Your Favourite Recipe for Home Cured Bacon...

[Earthgirl]

This is the first time I have made bacon and I will be doing so again...

But I am certainly no expert, just an over enthusiastic amateur which means I have much to learn from those who have made it before.... thanks...

So have you made home cured bacon?

If you have what was the recipe? and what was it like?

Salty... Sweet...?

What's your favourite and why?

How long did you cure the bacon and where?

And how well did it keep?

This was my first attempt at home cured bacon and it was delicious.

Dry cure.

Recipe:

500g Coarse sea salt
500g Soft brown sugar
3 bay leaves finely chopped
10 juniper berries, lightly crushed
8grms freshly ground black pepper

Mix together well and rub over pork loin (back bacon or whatever you wish to cure) and place in non metallic container and keep at a temp of 3-5 degrees C (in fridge)

This is fresh loin of pork (back bacon) after 4hrs in a container

Every day for 4 days drain excess water, re-rub with excess cure and put back into the fridge.

On the fourth day I rinsed it well under the cold water tap to get rid of the excess cure and I put it back into the container filled with cold water in the fridge for 4hrs to 'leach' out some of the salt, I don't like things over salty and wasn't worried about keeping it as I sliced it, vacuum packed it and put it in the freezer although I'm sure vacuum packed it will keep over a month in the fridge. (if it lasts that long... lol )

I rinsed it again under the cold tap and dried in a clean cotton teatowel and left it uncovered to dry in the fridge overnight before slicing...

The only thing I will say about this recipe is that you don't need any additional fat to cook this bacon in a frying pan, just a low heat (otherwise the sugar in the recipe can caramelise and burn onto the bottom of the pan) and patience. There is more than enough natural fat to lubricate the pan to cook eggs after this has cooked...

How about you?

 

[Buckshot]

I've only done this once and I used 50:50 salt sugar with nothing else
Similar process except stored it in one piece outside wrapped in muslin
I should have washed the salt off and boned it beforehand (I used belly pork) It made it salty and a pain to slice
I'm thinking of trying again though soon so thanks for the recipe

 

[Goatboy]

Earthgirl,

I've never cured bacon but my fave way to cook it is to make a mix of crushed pecans, good grated cheese, some parmesan all done finely and mixed in a bowl. Dip the bacon in maple syrup and press one side into the mix, Place the rashers mix side up on the grill pan and cook till it's done how you like it, eat all the bacon with some nice eggs and repeat until you either run out of bacon or feel ill

GB.

 

[TurboGirl]

What a brilliant recipe run through, earthgirl! I have a couple of cures but both are for salt beef- ones kinda pastrami, very spicy but not what you need at all

I'm on a messy project ban so any salted or cured meat recipes I'll do would ha be go start with 1; kill husband, 2; bury under patio....

 

[Goatboy]

Hi Earthgirl, looks good and I meant to ask in my last post but have you only fried it? Does it cook well in the grill or oven? Cheers GB.

 

[yomperalex]

I do pretty much the same recipe as you, minus the leaching stage.

But then, I get my father in law to cold smoke it for me, and the occassional hot smoke.

Delicious.

Alex

 

[Earthgirl]

I've only done this once and I used 50:50 salt sugar with nothing else
Similar process except stored it in one piece outside wrapped in muslin
I should have washed the salt off and boned it beforehand (I used belly pork) It made it salty and a pain to slice
I'm thinking of trying again though soon so thanks for the recipe

I hope you do and would love to know how it turns out...

 

[Earthgirl]

Earthgirl,

I've never cured bacon but my fave way to cook it is to make a mix of crushed pecans, good grated cheese, some parmesan all done finely and mixed in a bowl. Dip the bacon in maple syrup and press one side into the mix, Place the rashers mix side up on the grill pan and cook till it's done how you like it, eat all the bacon with some nice eggs and repeat until you either run out of bacon or feel ill

GB.

All I can say is you have a much sweeter tooth than me...

Oh... and as to your to your other question I imagine it would grill well but because I made it from the loin (Back bacon) supposedly the best fat for lard I would say that there would be lots of it on your grill pan and it would 'spit'. I think it would also do well in an oven although I would cover it until it cooks through (you don't want it to dry out) and uncover for the last 5-10mins to brown, but honestly cooked on the lowest heat in a dry pan will colour and cook at the same time.

I hope this answers your question, thanks for asking...

 

[Earthgirl]

What a brilliant recipe run through, earthgirl! I have a couple of cures but both are for salt beef- ones kinda pastrami, very spicy but not what you need at all

Thanks Turbogirl... I've yet to advance to beef... but when I do I know how to ask...

I'm on a messy project ban so any salted or cured meat recipes I'll do would ha be go start with 1; kill husband, 2; bury under patio....

I so know what you mean...

 

[Earthgirl]

I do pretty much the same recipe as you, minus the leaching stage.

