Make your own bacon. Homemade bacon tastes fantastic!
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Today's supermarket bacon is OK. I mean, you can't go too far wrong with bacon; but to really know good bacon you either need to find a great artisan producer, or make your own.
Supermarket bacon is "wet cured" it is submerged in a vat of briny water and artificial smoke and other flavorings are added. Real bacon is dry cured, and exposed to real hardwood smoke. You won't believe how much better it is; and how easy it is to make your own bacon at home. It's one of those things that sounds really hard, and will sure impress people when you tell them they're eating your own home-cured bacon, but is actually really effortless!
You'll need to source a couple of ingredients, but they're probably both found at the same place; you're neighborhood butcher shop. Tell your butcher what you're planning to do, and ask for a piece of pork belly (make sure you don't get salt pork. You want fresh peork belly.). About 5 lbs is a pretty good place to start (don't make less than this or you will regret it later!) and also ask him or her for pink curing salt. Pink salt is a mixture about 6.5% sodium nitrite, and 93.5 percent kosher salt. It is called pink salt as it is dyed pink to prevent accidental use as regular salt. With these two items in hand, you're ready to get started.
Great homemade bacon recipe
- One 5lb slab of pork belly, rind removed. Ask your butcher to take of the rind.
- 1/4 cup of salt
- 1 tsp pink salt
- Generous half cup of maple syrup or honey. (You could also substitute a half cup of brown sugar if you prefer.
That's it, there are only three ingredients needed! Rub the pink salt all over both sides of the bacon and then slather on the salt andmaple syrup or honey as well, trying to get all exposed surfaces coated. Pop the pork belly into a large Ziploc bag, and keep it in the fridge for a week, turning every day. There will be some liquid accumulating in the bag; this is normal, don't remove it.
After a week, take the bacon out of the bag, wash off any salt that remains...and voila, you have bacon.
Now fry a little piece cut out from the center of the belly. It's bacon after all, so it should be salty; but if you think it is too salty, try soaking it in cold water for about an hour. This will leach out some of the salt. Repeat the tasting and if you still think it's too salty, give it another hour in a new batch of water.
You now have great tasting bacon that's ready to enjoy; and you can either now slice it up and watch how fast it disappears from your fridge, or get ready to take it the next level by hardwood smoking it.
The smoking stage will make this bacon even better, but you'll be amazed at how good the bacon already tastes. All the excess water has been removed through the dry curing; so the tastes are concentrated...and you'll never see your homemade bacon shrivel away to nothing in the frying pan.
Commercial bacon is pumped full of water, and when you cook it, all this water is released. Adding water is a great way to make more money when you're selling bacon by the pound, but not such a good way to make delicious bacon.
If you decide you want to smoke the bacon, you'll see that's its pretty easy as well. Take a look at my (link below) hub on smoking for easy to follow instructions...using a backyard BBQ!
There's a great thread on the cooking forum at E-Gullet all about charcuterie, so check out their link below if you want to learn more about home curing.
A great book on homemade bacon, sausages, hams, etc. is Michael Rhulman's Charcuterie. People are raving about this easy to follow text on all sorts of different charcuterie. It taught me a lot, and the bacon recipe above is loosely based on one from the book.
Try an artisanal bacon...
 | Amazon Price: $19.95 |
Nice short video of home smoking a side of pork belly on a Weber grill
- E-Gullet Forum-charcuterie thread
This is a great website, that will keep you engrossed for hours. This particular thread has been ongoing for months, so there is lots of information here! - Here's my hub on easy bacon smoking..using a backyard BBQ
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I am going to give the bacon a shot but it seems like the shoulder and ham would be different because of the size? Do you have to inject it or anything? Is there anyway of actually telling that it is smoked good enough? Should I do a couple batches to see how the bacon comes out or would you say three hours will do it and the brine is more of the key? Great article!
Hi Jim,
I have never dry cured a ham - I would love to, but live in a pretty hot place, which makes it tricky. Something like a ham, or a pork shoulder, that has such a wide diameter, needs some extra special care, especially around the bones - slabs of pork belly are rarely more than a couple of inches thick, and so the salt penetrates much more easily.
For the time spent in the smoker - I am afraid this is a bit more art than science! WHat I tend to do, is let it smoke for a couple of hours, and then try to cut a slice out of the middle of the belly (The outsides will be stronger, and not a good indicator) I give it a quick cook and have a taste.
I tried the above mentioned recipe on 2 X 5lbs pieces of pork tenderloin. I Left them in the fridge for 7 days flipping them every day and then smoked them in my gas BBQ using hickory wood for smoke at roughly 190 degrees for 5 hours. What I ended up with was the best canadian bacon I had ever tasted. The mix of salt, maple syrup, and smoke was perfect, the best part, which my wife pointed out was how the pieces didnt shrink. We (my wife, kids and my self), finished that in 2 sittings and I am now in the process of curing another 20lbs using the same method and recipe. I also have a ham on the go in the fridge using the same recipe but with a much longer curing time, approximately 27 days. I have taken little bits of advise from where ever I can find it and think I have the right idea for how long the ham has to cure before I can smoke it. If you do have any advise for me on curing hams it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for a great recipe and, what is now for me, a fantastic new hobby..Happy smokin..Dean.
Hi Dean,
I am really glad you've found a technique that works for you! I have never dry cured a ham (I am jealous of your experiment!) so I can't offer much insight. I have wet cured ham, and I know that in brine, ham cures at the rate of about 2lb per day. Dry cure is surely much slower. If you have success with the ham, I would love to hear about it, specifically - how long it took to cure under what conditions.
