Inspired by fishfish's excellent post on this subject, and borrowing some of his ideas, here's my variation on the same theme.
Firstly, I buy a whole pork belly from my local butcher. Costs will vary, but mine are usually £10 - £15 depending on weight.
I ask to keep the ribs on for two reasons. The first is that it makes the cut of meat cheaper per kg (the less work the butcher does the less you pay!) The second is that it is easy to remove yourself and that I like ribs
So this is where we start:
To remove the ribs I use an 8" cooks knife and cut just below the rib. Don't worry about being very close to the bone as you will want some meat to stick to the rib.
I follow this cut along the length of the ribs...
... before taking the cut through the 'spine' side - but there is no right or wrong sequence here.
This is how my ribs look just before they are completely removed and put to one side. (More on them later)
I then pick a non-metallic container in which the belly will cure. Metal will react to the salt in the cure and will impair the taste. I like this one as it has a locking lid and makes for easy to handle sized sides of bacon. Cut your belly into strips which are narrower than the container - I know it sounds obvious, but also divide the belly so you don't end up with one tiny piece at the end. Usually thirds or quarters work well for me.
Next - something I've never tried before but which fishfish described in his method and I've unashamedly stolen as it sounds like a good idea. Piercing the skin side with the point of the knife to allow the cure to get in.
What is in the cure? Coarse sea salt, coarse ground (or cracked) black pepper and I've added some juniper berries which I had left over from the last gin I made (maybe the subject of a future thread) Bay leaves are another popular flavouring but it was raining and I couldn't be bothered to put my shoes on and go out into the garden! I make up a batch of cure in a separate resealable container so I can use it to top up the cure over the coming days (explained in detail later)
I cover the base of the container with a layer of cure...
...place a piece of belly in...
...cover it with a layer of cure (not forgetting to rub some into the edges)...
...and repeat until all your pieces are in.
Close your container and refrigerate. It's cool enough outside at the moment (but not freezing) that I leave it in an outbuilding.
Day 1 over. Or is it?
Remember those ribs you put to one side? Well this is as good a time as any to rub them in the same cure that you used for the bacon.
Leave for an hour or so and then brush the excess cure mixture off. DON'T rinse it under water as it will wash all the flavour off. I then simply add some rosemary and place it in a hot oven (200c) for around an hour turning occasionally to brown on both sides and dinner is sorted. Of course you can do lots of other things with a rack of ribs - I also often hot smoke them - but I like the fact that this uses the existing cure and really requires no extra effort (apart from putting your shoes on to go to the garden to get the rosemary )
Firstly, I buy a whole pork belly from my local butcher. Costs will vary, but mine are usually £10 - £15 depending on weight.
I ask to keep the ribs on for two reasons. The first is that it makes the cut of meat cheaper per kg (the less work the butcher does the less you pay!) The second is that it is easy to remove yourself and that I like ribs
So this is where we start:
To remove the ribs I use an 8" cooks knife and cut just below the rib. Don't worry about being very close to the bone as you will want some meat to stick to the rib.
I follow this cut along the length of the ribs...
... before taking the cut through the 'spine' side - but there is no right or wrong sequence here.
This is how my ribs look just before they are completely removed and put to one side. (More on them later)
I then pick a non-metallic container in which the belly will cure. Metal will react to the salt in the cure and will impair the taste. I like this one as it has a locking lid and makes for easy to handle sized sides of bacon. Cut your belly into strips which are narrower than the container - I know it sounds obvious, but also divide the belly so you don't end up with one tiny piece at the end. Usually thirds or quarters work well for me.
Next - something I've never tried before but which fishfish described in his method and I've unashamedly stolen as it sounds like a good idea. Piercing the skin side with the point of the knife to allow the cure to get in.
What is in the cure? Coarse sea salt, coarse ground (or cracked) black pepper and I've added some juniper berries which I had left over from the last gin I made (maybe the subject of a future thread) Bay leaves are another popular flavouring but it was raining and I couldn't be bothered to put my shoes on and go out into the garden! I make up a batch of cure in a separate resealable container so I can use it to top up the cure over the coming days (explained in detail later)
I cover the base of the container with a layer of cure...
...place a piece of belly in...
...cover it with a layer of cure (not forgetting to rub some into the edges)...
...and repeat until all your pieces are in.
Close your container and refrigerate. It's cool enough outside at the moment (but not freezing) that I leave it in an outbuilding.
Day 1 over. Or is it?
Remember those ribs you put to one side? Well this is as good a time as any to rub them in the same cure that you used for the bacon.
Leave for an hour or so and then brush the excess cure mixture off. DON'T rinse it under water as it will wash all the flavour off. I then simply add some rosemary and place it in a hot oven (200c) for around an hour turning occasionally to brown on both sides and dinner is sorted. Of course you can do lots of other things with a rack of ribs - I also often hot smoke them - but I like the fact that this uses the existing cure and really requires no extra effort (apart from putting your shoes on to go to the garden to get the rosemary
)
Thanks fishfish
