Curing of Bacon is a traditional British recipe, based on Robert Kemp Philp's recipe of 1859, for classic methods of curing bacon by either brining or smoking. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic British version of: Curing of Bacon.
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This is a classic recipe for a Victorian version of Curing of Bacon that's derived from Robert Kemp Philp's 1859 volume, The Dictionary of Daily Wants. Below you will find both the recipe in its original form and a modern redaction.
Original Recipe
BACON, CURING OF.—The hogs intended for bacon are kept till full grown, and are usually killed between the months of October and March. The next process after killing is to remove the hair, which is better done by singeing than scalding, and is performed in the following manner:—Cover the hog thinly with straw, and set light to it in the direction of the wind. As the straw becomes burnt off, renew it; but, at the same time, carefully avoid scorching the skin. After both sides have been thus treated, scrape the whole body clean, but without using water. The cutting up should be accomplished by first taking off the heat, then removing the back-bone, and cutting across the ribs; the two sides, or flitches, intended for salting will then be flat; after these have been well dried with a cloth, rub the inside of each flitch with salt, and place them one above each other in a tray having a trench round it to drain off the brine. Change the salt every four days, and reverse the order of the flitches, putting the one that has been at the bottom on the top, putting that again at the bottom, and so on. The interval of salting is about six weeks for a hog of twelve score. In this process common salt only is generally used, but a finer flavour is imparted by a mixture in these proportions:— Salt, 4lb.; sugar, coarse and brown, 1lb.; saltpetre, 1/2 lb. Smoking is a preferable method of cure to drying, and is thus effected:— Rub the flitches thoroughly with bran, and then hang them in the chimney in such a position that they shall be protected from the rain and not injured by the fire. With a constant and perfect heat, a month's smoke will be sufficient. The smoke for this operation must either be of wood or peat; the quality of the wood influences the flavour of the bacon, oak and beech being the most preferable. Bacon may be preserved in wood ashes, or in very dry sand.
Modern Redaction
Bacon is prepared from several different cuts of meat. In the United States, it is almost always prepared from pork belly. Elsewhere, it is more often made from side and back cuts, and bacon made from bellies is referred to as "streaky", "fatty", or "American style". The side cut has more meat and less fat than the belly. Bacon may be prepared from either of two distinct back cuts: fatback, which is almost pure fat, and pork loin, which is very lean. Bacon-cured pork loin is known as back bacon. The method given below is for a 'dry cure' ie rubbing the meat with salt to extract the liquid and impregnate with brine.
Ingredients:
either two pork bellies, two pork loins or two fore-ribs (slice the meat from the bones to create cuts known as 'flitches')
1kg salt
115g brown sugar
55g saltpetre
Method:
Prepare the salting mix by combining the salt, brown sugar and saltpetre (if desired you can also add crushed black pepper, ground cinnamon, nutmeg and mace to flavour).
Wash and thoroughly dry the meat then rub liberally with the salt mixture. Stack in a tray that has a trench around it to drain the brine and set aside in a cool place. Every four days change the salt pack on the meat and reverse the order of the cuts, so that the one that was on the bottom is now on top.
You will need to continue this process for at least four weeks (five is safer), changing the salt pack every four days. By the end of this time your bacon will be dry cured.
Bacon cuts can also be smoked on a barbecue (but it must have a lid, kettle barbecues are ideal). Heat your barbecue coals until hot, add a layer of sawdust (preferably oak, beech, apple or hickory wood) add the meat on the rack, close the lid and smoke for 18 hours or more. Add more sawdust and top-up the hot coals as needed.