Best of luck and thanks for the comment
John
Hey John, it's me again, just want to follow up on my last entry. The ham turned out excellent, it was a bit salty at first but nothing a bit of soaking didn't take care of. I cured it in a bag for 27 days in the bottom of the family fridge, yes I have a very patient and understanding wife, but in hindsight I should have only cured it for 21 days. I am picking up another leg tomorrow and I think I am going to modify the recipe a bit. I am going to try brown sugar this time instead of maple syrup. The reason for the change is because instead of keeping the ham in a bag, I am going to wrap the leg in cheese cloth and let it cure on a rack over a pan to catch the drippings (refigerated of course). I used hickory wood for smoke but I think this time I am going to try apple, I hear it gives a milder smoke flavour, but having said that the smoking that I did do seemed to give it that extra bit of flavour you just can't find in most commercial hams. Even though it was dry cured, the ham still turned out to be very moist and tender, much to my surprise. I don't suppose you have a dry cure recipe for corned beef or pastrami do you? Yes my new hobby is really taking off..lol. So much so, that my wife went out and bought me a beer fridge so I can do all the curing I want, and to think this all started off with a simple bacon recipe from you.. Thanks John, much appreciated..Dean.
hi john, I live in thailand and the cured bacon is the worst I've ever tasted. I am going to give your recipe a try. my difficulty is finding pink salt. and my have to try and make my own. do you know the ingrediants for it. many thanks. laura
Dean - That is great!! You've got me itching to do a dry cured ham now too! I will take a look for a recipe for pastrami - I think I have one kicking around.
Dean - That is great!! You've got me itching to do a dry cured ham now too! I will take a look for a recipe for pastrami - I think I have one kicking around.
Hi Laura Ann
Funnily enough - I live in Thailand too! Pink Salt is a mixture of about 93.5% regular salt (kosher salt is good as it has no iodine) and 6.5% Sodium Nitrite. It is is mixed in this way assodium nitrite can be toxic and even lethal if ingested in overdose quantities. By pre-mixing it it is easier to work with and you are less likely to make a dangerous mistake. Likewise - it is dyed pink to make sure you don't use it accidentally as normal salt.
I made my own by buying 100% sodium nitrite from a chemical supply store and then mixing it in solution with water. SO - for one litre of water i added 65 grams of pure sodium nitrite.
I did not mix it with salt because I wanted to be sure that the nitrite was evenly dispersed. I am no chemist!
I use this as a 1:1 substitue by weight for pink salt in recipes. So if a recipe calls for 20grams of pink salt I use 20 grams of my nitrite/water mixture.
I make sure to label the bottle of water pretty dramaticaly, so no one drinks it by mistake!
It's not perfect perfect - but I have found it to be a pretty easy solution, and it does work well as a replacement for pink salt.
Feel free to email me if you want more instructions. This is pretty easy - but you want to make sure you know and understand what you are doing when you start to use these chemicals.
Hey John, my dry cured ham in a sack worked out really well, except I will never add crushed cloves to my cure mix again. It was a 6 lbs pork shoulder and it sat in cloth for 20 days and turned out really well. The meat was very moist, this always surprises me, as well as very tender. I am going to have to try different flavours, any tips, I am open to all suggestions. Thanks again.. Dean
hi John. never had any luck, getting sodium nitfite here in cha am or petchburi. nor pink salt. until I tried to get through to the people in the local chineenes shop. low and behold they had packets of preserving salt and guess what it was in pink packets????. so I got busy and made some bacon, one lot with added honey and herbs and one plain lot, both turned out well, just need to locate a slicer for my next batch. but am now making my own sausages as well, couldn't get on with the thai ones, all fat and noodles errrrr.
With all due respect, why use pink salt? You can get bacon at the supermarket that is full of that cr*p, that throws your blood pressure way out of whack, causes cancer, hyperactivity in children, etc, etc. The goal of making these things yourself is to produce foods that do not contain the chemicals that the evil scientists and lawyers put into foods.
Pink salt, or sel rose in French has only one purpose- it keeps the meat pink after it's been cooked. Why do hot dogs, ostensibly a meat product stay pink after cooking? Nitrites/ nitrates. Ditto processed sausage, bacon, etc etc. Society has been trained that prepared pork products stay pink after cooking , so if somebody makes a pork product that turns white after cooking, people think there is something wrong. Not wrong, very right. It means that you're not about to pollute your body with these dangerous chemicals. Go to a health food store and see the premium that is being charged for "uncured" bacon. All that means, is that it has no pink salt in it. Clearly, someone gets it. Buy some and experience the true sweetness of good pork that has not been adulterated with nasty chemicals.
Just use kosher (non-iodized, pure) salt, and something sweet (honey, cane sugar, etc). Beyond that, coat it with black pepper (like pancetta), or herbs, etc. for variations. Experiment with salt, time and temperature to see what effect it has on the finished product, then experiment with the flavorings. After a few months, you'll have gained a valuable skill that you will use to nourish yourself, family and friends for a lifetime, and can hopefully mentor others to follow in your footsteps. Putting Hormel et al out of business is a most noble goal.
Stay away from that pink salt cr*p, and you'll be fine.
Hi JA,
Pink salt is used to prevent botulism.
First of all, love your site. It's on my list of Favorites and I refer to it often as I smoke bacon for the restaurant I cook for (Wine Spectator Award-winning).
I usually get my pork bellies delivered in 10-12 pound bellies and I am wondering if I can cure it all, and then freeze half to smoke later? The smoker I have is a bit small...
Hi Kirsten,
I am impressed that you smoke bacon for your restaurant! Let us know where it is so anyone near can come try (Hopefully me!) What wood are you using?
You could freeze half prior to smoking without any difficulty as long as you were aware that the high fat content (and also the salt content) reduces the length of time that the bacon is freezable for.
a week or two well wrapped is no problem in the freezer, and once thawed and dried enough to develop the pellicule it will take smoke just fine.
Thanks for the question.
John
Hi John, it's been a while and I have a lot of success and a little failure since I last wrote. I have had 100% success when dry curing smaller hams in a bag over 10-14 days but about 50% on the larger ones, and by small I mean an 8lbs pork shoulder roast. I am itching to try my hand at making sausages and I was wondering if you had any sausage recipes you would be willing to share.
