Bacon, Breakfast
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Cut the pork belly into three pieces, each weighing 3 to 5 pounds.
Cure and smoke
Cure the bacon in sweet pickle for 15 to 25 days.
Smoke the bacon for 2 to 4 days.
Store
Inspect the bacon before canning to ensure quality.
Hang the bacon in a cool, dry place for storage.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Explore the science
What each ingredient does
- Pork belly
- Provides the fatty layers that give bacon its richness and tender texture when cooked.
- Sweet pickle
- Cures the meat, seasoning it and helping preserve it through the long curing period.
- Smoking wood
- Adds smoky aroma and flavor to the bacon during smoking.
The step that matters
Cure the bacon in sweet pickle for 15 to 25 days. The cure must fully penetrate the thick pork belly pieces. Curing too briefly leaves the centre under-seasoned and less well preserved, while the salt and sugar in the pickle draw out moisture and firm the meat.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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