Modern Cookery
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Before hanging, cover the flesh side with bran or fine sawdust to create a crust.
Smoke
Hang the flitch of bacon in a dry place, away from rain.
Ensure the smoke comes from wood, not peat or coal.
Smoke the bacon for about a month with a constant fire.
Store in ashes
In a box or chest, layer wood ashes and place the flitch inside, covering it with more ashes.
Keep the box in a dry place and dry any damp ashes before replacing them.
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
- Flitch of bacon
- The main meat that is cured and smoked over about a month.
- Bran or fine sawdust
- Forms a crust on the flesh side of the bacon before hanging.
- Clean and dry wood ashes
- Surrounds the flitch in storage, keeping it covered and dry.
The step that matters
Keep the smoke clean and the fire constant. Smoke must come from wood rather than peat or coal, and the fire must stay steady for about a month. Peat and coal smoke can leave unwanted flavours, and uneven heat or smoke changes how evenly the bacon dries and takes on smoke flavour.
“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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