Just a short blurb on what I did with the hams. I would cover them in curing salt, 1tbs per 1 lbs, and a generous helping of real maple syrup. leave and flip in bag over 10-14 days depending on size. After time in fridge I would soak in cold water for 1 hour then leave in fridge for 24hrs to allow a sticky film to develop on outer surface,I can't remember what that is called. then I smoke for 4-5 hours using apple-wood and then finish off in my oven for roughly 4 hours at 190 degrees. I made the mistake of giving one of my hams away as a gift and now have received calls from people asking if I would consider making hams for sale. Still doing it for fun so I had to say no. I have also had tremendous success with salami, summer and Italian sausage which you cook in large "log" type rolls wrapped in tin foil and cooked in the oven under high heat then sliced for making sandwiches, and pastrami, which is now my family's favorite luncheon meat. Amazing what one try at home made bacon can start ;)
Fun reading guys
It's been my hobby for a year know
Everyone needs a copy of Charcutrie by Michael Ruhlman & Brian Polcyn
A tremendous resource and has all the answers the questions you been looking for.
Hi john/ hi Dean.
the bacon turned out great and I have made back rashers as well, I've got a leg of pork curing at the moment and will be finished in 14 days.
Here's a basic breakfast sausage recipe, you can add your own flavourings to taste.
1kg pork shoulder
200g pork fat
100g breadcrumbs,
150ml water
5g salt,
5g pepper
2metres of casings, skins. washed well
roughly mince the pork and fat together, mix with the ingreadiants and finely mince,
stuff the casings and link into length you require, leave to rest in fridge for 24 hours.
thats it hope you enjoy them.
laura
TOO HIGH A HEAT,TRY 170 degrees.
hiya john!
this is a fabulous post - thanks!!
i sent you an email, previously, asking about to how to bbq a slab of bacon (4 lb hunk of one) on a bbq - because i have to compete in a backyard iron chef housewarming/birthday party competion thingy evnet - and the ingredients are bacon and garlic.
but - since reading further in your blog - what better way to wow everyone than to cure and smoke my own bacon? my husband is a nearly pro weekend warrior at the bbq, and i'm not a novice in the kitchen - AND we have a smoker which makes it easier. CAN"T WAIT to do this.
if i do 2 - what better b-day/housewarming gift than a 4-5 lb hunk of our own, housemade bacon? the other one will be ours - which i can use a bit of to make a cassoulet, and then bbq the rest of it up whole at the part - taking along a serious skillet with which to make cracklins. maybe i better take my own propane burner too...
can i freeze the bacon after i smoke it? it might make a handier gift that way? or take it to them cold and suggest they freeze half of it?
any hints on a garlic rub that you like? i want to add pepper and garlic in the curing process, yes? if i rinse it to leach the salt - shall i then re-rub it with sweet/garlic/pepper before i smoke it?
smiles, jacquie
HI Jacquie
I think bring bacon you cured and smoked yourself will definitely giev you a leg-up on the competition at your Iron Chef event!
You can certainly freeze bacon for about a month or so with little loss in flavor.
Usually when doing a garlic pepper bacon, you'd reduce the sugar in the rub, maybe cut it by half.
The garlic and pepper will flavor the bacon as it cures, and that flavor will remain even after you rinse the bacon off. If you like the look and bite of peppercorns on your finished bacon, then you'd have to add some on again prior to smoking.
Have fun!
John
Has anyone tried making ethnic style bacons such as mexican style bacon. I know its not traditional but would be interesting to stuff it with jalepeno peppers or perhaps thai chili's during the curing process. I'm just finishing up my first attempt at homemade bacon and am just thinking of the possiblity's for my second round.
A good source for pink salts and basically any butcher supplies is this company. They are located in Huntington Beach, Ca and ship basically anywhere. Thanks for the great post!
a few years ago i used a hugh fearnley whitt...... recipe to cure a leg of ham Spanish style. left the leg smothered in salt in a wooden wine box, for i cant remember how long,but it was the reciped time length,removed it and enclosed it in a net washing bag and hung it out to dry for just over a year in my garage it resembled the fabulous spanish hams seen hanging in the hot spanish bars. shortly after it started to rot. so i threw it away
Hi i would to give it a shot however i dont know were to get the pink salt in the uk could you help thanks
Hi Chris,
I just did a quick search and found this site, http://www.sausagemaking.org/ they seem to be UK based and have all you need.
Best of luck,
John
Hi, guys. I can vouch for sausagemaking.org as I've bought skins and other items from them. Love the bacon curing recipe. Will have to try it. Cheers
Thanks very much scarytaff, for letting us know
Hi john i would like to know what is wrong with using iodized salt in preparing brine and must one use pink salt thanks
Hi Chris,
The Iodine in iodized salt can leave an aftertaste. It's not a huge deal, but you're better off avoiding it by using non iodized kosher salt.
Pink salt is a mixture of salt that contains a small amount of sodium nitrite. The sodium nitrite turns the meat pink (whereas otherwise your cooked bacon would be a grey color) and also protects against botulism.
How did they do it in the olden days, when there was no pink salt? Also, aren't nitrates and nitrates bad for you? If your going to go through this whole process of making it homemade, why not also make it 100 percent pure and healthy?
Hi E,
In the olden days they used saltpeter, which is sodium nitrate, and in the olden olden days...I don't know, they probably didn't use any nitrates at all. You can make great tasting bacon without pink salt, but you do run a small risk of botulism when doing so - ultimately nitrates and nitrites are added for food safety, although they also add that characteristic pink color to bacon as well.
Hi John,
I'm currently trying out both a maple bacon and brown sugar bacon in the fridge. However, I have no access to a smoker/bbq right now. Would you recommend a (natural) liquid smoke? (Bought some, just in case) and if so, how would you use it?
As well, FYI, I have had MUCH success curing salmon-skin on- with dill (2c salt, 2c sugar & 1/4 cup of good quality gin)--tremendous, and for sure my most asked for dish for family events.
Hi Jess,
Than salmon sounds great! I love home cured salmon.
I've never used liquid smoke, so I'm afraid I can't really comment from an informed point of view - although it seems to me that you might be better off without it.
Can I salt cure fresh pork for a ham and bacon that has been frozen?
Hi Jim,
Freezing the meat prior to curing it shouldn't present any problem at all.
