Dry-Cured Back Bacon

Making your own dry-cured back bacon is much easier than you probably think. And it's so much better than the junk you get from supermarkets, believe me.

First of all, you'll need some curing salts - you can buy this online. The one I used was a commercial mix that was 99% salt and 1% sodium nitrate. If you use Instacure™ or Prague Powder #1, the quantity needed is much less than my commercial mix - always follow the guidance from your supplier.  And then you'll need some pork loin. If there is any skin or rind on the meat, that will have to be removed. If you want to make streaky bacon, use deboned pork belly instead of loin.

Now you need to calculate how much curing salt you need. The stuff I have says 50g salts per kilo of meat. So for 1.5 kilos, I need 75g. 

All you need to do is rub the salts in all over the pork. Work it into any nooks and crannies, and don't forget the ends. To calculate the curing time, measure the thickness of the meat at its thickest part. You need to allow 1 day for every 13mm (half an inch) of thickness, plus 2 days extra. For my piece, that works out at 7 days. Place the meat into a freezer bag and pop it into the bottom of your fridge. Turn it once a day.

When the curing time is up, remove the bacon from the bag and rinse it thoroughly in cold water. Then let it soak in cold water for a couple of hours. Finally, dry it on kitchen paper, and then hang it up to dry completely for a couple of hours, preferably with a fan blowing over it. During this time, a thin skin ('pellicle') should form.

Your bacon is now pretty much ready. If you have a bacon slicer, you can slice it into rashers. If not, wrap it in plastic film and chill it in the freezer until it is firm but not frozen. Then take it out and slice it as thinly as you can with a sharp knife. You probably won't be able to manage anything less than about 3mm, but I like a good thick rasher.

And that's it! Delicious bacon you can be proud of.