But then, I get my father in law to cold smoke it for me, and the occassional hot smoke.

Delicious.

Alex

Lucky you with your father in law...

 

[Earthgirl]

Honestly I thought there would be a lot more that have made their own bacon and I would get a lot more recipes... I was looking forward to them...

 

[teine]

Nice recipe, i would love to have a go at this, the most experimental i have ever got with a ham was to cook it in cola! i'll copy this and give it a try, thanks for sharing

 

[santaman2000]

Not bacon, but a good imitation of cured pork (in tatste and color) is smoked turkey.

One of my recipes is to start with about a 12-15 pound turkey (or a turkey breast if your smoker isn't large enough) Get a clean 5 gallon bucket or large ice chest for the brining.

-Bring a couple of quarts of apple juice to a low boil and disolve 1-2 cups of brown sugar and another 1-2 cups of salt into it.
-Pour into bucket or ice chest and add enough ice to bring the brime level up enough to cover the turkey.
-Keep turkey submerged in the brime for at least 3 days while also keeping at or below 40 degrees farenheight.
- Lastly remove from the brime and slow smoke the turkey over hickory, or mesquite, or oak, or apple smoke (my favorite is hickory) for 12 hours or so.

The finished product has a taste and color very similar to cured pork but with much less fat and cholesterol (although it's just as high in salt)

 

[Earthgirl]

Nice recipe, i would love to have a go at this, the most experimental i have ever got with a ham was to cook it in cola! i'll copy this and give it a try, thanks for sharing

All I can say is give it a go and you won't be disappointed... Most cuts of pork can be made into bacon...

 

[Earthgirl]

Not bacon, but a good imitation of cured pork (in tatste and color) is smoked turkey.

One of my recipes is to start with about a 12-15 pound turkey (or a turkey breast if your smoker isn't large enough) Get a clean 5 gallon bucket or large ice chest for the brining.

-Bring a couple of quarts of apple juice to a low boil and disolve 1-2 cups of brown sugar and another 1-2 cups of salt into it.
-Pour into bucket or ice chest and add enough ice to bring the brime level up enough to cover the turkey.
-Keep turkey submerged in the brime for at least 3 days while also keeping at or below 40 degrees farenheight.
- Lastly remove from the brime and slow smoke the turkey over hickory, or mesquite, or oak, or apple smoke (my favorite is hickory) for 12 hours or so.

The finished product has a taste and color very similar to cured pork but with much less fat and cholesterol (although it's just as high in salt)

Thanks for this copied and pasted into my recipe collection

 

[santaman2000]

Thanks for this copied and pasted into my recipe collection

You're quite welcome. If you don't like the results the first time obviously you can adjust the seasonings orsmoking timesto taste. In fact it's almost a certainty you'll need to adjust the smoking times as every smoker is different.

The same recipe works with a similar sized pork joint as well.

Here's a link to 28 recipes for brimed turkey: www.foodnetwork.com/recipe-collections/brined-turkey I haven't tried them but they look pretty good. especially #3, the Honey Brimed one.

 

[realearner]

Well my last go I did the wet cure maple bacon, and pretty simple to.
Take a nice big lump of belly pork, or whatever takes your fancy, about 4lb ish.
One cup of good salt.
Two cups of dark brown sugar.
One cup of quality maple syrup.
Mix these altogether and rub over selected joint, place in a sealable freezer bag and place in fridge.
Turn these once a day, for seven days.
Remove from fridge, remove from the bag and rinse off any residue, pat dry.
Cut a small bit off and test fry for saltiness.
If to your taste slice to your preference cook and store.
Or it could be smoked to you taste, or just consumed quickly.

 

[realearner]

Oh forgot to add with me it's the other way round, I want to do something and get the looks from my wife like what are you playing at now.
Just to let you know it goes both ways ha ha!!!

 

[Rod Paradise]

Not tried my own bacon yet - which is not a good thing since I've a smoker out the back, but my starting point for any outdoor cooking/smoking/curing type recipe is the Smoked Meat Forum, it's a US based forum with a wealth of clever people on it.

They've a whole section on bacon : http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/f/134/smoking-bacon

If you do get into the curing & want to start smoking, Muurikka do a small electric smoker (for hot smoking) - not bad at £135, but you can get a cold smoke generator to use with it.

http://www.muurikka.co.uk/Camping.html

 

[Bernard Fishtrousers]

Some interesting recipes there, my own is quite different.

A pork belly in a cat litter tray covered & surrounded by ten pounds of salt and a pound of Demerara sugar.
Leave overnight and the next day discard the liquid that has leached from the meat together with the salt mix.
Replace the salt and sugar mix with fresh and leave for a fortnight.
Remove from the salt mix and wipe clean with a damp cloth, sprinkle a light dusting of white pepper over it, (to keep the flies off) and hang on a hook at the back of the garage for another two or three weeks.

This is mindbendingly good.