Not sure if anyone mentioned this or not (I didn't have time to read every comment), but you can speed up the process of of dry curing the bacon by putting it in a vacuum tumbler. This can reduce the cure time from 10-14 days down to a couple of hours.
Pink salt is also known as Prague salt (read Michael Ruhlmans book Charcuterie for a good explanation of the two main types of curing salt), and you can order Prague salt (#1 or #2) online from a number of vendors that sell supplies for the home sausage maker.
I've never tried mixing my own as mentioned above, but that is an interesting idea. If ever I run out I might try it. I love being able to do everything myself when possible.
While I'm at it, I would highly recommend the book "Garde Manger" from the Culinary Institute of America. It was my favorite textbook in culinary school and it is a fantastic resource for recipes and techniques for bacon, sausage, ham, dressings, mayo, sauerkraut, etc. Pretty much everything you can possibly imagine from the "cold" side of the kitchen is in this book.
Hi John,
I'm looking forward to trying your bacon recipe, we make our own corn meat by pumping it with brine, which has Kwikurit in, is this the same thing as pink salt? And if so, do you use at the same rate?
Thanks
the previous post states that if you use a vacume tumbler
you cut your curing time down to hrs instad of days
so what would be the differenc between the tumbler and
a (food saver bag vacume seald). Thanks.
Hi Wendy,
I'm sorry, but I'm not familiar with Kwikurit. I did a little internet hunt, but couldn't track down the ingredient list. Can you see on the package what the percentage ingredients are? If it has roughly 6.5% sodium nitrite and the rest is regular salt - then it is the same as pink salt and can be used interchangeably.
Hi Marschell,
I have never tried vacuum sealing meat in a cure to accelerate the curing time - nor have I heard of this method, so I cannot offer any insights into its effectiveness.
Hi John,
I found that Kwikurit has 10.7% nitrite and 89.3% normal salt, so I'll have to figure it out and cut it back a bit.
When U say for a week? ..is that 5 days or 7 days? My friend says 5 days if your working and 7 days if your not working. Which is it?
Wendy, thanks for posting the composition of Kwikurit - I am sure that this will help someone in a similar position down the road!
Stumpy, when I say a week I mean a full 7 days.
Best of luck,
John
Hi there, great looking recipe! I would love to try this without the pink salt, I was thinking of either exclusively kosher or sea salt non-iodized of course? Someone mentioned the risk of botulism but is this really going to be a risk if the bacon is smoked and then cooked? We like our bacon crisp, so wouldn't that eliminate the problem? We have tons of apple wood here on our farm and a good smoker so we may try the maple mixed with apple wood smoking - I hope it will turn out well
Hi Carolyn,
Unfortunately, botulism isn't always destroyed by cooking - which is why it's such a dangerous thing. Here's a link to the U Ga which explains the situation on botulism better than I can http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/publications/nchfp/lit_re
Hi John
You say that in the old days they used saltpeter. Batteling with pink salt, why can I not still use saltpeter? I've never tried anything like this before. I have a couple of pigs on a small holding, and can't wait to try this.
Regards
Colin
I have gotten 3 pigs butchered in the past year. All of the meat has been quite good except the bacon which has been cured. the first couple of days it's great, then it develepes a strong funny after taste. The bacon is frozen at the processing plant. Any ideas what this could be and what can I do to eliminate this taste?
Hi Colin - I'd suspect that you could use saltpeter, but I don't know how much you'd need to use. The pink salt is pretty cheap - might be worth picking some up to make sure you get a good (and safe) end result?
Sharyn - is the meat frozen for long before you cure it? Because of its high fat content meat from the belly is a little more prone to going rancid and shouldn't be stored for too long.
WOW, thanks for answering so quick. Will go to the chemist tomorrow and see if I can get hold of some sodium nitrite so that I can make up my own pink salt, no one around here can supply me me with pink salt.
Thanks again.
Colin.
Colin - I had to do likewise, as no one near me sells pink salt either. I found that mixing sodium nitrite in water to make a 6% solution worked pretty well. I was worried about mixing it with salt in case of uneven distribution.
Colin - I had to do likewise, as no one near me sells pink salt either. I found that mixing sodium nitrite in water to make a 6% solution worked pretty well. I was worried about mixing it with salt in case of uneven distribution.
You know they did not have "pink Salt" back in the day and the bacon turned out just fine.
Why use nasty preservatives that turn to cancer causing agents in the fresh meat? I never use or eat anything that has preservatives and it always turns out just fine.
Hi M,
You are right - nitrites are somewhat controversial and you can make bacon without them. I guess it's a personal choice issue about what types of risk you are comfortable with.
What's the point of using so much salt when you're just going to wash it off after a week? Why can't you just slice the bacon and sprinkle the right amount of seasonings on it, and then put it in the ziploc bags in the fridge for a few days to absorb the spices?
John D,
Excellent Thread - I am about to try all of it! I have battled with the availability of Sodium Nitrite in Thailand for some time. At last I think I cracked it. Try your local market and ask for:
in Thai we call “Din Pra siw – ?????????”
I haven't found it yet, but off to CM at the weekend to have a look.
Best
Ian
John D - sorry the Thai Language has defaulted to ????????? If you have email I can send you the text in Thai.
You are truly a master chef. Wonderful Hub once again! You never let me down. Never knew - makes sense. What a wonderful idea. And your info on the salt is really helpful too.
Guest - it is the salt that transforms the fresh meat into cured bacon, and so it is a necessary inrgedient in the process.
Ian in Thai - that's interesting, I'll have to get a translation for that and look into it. I have bought pure lab grade sodium nitrite at a chemical supply store here in CM and then diluted this to a 6.5% solution for my bacon making. If you're coming into Chiang Mai, stop by the Salsa Kitchen restaurant and I'll give you some of what i've got.
I'm interested in this recipe for my toddler who loves bacon can not have any nitrates or nitrites.
Can pickling salt be substituted for pink salt safely?
I saw a recipe for curing bacon using pickling salt but just not sure about it. Has anyone tried this successfully?
