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Bacon Extraordinaire

by

Aubrie Pick photo

Americans are deeply in love with the meat of all meats, the cured (often smoked) fatty belly of the pig. 

While its saturated fat content may make bacon a “sometimes” food for health, it is an “always” food for those who swoon for swine, and each slice does contain 3 grams of protein. Bacon must first be dry-rubbed and cured for 7 to 10 days. While you can slice and fry it immediately after curing, American-style bacon is usually smoked as well. Note that you may need to order pork belly from your local butcher or grocery store. And if you can’t buy pink curing salt (sodium nitrite) from your local kitchen supply shop or butcher, order it online from a sausage-making supplier. 

Makes 2 pounds

Time: 7–10 days

Methods: dry curing, hot smoking

You Will Need

To Prepare

1) Trim any thin edges from the pork belly so that the piece is of even thickness. (You can save these excess pieces of belly for making sausage or lard, or for roasting into a tasty snack.)

2) Combine the sugar and molasses in a large rectangular baking dish or pan. Mash until thoroughly incorporated; you’ll have a very dark brown sugar. Mix in the kosher salt, curing salt, and pepper. Add the meat to the dish and rub the cure into the meat (like a relaxing porcine spa treatment), spreading it evenly around the sides, top, and bottom. Tuck the rubbed meat into a 1-gallon or oversized ziplock plastic bag, placing it in a single layer. Lay the meat flat in a dish (in case any liquids escape from the bag) and chill in the refrigerator for 7 days, daily massaging the liquids that will accumulate inside the bag into the meat and flipping the bag over.

3) Inspect your bacon. It should be firm to the touch all over, like touching a cooked steak. If the flesh still feels spongy and soft in spots, sprinkle it evenly with an additional 2 tablespoons kosher salt and let it cure a little longer. Check it again after 1 to 2 days.

4) Once the bacon is fully cured, brush off the rub, rinse the meat well, and pat it completely dry. At this point, your bacon is cured but not cooked. You can either fry the slices in a skillet now or smoke them and then fry. Either way, your bacon needs to be cooked before being eaten.

SMOKING If you are smoking the meat, you will need 3 cups of hickory sawdust. It will take 1. to 2. hours to smoke the pork belly. The interior of the meat must reach 150°F (65°C) to be fully cooked.

FRYING When your bacon is ready, slice it as thin (or as thick) as you like it. (Freezing the bacon for 30 minutes will help you slice it very thinly.) Fry in a skillet over medium heat until browned on both sides. Drain on paper towels and enjoy.

STORAGE Cured or smoked bacon can be stored in large slabs, in precut hunks for flavoring beans or other dishes, or in slices layered between pieces of parchment paper and sealed tightly in a freezer storage bag. It will keep in the refrigerator for up to 7 days or in the freezer for at least 3 months.

Excerpted from Cured Meat, Smoked Fish & Pickled Eggs by Karen Solomon. Used with permission from Storey Publishing.

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