(Tom is clearly excited by the prospect of homemade bacon)
Bacon must be the food of the gods. I've known several die hard vegetarians who have turned back to meat because of the enticing joy of well prepared bacon. Bacon is so simple to make you'll never buy that mediocre crap they sell in commercial grocery stores again. In addition, once you master it, you won't have to pay exorbitant prices for the well made stuff. Bacon is pork belly (which you can get at any good butcher) that is heavily salted and allowed to cure in a cool place. It's so simple we decided to make three kinds. A classic bacon with salt and pepper, Italian pancetta and our own recipe, a guajillo chile bacon. The same culprits are involved in the curing process: salt, curing salts and whatever spices you choose to throw on. Spread your rub on the bacon, grab a 1 or 2 gallon ziploc bag toss it in the bag and throw it in your fridge and a week later you got bacon. Wipe off the rub and smoke it for that classic smoked bacon taste or just roast it at a low temperature and then slice it up for any number of mouth watering dishes.
(Your humble author and our attempt at pancetta)
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