Thank you!
Thank you for this recipe. This is exactly what I have been looking for. I will be trying this recipe with honey. However, I'm also wanting to make this without the pink salt because I don't want to add artificial chemical preservatives into my homemade food. So...if anybody out there has made this recipe w/out pink salt I would love to hear about how it turned out.
Thank you!
You can certainly make bacon without adding nitrites, but if you do the bacon will not turn pink when cooked and you run a small risk of botulism.
Pickling salt is similar to kosher salt, so it's a reasonable choice for making bacon, but it won't do anything differently from kosher salt - it won't do what nitrites do.
Thank you John for the response & recipe.
We are now on our 3rd batch.
It has turned out really well. My toddler loves it.
We will be experimenting with smoking it soon I hope.
You have truly inspired us with your recipe!
I think when they say "pink salt" that they actually mean Himalayan crystal salt. It's the best and completely natural (ancient)! They now sell it at Trader Joe's with a built-in grinder or you can buy it on the internet.
Thanks for posting this recipe. My daughter is on the SCDiet and loves bacon, so this is something fun and easy to make on a rainy afternoon!
Tina - thanks very much for letting my know and I'm so glad to hear you;re enjoying your homemade bacon!
Kimberly K. When i refer to pink salt I am referring to salt which contains 6.75% sodium nitrite and which has been dyed pink to prevent accidental ingestion.
This is so Cool I did the bacon All I can say is WOW it's the Best I will never buy store bacon again. The hardest part was finding a pork belly in southern california after that it was a breeze.I Smoked it and its So Good. All I can say is Thank you
Tom, thanks very much for posting to let me know - I love a bacon success story!
John how are you? I am great thank you.
What is the difference to pink salt and white salt? I am want to make my own bacon but what the different salt?
I like backfat and pig paws smoked with rose petals.
The firsttime I made homemade bacon I learned a valuable lesson and that's to rinse the cure off really well.
It tasted a little on the salty side but turned very dark, almost black when I fried it up because the sugar from the maple syrup was still in the meat. I still ate it :] My next project will be some buckboard bacon.
Mike
Marty - pink salt is salt which has a small amount of sodium nitrite mixed in. This salt protects against botulism and will turn bacon pink after cooking
Mike - I find that when I make any kind of sweeter homemade bacon I have to be pretty careful when frying it up - easy to burn - but the taste is worth the extra attention needed at cooking time
I'm trying the above recipe for making bacon but have a few questions. First I accidentally used more of the pink salt than it calls for above, so is that a problem and second, does the thickness of the pork belly have any effect on the curing time. The pork belly I got is much thinner than I expected, around 1/2" thick. I've found a better source with thicker bellies but want to see how this one comes out first. It's been curing for going on 5 days now. Thanks!
read the book foxfire. it tells how people in the mountians of the old south cured pork. very good info.
Hi Scott,
There is a pretty good margin of safety in the recipe above, so adding in a little bit more probably won't make much difference (depending on how much!)
By my calculation, to kill a 50kg human, the lowest possible amount of pure sodium nitrite needed would be about 3.5 grams (check my math here before you do anything crazy!!!)(http://msds.chem.ox.ac.uk/SO/sodium_nitrite.html)
Since pink salt is at about 7% concentration, this equates to about 50 grams of pink salt consumed presumably in a single sitting.
The recipe above calls for 5 grams and makes 5 lbs of bacon, which would probably make about 20 servings, conservatively. So in theory, you'd have to eat about 200 servings of bacon in a sitting as prepared above to have anything to worry about if following the recipe as directed.
Disclaimer****
In any case, for peace of mind, and for safety, I really think anyone who wants to do curing meat should take 10 or 20 minutes to read up on the chemicals used, and understand how to use them safely - understand for yourself and understand that I am hardly a doctor, scientist or chemist...just a cook who likes bacon!!!
Regarding the thickness issue:
Yes, the thickness of the slab makes all the difference - and as thin as your was I'd bet it would be done in 2 or 3 days. To check, slice a little chunk out of the center of the bacon, and if it's pink throughout after frying it up, then the cure has penetrated completely. If it's still gray in the center, then it still needs more time.
Hi from thailand-on smokeing-i have successfully used longon,lynchi,lamyai,soursop(kanoon/lian)and avacado in the smoker.These work well on bacon-ham and sausage as well as on the plaboock(thai catfish)
Going to try gop tah wood(-with the small red fruit that the birds here love) next-will tell you how that turns out.Its real sweet wood.
I was wondering if i could forgo the pink salt as long as the slab is eaten within a day or two of taking it out of the dry cure
Hey Bbud - thanks a lot for the info!
David, here's a link to the info that you need on the time it takes for botulism toxin to develop - it depends primarily on storage temp. http://www.vitsab.info/Skinner%20and%20Larkin.pdf
Here is a comment from an expert on sausage and meats Rytek Kutas "if it can't be cured don't smoke it". Cure means using pink salt or Instacure or sodium nitrate and or sodium nitrite.
Before you kill yourself and or your loved ones making bacon, ham, or sausage at home I suggest reading "Great Sausage Recipes and Meat Curing" by Rytek Kutas.
Your ancestors used salt peter (not a good idea anymore) or salt contaminated with a nitrate that they did not know about. My father, grandfather...back at least 11 generations, about year 1600, used salt peter, for sure. They were farmers and knew what they were doing when they made smoked meats.
Uncured bacon in your supermarket is a LIE. Check the label and you will see it contains celery which may have more nitrites in it than pink salt! Bacon is NOT bacon until it is cured.
The use of the word CURE means that nitric oxide was generated by some means and just salt dosen't cut it unless its dirty salt with the right impurities in it.
When the meat cures almost all or all of the nitrates are used up in the process.
Without the NATURAL nitrates in our stomachs we would likely die of botulism poisoning made by our own stomachs.
Back to the subject Dry curing bacon. I would like to know what kind of container is used today. Is it warped and sealed in a plastic baggie or must it be open to the air in the frig during the 7 to 10 day curing process (1 day per pound)? Do you wash the bacon and then let it set for another 2 days for salt equalization?
