Belly: Bacon Part 1

Pork belly, also known as pork sidemeat, has been used for centuries to make bacon - and with good reason.  If you like store bought bacon, try making your own; it is well worth it.  If you don't like bacon, try making your own anyway; you're likely to change your mind.

This piece of belly is quite large at 2.5 pounds.
Any size will work well.  The bacon tastes the same.

In the old days, bacon was packed in salt for a period of time (called "curing"), hung in the smoke house, and guaranteed to last for months.  Our recipe requires less salt, a short period of refrigeration in place of the long curing period, and it is not guaranteed to last very long because you will eat it up so quickly.

All you need is a glass bowl, a 9"x13" glass baking dish, and your piece of belly.  First, thoroughly combine 1 cup of kosher salt, 1 cup of brown sugar, and 1/4 cup of black pepper in the glass bowl.  In the video below, Nathanael - our bacon master - will show you what to do with the rest.

Once your piece of belly is thoroughly coated, cover the glass dish and place it in the fridge for 7 - 10 days.  This is called a cold cure.  It will not make the meat stiff and dry, in order to last all winter, but the salt in the rub will draw out some of the liquid and will flavor the meat nicely.  Next week, I will explain how to smoke the bacon - without having to build a smoke house in the back yard.

Anne Marie