Not so long ago we got our bacon by making it ourselves. In fact, the whole point behind bacon was that brining and salting pork was a great way to preserve it in the days when there were no refrigerators. First, the bacon was cured using large quantities of salt and then it would be either dried in cold air for months, boiled or smoked. If your nana was Italian, her kitchen would have had legs of pork cured for prosciutto, but here in New Zealand it was good old bacon. These days, finding bacon in the supermarket which isn’t swimming in water or heavily laced with preservatives is getting easier, but the better quality the bacon, the more expensive it is. The advantage of making your own is that you are not consuming nitrates, added water, colouring and a chemical-smoke flavour. This very old-fashioned way of making your own fresh bacon is surprisingly easy and takes just four days. This bacon has just been salted, not dried, boiled or smoked, so it must be cooked before you eat it – and my family loves the stuff! In my old 1845 recipe book, they used salt, saltpetre (potassium nitrate) and sugar. You can try adding a little sugar to this recipe if you want, but see if you like it this way fi rst. I prefer to use a herbed salt my husband makes so I’ve included the recipe for that too. And please use free-range pork if you can afford it. The taste is much better and you are supporting producers who don’t raise their pigs in factory farms.
Homemade bacon
- 1 free-range pork loin (you will often find it rolled and tied – cut it free and spread the loin out)
- 1 cup of sea salt or herbed salt
1. Take the pork and slit the fat on the top with several deep gashes. Pat the salt over the meat on all sides until it is well covered. 2. Place it in a plastic container with an upturned saucer in the bottom so that the meat doesn’t sit in the juice that will drain out of it. You might have a Tupperware container that has a grid in the bottom – this is perfect. Put the lid on and place in the fridge. 3. Check the meat every day and drain any fluid which is sitting in the bottom. By day four it should be quite dry and ready to be sliced and fried. If you want, you can smoke it at this stage for an even tastier bacon.
Herbed salt
- 4 tbsp fresh rosemary
- 4 tbsp fresh thyme
- 2 tbsp fresh oregano or marjoram
- 12 garlic cloves, peeled
- 500g sea salt or plain table salt (not iodised)
1. Finely chop the herbs and garlic. Mix with salt in a large bowl and let stand for 24 hours at room temperature to dry out. 2. Place in an airtight container. Use this salt to season pasta sauces or scattered on tomatoes on toast, but it’s best sprinkled on steak before cooking and patted all over a chicken before roasting with a bit sprinkled inside.