Bacon must be very dry for smoke to adhere properly. How do you dry it? I don't have a temp controlled smokehouse to dry it at 128 degrees F which is the specified way to dry it. Is a low temp dehydrator to hot?
Smoking- anyone used liquid smoke in a smokehouse? I mean hanging the bacon like normal but instead of wood chips spray liquid smoke on the hot plate (not the bacon) to make very pure and instant smoke. I tried it without the bacon and it makes smoke very well, but how much and how long to smoke the bacon?
My recipe is to use Morton sugar cure (similar to instacure 1 and 2 with sugar and salt mixed) and 2 cups of honey. Place in sealed bag for 1 day per pound at 35 to 40 degrees F, remove and rinse slab, return to frig for 2 days. Is bacon now. So how to add smoke? I guess the simple way is to dry and spray with liquid smoke, but I like "natural" actual smoke better.
I use Mortons tenderquick and brown sugar at 1Tbl each per pound - seal in 2 Gallon Ziplock bags - turn over and massage every day (or every other day)...leave liquid that accumulates in the bag until the end... 7-10 days for 5-6lb slabs. Remove from bag, rinse...ice water soak for 30 minutes - bag in fridge, not wrapped...open air for 24 hours so pellicle can form. Now..your question - COLD smoke it for 10 hours using the A-MAZE-N-SMOKER. Sweet little gadget that's like a little mesh maze (minutes 6x8 inches) - fill with their sawdust and light it in your grill, under a cardboard box - whatever... won't generate heat so you get a cold smoke for roughly 10 hours. Now that's some bacon that will ruin you ever buying it at the store again!! The little maze thing - I'd recommend the package that comes with a pound of sawdust (I ordered an additional 5 lbs of a different flavor) - and you get a butane torch to light it. You love smoking cheese, nuts, etc as well. Ohh and cold smoking salmon!!! 8 hours with oak, 8 with apple then 8 with cherry, perfection!
Thanks very much for the contributions everyone - it's awesome to hear what others are doing on the quest for insanely good home cured bacon. I myself just ran out and am waiting for my next pig to get delivered so I can make up a new batch. This last batch I made was the first I'd ever done using an organic heirloom breed of pig (moishan/duroc breed) and I have to say that the extra taste form the pork really shines in the finished bacon.
pinksalt,prussian-salt and cure-salt is all the same. not good for you. ive been preserving meat for decades now and never lost a morsel of meat by strictly using kosher salt. any and all salts will prevent botchulism if they are used properly,who cares if your bacon isnt pink? why would you add chemicals to an organicly raised hog,sounds kind of dumb to me.
pink salt vs salt.
Pink salt, the nitrates that cure meat, dissipate almost completely and do not have any known adverse health effects on humans when used properly.
On the other hand, Salt, a chemical, has serious health effects, especially on people with heart conditions. In addition botulism is fatal, pink salt is not. I suspect that salt is a much more serious health consideration than any cure. Yet I love salt and continue to consume vast quantities of it.
I do not like carrying on but if any amateur bacon maker reads your response and thinks he can safely make and smoke bacon without a "cure" it is dangerously misleading. Any newbies please take the time to read the referenced book and look up the current USDA recommendations on making and smoking bacon and decide for yourself. Being fully informed is necessary when dealing with any processed food product.
pink salt vs salt.
Pink salt, the nitrates that cure meat, dissipate almost completely and do not have any known adverse health effects on humans when used properly.
On the other hand, Salt, a chemical, has serious health effects, especially on people with heart conditions. In addition botulism is fatal, pink salt is not. I suspect that salt is a much more serious health consideration than any cure. Yet I love salt and continue to consume vast quantities of it.
I do not like carrying on but if any amateur bacon maker reads your response and thinks he can safely make and smoke bacon without a "cure" it is dangerously misleading. Any newbies please take the time to read the referenced book and look up the current USDA recommendations on making and smoking bacon and decide for yourself. Being fully informed is necessary when dealing with any processed food product.
Just finished off my first bacon using the recipe provided here. It works great! Just had my first slab of it an was amazed how good it tastes. Now I'm going to smoke some of it to give that a try.
In reply to M and for the rest of you, the following is a quote from Harold Webster's book "The Venison Sausage Cookbook", " The ancient Greeks & Romans used only salt to preserve their meat. But the Natural salt they used was dug out of the salt mines at Salinae, Italy and contained impurities. One of these impurities was sodium nitrate." So the modern use of "pink salt" or "prague powder" mentioned above is not!!! a new thing and certainly not just modern science. AS an ex chef who has also had the unfortunate experience of having had food poisoning(not from my own cooking but from a well know fast food outlet), i would not want to risk making bacon or ham or salami without it. I'm about to make some salamis from our own pork, some wild venison and some Thar(himilayan mountain goat) and i'll be using prague powder. When our next lot of piggies are ready i'm going to give the bacon cure from this site a go as it sounds great. The only thing i have not yet found is a recipe for Rookwurst sausage which i love. I'll post a comment on the salami soon, and then the bacon in about 4 months.
Great site!!
Chris
Hi John,
I am also in Thailand in Phuket, any suggestion where to get Sodium Nitrate in Phuket?
Great Site
Barry
Hey DocBarrington,
I get my sodium nitrite at a chemical supply store here in Chiang Mai and I'd bet you'd find the same thing in a chemical store down on the island. Be careful though, what you get is likely going to be 100% pure, and needs to be diluted down to 6%ish to work safely.
This is a great site. I made a Swedish ham for Christmas in 2001. The recipe I had always used calls for salt peter, and it was so tough to find back then because every drug store I called thought I wanted to make a bomb. I finally found a big jar for $1.98. I only use 3 TBL at a time. Do you know if loses potency after a while? This site has me excited to make bacon, Canadian bacon, and smoke everything in site also. I'm thinking next time I go fishing I will catch more than I want for dinner so I can smoke some also. I love smoked salmon, so trout or walleye will be great too, correct?
I keep seeing salt peter here refered to as sodium nitrate, but isn't it potassium nitrate?
