To Cure Bacon
Ingredients
Directions
Cure
Mix saltpetre and finely pounded salt, then sprinkle the mixture over the meat.
Let the meat stand on a sloping board for 24 hours.
Clean the thick layer, then place the meat back in the same position.
Rub the meat with 1 teacup of salt.
Rub the meat with ½ cup of salt and rub it well.
Turn and rest
Lay the meat flat with the skin side up and keep it flat with skin side up for 2 days.
Lay the meat with the skin side down and keep it with skin side down for 2 days.
Dry
Hang it to dry on the kitchen wall, away from smoke.
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
- Side of pig
- The main cut that becomes bacon through curing and drying.
- Saltpetre
- Helps preserve the meat and gives cured bacon its pink colour.
- Salt
- Draws out moisture and preserves the meat while adding savoury flavour.
The step that matters
Rub the salt in well and cover the whole side. The cure must reach every part of the meat. Salt draws out moisture and slows spoilage, so thin or missed spots can spoil while the rest cures properly.
“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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