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How did our first home cured bacon turn out?

home cured streaky This morning we decided to taste some of our bacon. We made it with Boston Baked Beans in mind but there was a bit too much for the recipe so why not test it out for breakfast?

This little 600g belly of pork joint had been loved and cherished for three days. It had even hung in the Inglenook chimney, over the warmth and smoke of its very own log fire.

When I stood inside the sturdy hood and reached up for it the next morning, the pork had a deep smoky smell. I popped it in the fridge in an airtight container.

Slicing my own bacon this morning was wonderful. As it sizzled under the grill, I was on tenterhooks imagining its possible flavours.. Eventually it was cooked, along with our own eggs and some superb granary toast.

We sat down in triumph.

It was salty. Very, very salty. I could taste the smoke beyond the salt. Danny could only taste salt. We ate it in 2mm square cubes that topped heavy forkfuls of egg and toast.

This morning I had to drive to a nearby house to quote for a job. I was so thirsty afterwards that I had to drive home for a large cup of tea rather than go to Newmarket as planned.

I remembered that Mike had simmered his salt pork and tossed away the salty water before adding it to the beans. So I sliced a single thick rasher of bacon and put it in cold water to soak. I reckoned that I’d be gone for two hours but it was four hours later by the time I got back.

I put it under the grill. Within fifteen minutes Danny was drawn down to the kitchen by the sweet smell. It had a delicious home smoked bacon flavour but was a bit bland. We reckoned that a four hour soak was too long.

We had made great bacon but it could be even better. The bacon tasted much better than the commercially produced packs. It didn’t shrink or sweat water.

Since then the whole project has expanded. I have trawled the Internet for curing tips and realised that I had made errors. I didn’t rinse the belly of pork when I took it out of the brine which would have had effected the saltiness and also did not leave it out to develop a pellicle This apparently helps with the smoking process,

I bought some loin of pork from Fred’s to have a go at making some back bacon. I am going to drop the saltpetre, add some sugar and spices to the mix and be much more hands on this time. I am going to halve the joint, dry cure half and wet cure and smoke the other. Ideally, next Saturday I can play with the joints, grill a bit, soak and adjust if necessary.

We’re excited about this project. Next time the inglenook hosts a slab of bacon, I am going to be there warming my toes and relaxing in the big armchair with the sheepskin back.

And Danny added a future scenario.
“Wouldn’t it be great to feast on our own home grown raspberries, topped with our own yoghurt, followed by home cured bacon, a handful of our eggs and a slice of our own granary bread.”

Our yoghurt is now homemade. So is our table butter. I’d love to be slicing our home cured bacon and bread. Watch this space.

N.B. I followed Hamster’s advice (in the comments below) and soaked the joint of streaky bacon (salt pork) before adding it to the Boston Baked Beans. It was perfect!

We have now developed a good recipe that’s not too salty.

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13 Comments so far

Toffeeapple on March 2nd, 2008

How exciting! I thought it would take much longer than that. I like Danny’s dream…
Hamster on March 2nd, 2008

We recently cured our own bacon for the first time, and ours was really salty as well. If we’re eating it in rashers or chunks we try to soak it for an hour or so, which seems to work.

It’s exciting, isn’t it?!
Natasha on March 2nd, 2008

Try the River Cottage Cookbook, or River Cottage Meat book for so many helpful hints on curing, processing and home smoking. I have been able to make my own bresaola and parma ham with the help of these books!
Kate(uk) on March 2nd, 2008

Gosh, that is so quick! How lucky you are having a chimney suitable for smoking. Made my first lot of yogurt last night, going to have some for supper.
Hank on March 3rd, 2008

Here’s a tip: Boil the rashers in a huge pot of water for 2 minutes, then grill or fry them…THEN, boil your pasta in that water – pre-salted and with a little film of oil on top to prevent boil-over.
Serena on March 3rd, 2008

The future scenerio sounds great! I’m really jealous. Heres a link to a good book on breadmaking: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Dough-Simple-Contemporary-Bread-free/dp/1856266109/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1204576663&sr=8-1. I wanted it for ages, and finally bought it a couple of weeks ago. The recipes make quite a lot but we followed the books instructions for freezing the bread and the ciabatta tasted great. Look forward to reading the rest of your adventures.
fn on March 4th, 2008

Hi Toffeeapple

Fred’s wet cure method is far faster than most of the dry cure recipes.

I love D’s dream too.

Hi Hamster

Thanks so much for your tip about soaking for an hour. We did this before simmering the bacon (3 mins) to put into the Boston Baked Beans. The result was awesome. Far less salty than Mike’s. He is now keen to taste our beans as he’s keen to reduce the saltiness of his beans.

I don’t like baked beans but I loved Mike’s, and now ours. So proud to be able to use our own own home cured pork! Yes, I agree, it’s exciting.

Recipe to follow in a few days.

Hi Natasha

Thanks so much for your suggestions. We have the original River Cotage cook book and I have found the entries that you mention – Didn’t know that HFW had suggestions just feet away from were we snore. Our cook books live n the bedroom!

Can’t wait to try the bresaola and parma ham!

Hi Kate(uk)

Fred’s wet cure method is very fast!

I’m loving the yoghurt and it’s so easy!

Hi Hank

Thanks so much for dropimg by and sharing this twist! A great idea. Thank you.

Hi Serena

Thanks for sharing this book!

I really want to get into bread making so your comment was welcomed with warmth.
Robert on March 4th, 2008

Suggest a brouse through the following forum:-

http://www.sausagemaking.org
There you will a vast amount of information about
curing bacon, sausage making, meat curing.

Bob
fn on March 5th, 2008

Hi Robert

Thanks very much for the advice. It’s a great forum.
Jules on April 12th, 2008

My husband and I have been reading your blog with interest. We’ve been salt curing pork for the last few weeks. Tonight was the taste test and it was far too salty. We’re planning to soak it for a couple of hours and hopefully that’ll do the trick.

The next step is to smoke half of it in our chimney. Hubby also wants to make chorizo/salami. There is no stopping him now!
fn on April 13th, 2008

Hi Jules

Soaking your bacon should do the trick.

I’m going to be putting up my recipe for wet cure next week as finally I have got the balance just right I think.

The smoking makes the bacon fabulous!
Ben on March 9th, 2009

I’m so glad to hear that most other people’s first attempt comes out too salty. I tried my first batch of wet-cured bacon last night and it was WAY too salty. I have now soaked it for a couple of hours and hopefully it will be better.

I also took out my dry-cured bacon from HFW’s River Cottage or MEAT book (can’t remember which one) and when fried to crispy it is incredible. So much depth of flavour. I highly recommend it.

Now I have to bake my wet-cured leg of ham tonight, I hope that is not too salty too!

Great blog, thanks.
Eric Yendall on June 6th, 2009

Soaking dry-cured bacon for an hour or too certinly solves the saltiness problem But which is better: soaking before or after smoking? I have just done the latter and it seemed fine. Thanks.