Okay, I looked it up. One site says that sodium nitrate and nitrite have mostly replaced potassium nitrate (saltpeter) because they are more reliable in preventing bacterial infections, but that potassium nitrate is still widely used in making charcuterie and corned beef. I have only used salt peter/petre to make my Swedish hams. The recipe calls for letting the pork sit in the brine for 6 weeks. I couldn't afford a crock, but found a big heavy glass jar with a lid. I have found that 4 weeks results in a wonderful roast that is a cross between a pork roast and a ham. really spectacularly delicious. Nothing like it that you can buy. It's like the difference between a store-bought and tree-ripened nectarine. The full 6 weeks is more ham-like, still incredibly good, so much better than store bought ham, which I like, too!
Hi John,
thanks for the quick reply.
I have read that "Din Prasiw" is the Thai name for the (Sodium) Nitrate/Nitrite family. (?????????).
It an be found in local markets and is used for making Naem. (The many different versions of the red fermented pork you find in Plastic Sausage Skins). Apparently you have to experiment with it because you may never really be sure whether it is nitrate (good for dry curing) or nitrite (submersion curing).
Do you have any information on "Din Prasiw", can it actually be either Nitrate or Nitrite?
Barry
Hi Berry - the Swedish ham sounds interesting. I've never used salt peter, but that wet cure curing time sure is lengthy! Different stuff!
DocBarrington - The story I got years ago when I was searching food markets for nitrites was that the Thai govt capped the maximum allowable sodium nitrite percentage at like 1% or so - so you'd have to use more...but you might also not know how much is really in there, which is kind of scary and so you wouldn't really know how much more to use.
Because of this, i decided to make my own, which is why I checked out some laboratory supply stores, and it seems pretty easy to find Sodium nitrite here, although it is 100% pure and you need to be careful.
I put mine in solution, so 6.75% sodium nitrite and 93.25% water, and then use this as an equivalent to pink salt in recipes - so if a recipe calls for 2 Tsps of pink salt, I use 2 tsps of my diluted in water mixture of sodium nitrite.
Hi John,
My Thai wife found some Din Prasiw for me. She was cautioned by the guy who served her and he did mention making explosives, and too much is poison. The problem is as with most Thai packets there is no information on the purity, or a contact number for the company who made it to ask the question. The Packet does have a manufacturers name on the label and Din Prasiw both in Thai Script. My wife told me the nane of the company but I cannot decipher it from what she said and she cannot write it in English so stale mate again.
The crystals in the packet are quite large and look like big salt crystals, when you say the Thai Govt capped the maximum allowable percentage at 1% do you mean that Din Prasiw is like weak Pink Salt and might have only a 1% Sodium Nitrite 99% Salt mix. My Wife said it is 100% and not mix.
So I have made up some Pink salt using the recommended percentages 6.5%(in Grams)to 93.5%(in Grams) and ground them together in a large mortar until they were throughly mixed, and used 1 teaspoon to 5lb of Pork Belly, and it is in the fridge cureing. well we will soon know if it worked.
Hi DocBarrington,
Well, it will be interesting to find out what you end up with. I am not familiar with din prasiw, so I can't really comment on the likely percentage of nitrite within. When I was looking for curing salts a few years back, the guy who was selling them told me he couldn't make them at stronger than about 1% due to regulations - but really - who knows?!?
In any case, assuming that it's 100% first before you're sure otherwise sounds like the safest course of action. Please let me know how you make out with it!
John
Hi John,
well the Dimprasiw seems to have been what I was told it was, I have tried two different styles of Cure, one was Honey, the other Honey and Dark Brown Sugar, the latter was left for three days longer than the Honey only one as we had to drive to Si Sa Ket from Phuket, I put both packets of curing meat in a cooler surrounded by plastic bottles full of frozen water for the trip, the Honey Cure was the first to be opened and was a hit with the Family in Si Sa Ket. The Honey/Sugar cure was the next to be opened, slightly more salt content and a bit sweeter than the first. The Family and I all agreed it was a better product so I made a second batch using the left over cure from both bags which I had frozen in case they wanted me to make some more Bacon while I was there, it worked a treat as well gave it 8 days, 1.5kg per sitting was devoured over two days 3kg was gone.
Now I am back in Phuket I have put another 3kg in the Cure and will construct a smoker to try it out after being properly smoked. While in Si Sa Ket we cooked it on a BBQ over a Charcoal fire, it was carefully cooked and watched all the time lifting it immediately if it flared up, and the Charcoal was dampered off with ash to stop the Flaring, the end result was a slightly smoked and pleasently sweet Pink coloured Bacon with a go back for moore taste.
I brought back some bits of old Teak wood to try for the smoker have you tried Teak or any local Hard Wood for the wood chips?
speak soon
Barry
Just put my first 2.5 kg bag in the fridge.. got the salt from the butcher - he called it 'preserving salt' and said the process would take 2 to three days - I think he hangs his in his cool room. But the slab of belly is just about 2" thick so I will check after 3 days.
Many thanks for your site! Best regards, kumar
We dry cured using normal salt and hickory smoked our bacon. It was awesome. Eaten it twice now and havent been poisoned.
As for pink salt - I can get it but I can't use it - as if I did, I wouldn't be able to eat my bacon as I am allergic to sodium nitrate. I would be quite happy to eat normal bacon if I could be it is all preserved with sodium nitrate or nitrites.
I have used your receipe 3 times now and Im hooked! I did try one modification though. I found wood chips made from oak whiskey barrels. Wow! Quite a bit smokier and the flavor is amazing!
Hi, I have enjoyed reading your recipes and all of the comments. I have a free range Berkshire hog in my freezer and am currently curing a ham per your recipe. Unfortunately when they processed the hog they sliced the fresh belly. I just took 1.6lbs of the sliced belly and tied it with kitchen string, then rubbed on 3/8tsp of #1, 1/4c kosher salt (didn't mean to put that much on) and 1/3c of brown sugar. It is now sitting in my fridge in a plastic bag. So I'm curious, has anyone tried to cure sliced belly? I'm not sure how long to cure it since the penetration should be much faster with sliced meat. And this is the first time I've done a dry cure and using such a tiny bit of the #1 was difficult to rub evenly over the meat, how will this effect the cure?
