The bacon that we were curing has turned out spectacularly and we have been cutting big chunks off of both the regular cured and also the guajillo bacon. Neither are smoked because of weather issues, but certainly the next batch will be. The guajillo cured bacon is not as spicy as I had hoped, but perhaps next time I'll add more guajillo and briefly toast the chiles before grinding them for the curing rub. After your pork belly has cured for about 7 days in the fridge, take the finished product out and rinse it clean and remove the skin from the top of the belly, revealing the glistening fatty top of your bacon slab. Next, either smoke or bake it at a relatively cool temperature (below 200 degrees F) for about two hours. Then you're free to cook with your bacon in any number of ways.
The great thing about making your own bacon, aside from the fact that it will be better than most of the bacon you buy in the store, is the versatility it provides. When you have a bacon in slab form your can cut off standard slices for your breakfast, make lardons for classic French dishes or give it a name and constantly apologize to it for hacking it apart (note: this is not advisable as unhappy bacon will never taste as good)
Whatever you choose to do, you should know that there are endless uses for bacon and variations on the cures. So try something new and redefine your view of bacon. Stay tuned for our pancetta. Below are the two cures we used.
Regular Bacon Cure
5 lb pork belly
1/4 cup of kosher salt
10 teaspoons sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons pink salt
2 tablespoons crushed peppercorns
Guajillo Bacon
5 lb pork belly
1/4 cup of kosher salt
6 teaspoons sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons pink salt
3 dried guajillo peppers, stemmed and partially seeded and ground
4 dried chiles de arbol, ground
Excellent work, fine chaps. Bacon, true to form.
Posted by: Just More | April 07, 2008 at 10:13 AM