phil
Thanks Wheels, I was concentrating on the curing side of things and in inadvertently forgot about the drying time which to me is just as critical as the curing process
At present I am helping out a young chap from Doncaster way as it is his very first time.
Drying as I have told him is a critical part of doing things, he was very chuffed about having cured his loin and was ready to slice for brecky. I have asked him to find a place within the house that is cool that is between 10 and 12 degrees C. with hopefully some gentle air movement as this will facilitate the drying which is part of the maturing/ageing process (a big step that is missed by the large processors and a lot of home cures).
As of this morning upon showing me a photo I told him it was too wet, he weighed the piece and I explained that it had only lost 6.5% in a couple of days and for him to leave until the weekend
Don't get me wrong. There is nothing wrong with using the bacon after it has been cured, its just akin to drinking cheep wine against drinking fine wine ~~ the cost and time are not that great
On an average on drying the bacon you would look for about a 15% weight loss (I am doing between 15% - 20%)
this normally takes seven days, I do longer sometimes as it depends on the type of bacon I am producing, hence the 20% weight loss