Also, I have a beautiful hog jowl in the freezer. Any suggestions?? Now that I have read that the fattier meats might go rancid I'd like to do something with it soon.
is 1 tsp of pink salt enough?
hi john, going to try & do bacon. have pork belly thick end 1,06 kg which was wet cured at the butchers, I have been told it needs to be cooked before I smoke it is this right, How long do I smoke it,regards Val
Mr. Lee,
I enjoyed reading about the curing and smoking process. I am going to try to find a pork belly this week. That shouldn't be too difficult here in Atlanta. My question is what is the best manner in which to cut the slab into uniform strips? I was viewing the forum on my phone, so I may have missed it.
Finely found - I would do jowl in the same way as you would do bacon. When I get whole pigs I sometimes even cure and smoke fatback in this same way.
I agree that the cure for sliced bacon should be much faster. I wouldn't worry too much about even cure penetration, as long as you make sure to turn the meat over regularly to keep it all in variable contact with the juices that accumulate.
Chris - yes, the 1 tsp of pink salt is enough. You don't need much.
Val - if you are going to hot smoke it then you do not need to worry about cooking it prior to smoking. Just smoke it at a low cooking temp (225f or so) until it reaches an acceptable internal temperature - like 155 or so. Usually a couple of hours in total.
Rich,
The best method is with a meat slicer, but if you don't have one (as i don't) then the best thing to do is to get the cured belly very cold, almost frozen, and then just have at it with a very sharp chef's knife, cutting slices as thinly as you would like. It's a but of work but you can get a pretty nice result doing it by hand.
Best of luck!
If I have bacon in +/- 1 lb. packages (we had a pig slaughtered and that's how the processor gave it to us). Is the a formula I can use to change the nitrate/salt amount?
Since these are separate packages, I'd need to divvy up to ingredients to rub each slab right? Then put them all in the same container after that?
Everyone talks about nitrate salt being dangerous if too much is used then no one gives amounts for various poundage. Sometimes there is just too much info on the web and it definitely gets VERY confusing; especially the 'scare tactics' now a days.
Goodness, how did our forefathers ever manage to stay alive.
Hi Sherrie,
Don't worry about it! Just put 5 of your packages together to make a 5lb total amount and use the recipe as it's listed above.
Just rub ingredients as evenly as you can on the individual pieces, and then put them in a big container or ziplock bag all together to cure. A lot of water will come out of the pork and this liquid will form a curing liquid that's going to really move around between the individual pieces as you flip the bacon over each day. This will make everything cure evenly, so you don't have to worry about that.
Or, just do 1 pound and divide the recipe by 5.
The total curing time might be a little bit faster though, as curing time is dictated mostly by how far the cure has to penetrate at the thickest point. Maybe check to see if it's ready to go a day or two sooner.
be careful but don't be scared.
Have fun!
Hi, We have been so disappointed with the quality of the bacon in recent years- its tough and tasteless and so we cant wait to try your bacon and ham recipes- they sound great ( and the sausage recipe from one of the readers) The comments are so interesting- just love this site!Thank you.Will let you know how they turn out.
Well, this is interesting. Something that I have been wanting to do. We will be butchering two pigs tomorrow and so I will have to give this a go. What I do have that I might try on a 5lb piece is hickory smoke salt. I think that I will substitute 1/2 regular salt and hickory smoke. Here goes nothing!
Very Interesting how to make bacon.. i am do own bacan..i use to make i make all salt n everything inside the water..mix it and put my pork in that salty water for 7 day...
pasrami can be made the same way by using beef or venison and adding some pepper and garlic powder to the rub. Sodium nitrite is also known as saltpeter.
Thanks John, I like to add some black pepper and brown sugar to the cure. Can't get good bacon here either and its over 10 bucks a lb. Have some hogs getting fat and can't wait to try this recipe.
i use this same process and make bacon all the time. i have a little over 100 lbs curing now. you can use mortons tenderqiuk and it has the salt and Sodium nitrite mixed already. then you just add sugar and your other spices
I read the ham and bacon with interest and are about to start playing with this, the smoking you talk about is it useing a hot smoker which is what I have just brought
i was wondering if there are just seasoning to rub on your pork belly and would you use a hickory smoke liquid and rub all over if you want hickory smoke flavor?
Hi,
I am from Kenya and wanted to try making my own bacon, the problem is that i can not find Pink salt and would therefore like to make my own. I have found several recipes that say different things, i.e One says to use sodium Nitrate for dry curing and other say to use Sodium Nitrite for wet curing, what is the difference, and how do they affect the taste and look of the bacon.
found your site because I am searching for information on 'equalising' - still don't know what that means.
Anyway, our second ham leg has been curing in regular salt and sugar and is about to be cooked. Not a hint of nitrite, nitrate in it and this is the first time I've heard of pink salt. I went in search of saltpetre but our butcher (UK) said don't bother and confirmed the salt+brown sugar +herbs recipe my friend shared with us.
The first ham stayed mostly pink after cooking - but I did notice it browned off near the bone after it was exposed to the air following carving. This was disappointing to my 8 year who is inevitably expecting supermarket ham. Anyway we are still alive after the first ham so wish me luck with second! wish I'd read all this before I did the soaking.
I shall give some of the pork belly the maple treatment you suggest and turn it into bacon. Nice idea, thanks.
Angela,
Sodium nitrate is used for long dry cures, like for dry cured salami or for dry cured hams. the nitrate converts slowly to nitrite over the weeks and months of curing. For shorter curing periods, like for making a brine cured ham or for making bacon, you would want to go with sodium nitrite (6.75% sodium nitrite and 93.25% salt)
I am pretty cure most commercial bacon used smoke flavorings instead of actual smoke - but I haven't gone that route myself so can't comment on it too much.
Thank You John
eh i love bacon too
mark c 3 years ago
great info