Bacon

[6Tricia]

I used to make my own sausages but due to arthritis and recent hand surgery can no longer do so. Reading this thread made me want to have a go at making bacon though, so I've been net surfing this afternoon. Lots of information and it seems like something I could manage quite easily so I've ordered a small quantity of Prague #1 powder and 100g Hickory smoked bacon cure on Amazon, sufficient for more than my needs really, but now I have to source some good pork belly! If anyone is interested I shall report back in due course!

Tricia

[Dicky99]

I've made my own cured meats many times, a few years back I was curing a batch every few months but I've fallen out of practice and not cured for several years. I regularly meet up with a chum and we spend an afternoon doing batches of sausages.
Pork is fairly easy to cure, only takes about week or so and is more about waiting for water to pull out and the cure to permeate into the meat rather than being labour intensive. What is more difficult is to cut the slices as thin as most butchers and supermarkets sell.
When I was curing regularly I did consider buying a meat slicer but the prices were far too much to justify and there's nothing wrong with a thicker cut in a sarnie anyhow.

This mirrors my one and only experience of curing bacon at home. It tasted lovely but I like my bacon really thin and the best I could manage was something akin to a thin pork chop

[6Tricia]

Not a problem for me - I have an electric slicer which I need for slicing my sourdough bread, chorizo, home cooked ham, etc. In fact, it's one of my most used kitchen gadgets.

Tricia

[didds]

I'm quite taken with the idea of making my own, but that turns it into a different food product. The convenience of taking some slices of bacon out of the fridge and frying them is why I buy it.
.

But once youve passed the lead in time it is then just a conveyor belt of curing new while eating old.

[didds]

But isn't that the problem I'm moaning about? "The moisture" you mention shouldn't be there in the first place! It gets injected artificially in a factory somewhere specifically to make tiny bacon much bigger in the packet, for resale to mugs like me.

Its also cos its not really "cured" by this injection method/thing. It provides all the flavour of curing, and the various preservatives in it keeps the bacon better and to all intents and purposes for eating provides a suitable experience - notwithstandins the shrinkage!

[bungeejumper]

I have an electric slicer which I need for slicing my sourdough bread, chorizo, home cooked ham, etc. In fact, it's one of my most used kitchen gadgets.

Which reminds me of the butcher who stepped backwards into the bacon slicer and got a little behind with the orders.

I'll get me coat.

BJ

[UncleEbenezer]

I have an electric slicer which I need for slicing my sourdough bread, chorizo, home cooked ham, etc. In fact, it's one of my most used kitchen gadgets.

Which reminds me of the butcher who stepped backwards into the bacon slicer and got a little behind with the orders.

Was that Mr Lovett, whose widow became famous for her pies?

[AsleepInYorkshire]

Mike,

I love a bacon butty. Your opening post piqued my interest.

I didn’t have any idea why bacon shrinks so much, except to say I knew it had some water in it. This information may be of interest.

Nitrites in bacon: MPs and scientists call for UK ban over cancer fears
Chemical used to cure bacon linked to development of bowel, breast and prostate cancers

Nitrite-free bacon tastes and looks better, so why do we ignore the risks?
The UK only has one manufacturer that produces nitrite-free bacon and its lone competitor vanished without trace.

There’s just one producer of nitrite-free bacon, Finnebrogue of Northern Ireland, supplying British supermarkets.

Finne Brogue 6 Unsmoked Naked Back Bacon 200G

Nitrite/nitrate free bacon still comes with added water though.

It’s not strictly true that there’s only one supplier of naked bacon in the UK

9 Sources of Nitrite/Nitrate Free Bacon
This site also explains a little more about nitrates and nitrites.

Organic Bacon – Coombe Farm

AiY(D)

[MrFoolish]

Bacon is bad for you because it's high in nitrates.

Beetroot is good for you because it's high in nitrates.

[bungeejumper]

As a freelance, my nitrate was especially beneficial. And as for my Saturday nitrate...

BJ

[stevensfo]

Bacon is bad for you because it's high in nitrates.

Beetroot is good for you because it's high in nitrates.

Bacon is almost pure protein, so contains a lot of amino acids. The nitrates react with the amino acids and are converted into nitrosamines, which are carcinogenic.

Beetroot is mainly carbs. The nitrates are converted into their oxidised form which may have beneficial effects.

Steve

PS This was common knowledge when I studied Biochem in 1984!