Wow - just noticed the replies to this, sorry it's taken a while.
To answer what I can...
fishy1 said:
Could you get the same effect without draining by using a container with holes in it, just like dry salting mackerel?
Yes, that should work just fine. Curing time might change a bit but not drastically.
Singeblister said:
Once its cured would it be ok to take it out on a trip using it daily for say a week if it was kept cool or does it need to be in the fridge ?
Although I've never tried taking mine 'on the road' It should keep for a week without too much of a problem - especially if you can cold smoke it. I'd maybe freeze it and carry it from frozen to help it last longer. It might be a bit hard and dry by the end but as long as it's not too hot and humid you should be OK. If it's starting to toughen up you can always boil the bacon up and have it as an evening meal - it's really good with lentils or peas especially if you can bung in a rosemary branch and some garlic. Again, you might want to soak it in fresh water for a couple of hours to get rid of excess saltiness. If your cooking water tastes too salty so will your bacon, but you can always throw it away and add some fresh. Cooked for a couple or three hours this becomes really tender and tasty.
TheGreenMan said:
Anyone tried smoking home cured bacon up a chimney?
Not up a chimney, but I do have a cold smoker and regularly do bacon in it - smoking helps preserve the meat longer and also adds a really good flavour. If you want to do it in a chimney or over a fire (hang from a tree branch over a campfire) you just need to make sure it's far enough away from the heat that the bacon smokes and doesn't cook.
cobweb said:
That raises a good question Singe, what would be the ideal temperature for doing something like this?
I'd like to get into making my own meat products
Ideal temp is vague at best. Most references are to 'cool cellar' or 'larder' and my guess is that this is as much to keep the flies off as anything else. I've done this at room temperature with no problem but usually cure it at something around 10 deg Celsius.
Getting into making your own meat products is good fun and
always tastes better than what you can buy. Books which have informed and inspired me are:
The River Cottage Meat Book Hugh Fernley-Whittingstall ISBN 0-340-82635-5,
Home Smoking and Curing Keith Erlandson ISBN 0-09-177825-5,
The Home Book of Smoke Cooking Jack Sleight & Raymond Hull ISBN 0-7153-6206-2
Ogri the trog said:
I've never heard of the "soaking" stage though, does this prevent the white goo that forms when being cooked?
No. The cold water soaking is only required to take any excess saltiness out of the meat. The white goo that comes out of supermarket bacon comes from a process they use which pumps the meat with salt water which not only cures the meat but also dramatically increases the weight by adding lots of cheap water that you pay for at the same price as the meat. This is a clever way around the problem that traditional dry curing takes natural moisture away from meat. My piece of bacon weighs significantly less than the original piece of meat whereas the supermarked bacon will weigh more than the original cut of meat. Simple economics over flavour.
*Phew* Hope that's answered a few questions, but please ask if you have any more and I'll be pleased to share my experiences with you.
