Makin Bacon....ain't 'rocket Science'

[billd766]

Great that you got your pc back in order Build, they are no fun without a mouse or keyboard.....and thanks for sharing your 'secrets' with us who are just learning the art.

A few general questions.....

1] On the pork diagram, where is the 'back' bacon portion? The one that is used in Canadian bacon and UK back bacon??

2] and any other cuts that can be used....like the tenderloin or collar cut which is more tender and less fat??

And comments....

1] I like your drying method....no need to refrigerate??

2] and on your recipes, you call for over 2 cups of marinade to one pound of pork belly.....that's a lot more marinade [rub] than the recipes that I have been using for 3-4 kilos of meat.

Again, thanks for posting......

JD

The problem with a wet cure is that you really need to cover the whole piece of pork and I generally make 3kg at a time.

I give my wife the picture of a pig and tell her what cut and amount I want and she goes off to the pork lady at the local market who orders it in especially as it is not a cut usually found in the village. The last time she got me a whole leg which the pork lady deboned and my wife cut the skin off. That cost about 1,1xx baht but weighed in at 6 1/2 kg. I did the first half as ham in a wet cure and I will probably do the next piece as 1/2 ham and 1/2 as bacon.

There is a way to "cold smoke" ham and bacon using a kettle BBQ, a can, a soldering iron and woodchips but the Pu Yai Ban has "borrowed" my kettle BBQ so that wil wait until next year.

[billd766]

So Retell, you're saying that any cut can be used?? And the basic porkloin is used for Canadian bacon? I get most of my meat from Makro and the pork loin there has hardly any fat. Maybe I'll try the local market as most of Makro's meat seems like it poped out of a pork mold and all looks the same. corporate pigs!!

Any part of the pig can be cured, but some are more suited to bacon or ham or aging than others. Obviously the most popular for bacon are the belly and then the loin, although you'll find it difficult here to find loin with a small bit of belly attached for a real British style back bacon.

But cuts like the collar are great for curing. Collar bacon is great due to the natural marbelling, just look at the Italian Coppa. It also makes a great ham too. Tenderloin is a bit too lean for just bacon/ham (although great when aged to make 'Filleto'). Then the leg makes gammon when boned and cured (or ham if you then cook it).

I personally prefer to dry-cure as I prefer the stronger flavour but many brine cure as it's easier . I also prefer it less sweet than the recipes above (they're very American). But play around, it's not hard, once you have your basic recipe sorted just add different levels of sugar or try using mollasses/honey/ syrups or different sugars (I really like using the dark brown natural sugar we get here) and play around with different herbs and flavourings, add garlic and herbs and you have pancetta. Experiment and find your own personal style.

Here's a recent batch of dry-cured back bacon.

I like the look of that bacon.

The biggest problem I have is that I don't have a meat slicer so my bacon comes out sort of gammon thickness even after it has been in the freezer for 3 or 4 hours before cutting it up to "firm up" the bacom.

[billd766]

There is a guy called kikkoman1 who is a member but usually posts on a different forum and I learnt a lot from him including where to buy stuff.

Thanks for all your help Kikkoman.

Making bacon at home v01.doc

To make bacon I need.doc

[billd766]

On a slightly off topic note here are a couple of drawings of a cow and a sheep if you want different cuts of meat.

[theseahorse]

So Retell, you're saying that any cut can be used?? And the basic porkloin is used for Canadian bacon? I get most of my meat from Makro and the pork loin there has hardly any fat. Maybe I'll try the local market as most of Makro's meat seems like it poped out of a pork mold and all looks the same. corporate pigs!!

Any part of the pig can be cured, but some are more suited to bacon or ham or aging than others. Obviously the most popular for bacon are the belly and then the loin, although you'll find it difficult here to find loin with a small bit of belly attached for a real British style back bacon.

But cuts like the collar are great for curing. Collar bacon is great due to the natural marbelling, just look at the Italian Coppa. It also makes a great ham too. Tenderloin is a bit too lean for just bacon/ham (although great when aged to make 'Filleto'). Then the leg makes gammon when boned and cured (or ham if you then cook it).

I personally prefer to dry-cure as I prefer the stronger flavour but many brine cure as it's easier . I also prefer it less sweet than the recipes above (they're very American). But play around, it's not hard, once you have your basic recipe sorted just add different levels of sugar or try using mollasses/honey/ syrups or different sugars (I really like using the dark brown natural sugar we get here) and play around with different herbs and flavourings, add garlic and herbs and you have pancetta. Experiment and find your own personal style.

Here's a recent batch of dry-cured back bacon.

I like the look of that bacon.

The biggest problem I have is that I don't have a meat slicer so my bacon comes out sort of gammon thickness even after it has been in the freezer for 3 or 4 hours before cutting it up to "firm up" the bacom.

The slicer helps, but with a good sharp knife and a bit of practice you should be able to slice nice thin slices. A slicer is only really needed if your slicing a lot at a time.

Also, 1,100 baht for 6.5kg of leg is expensive. You should be paying about 110 /kg not 170 from a wet market or Makro for boned leg meat.

[billd766]

So Retell, you're saying that any cut can be used?? And the basic porkloin is used for Canadian bacon? I get most of my meat from Makro and the pork loin there has hardly any fat. Maybe I'll try the local market as most of Makro's meat seems like it poped out of a pork mold and all looks the same. corporate pigs!!

Any part of the pig can be cured, but some are more suited to bacon or ham or aging than others. Obviously the most popular for bacon are the belly and then the loin, although you'll find it difficult here to find loin with a small bit of belly attached for a real British style back bacon.

But cuts like the collar are great for curing. Collar bacon is great due to the natural marbelling, just look at the Italian Coppa. It also makes a great ham too. Tenderloin is a bit too lean for just bacon/ham (although great when aged to make 'Filleto'). Then the leg makes gammon when boned and cured (or ham if you then cook it).

I personally prefer to dry-cure as I prefer the stronger flavour but many brine cure as it's easier . I also prefer it less sweet than the recipes above (they're very American). But play around, it's not hard, once you have your basic recipe sorted just add different levels of sugar or try using mollasses/honey/ syrups or different sugars (I really like using the dark brown natural sugar we get here) and play around with different herbs and flavourings, add garlic and herbs and you have pancetta. Experiment and find your own personal style.

Here's a recent batch of dry-cured back bacon.

I like the look of that bacon.

The biggest problem I have is that I don't have a meat slicer so my bacon comes out sort of gammon thickness even after it has been in the freezer for 3 or 4 hours before cutting it up to "firm up" the bacom.

The slicer helps, but with a good sharp knife and a bit of practice you should be able to slice nice thin slices. A slicer is only really needed if your slicing a lot at a time.

Also, 1,100 baht for 6.5kg of leg is expensive. You should be paying about 110 /kg not 170 from a wet market or Makro for boned leg meat.

The 1,100 baht was for the whole lot, meat, skin and bone. It has to be ordered in especially as it is not normally available.

If I had bought it from Makro it would ahve been more expensive as I live 65km from the nearest one and the travel costs would be around 400 baht extra for diesel alone not to mention the hour each way travelling.

[HeijoshinCool]

The brine is good, but you need to also smoke it for a couple of hours (4-6) at a low to medium temp. Not sure if you can get Hickory or Apple wood chips in Thailand but that is what is optimum.

Home Pro stocks Hickory wood chips (and other) for BBQing

Really?

I'm outa newborns. What's it gonna set me back this time?