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Westphalia Bacon

A cured pork product preserved in a salt, sugar, and saltpetre solution.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Westphalia Bacon

Ingredients

Directions

Make the pickle

  1. Boil all ingredients together until well mixed.

  2. Let the mixture cool completely.

Cure and dry

  1. Submerge the pork in the cooled pickle for 14 days.

  2. After 14 days, remove the pork and dry it over sawdust.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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

Coarse sea salt
Draws moisture out of the pork and seasons it during the cure.
Saltpetre
Helps the meat keep its pink colour during curing.
Coarse sugar
Balances the salt and adds a mild sweetness to the cured flavour.

The step that matters

Let the mixture cool completely before adding the pork. Hot brine can partly cook the surface of the pork and uneven cooling can lead to uneven curing. A fully cooled pickle penetrates the meat evenly and keeps the pork safe to hold for the full 14 days.

“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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