Making your own bacon?

[spitfire]

The Spitfire Take This Thread to Streaky Baconland hijack continues.....

34 rashers (!) and I cut the rest up for lardons. That's a lorra bacon from a 1.3kg belly. There was some scrap as well which would probably be good for stews/soups etc. The slicer just about managed it but I think it needs a new blade now after one cutting session..... Will start scouring gumtree for a cheap semi pro one.

 

[UnderOpenSky]

Impressive stuff, but disappointing on the slicer.

 

[equationgirl]

spitfire omg that bacon looks luscious, well done

 

[spitfire]

spitfire omg that bacon looks luscious, well done

Thanks equationgirl, not sure where you are located but if anywhere near Bethnal Green you're welcome to a packet when I vac them up.

 

[equationgirl]

Thanks equationgirl, not sure where you are located but if anywhere near Bethnal Green you're welcome to a packet when I vac them up.

Sadly I am in Glasgow but might be down in London over next couple of weeks. Will let you know - thanks for your generous offer

 

[spitfire]

First bacon sandwich. Very nice indeed. Am quite pleased.

 

[equationgirl]

First bacon sandwich. Very nice indeed. Am quite pleased.

View attachment 134570

Dear god it's like bacon porn

 

[UnderOpenSky]

I must say I've been shying away from the stuff I made. Mostly as it's so thick. It's nice, but not really bacon. Anyway feeling hungover this morning and fancied something so sliced it to small chunks and fried it with spuds, onions and spices. Totally awesome. Supermarket bacon isn't substantial enough for this, but now totally see potential. Will make a brilliant pasta sauce as well.

Back to making the proper stuff though. I'm still game, but it's serious investment in a cold smoking tray and a slicer. May try bodging though for another attempt!

 

[spitfire]

I don't know if you have a decent local butcher that you could get friendly with but I am sure if you bought the pork from them and explained they'd cut it for you.

For a bargain basement smoker try the sieve method. Make sure it isn't a metal that gives off nasty fumes.

Cold Smoke Generator Hack

 

[UnderOpenSky]

I don't know if you have a decent local butcher that you could get friendly with but I am sure if you bought the pork from them and explained they'd cut it for you.

For a bargain basement smoker try the sieve method. Make sure it isn't a metal that gives off nasty fumes.

Cold Smoke Generator Hack

Not a bad shout. That and a cheap ham knife from Amazon. Dont know the local butcher at all sadly, although must start to give them more custom when I'm feeling flusher. Definitely not a project I'm going to abandon, especially now I've got a bbq I can use to actually smoke in.

 

[spitfire]

Moar bacon.

Just a little one, .777kg.

Used molasses sugar instead of brown, smells great.

 

[UnderOpenSky]

Fuck yeah. Finished mine recently the other day, so need to get on this. May try doing both loin and belly at the same time for a bit of variety.

Is mollases sugar just the standard liquid stuff (actually called black treacle in the UK as I recently found out). Because I've just bought some!

 

[UnderOpenSky]

Thought I'd buy belly from the butcher. Looked pretty messy, so set to tidying it up before curing it and removing the nipples and skin. Didn't look that appealing by the time I was done. So hacked it into small chunks and whacked it in the freezer to go in the next batch of sausages. With all that fat they will certainly be rather "juicy" next time.

 

[spitfire]

Fuck yeah. Finished mine recently the other day, so need to get on this. May try doing both loin and belly at the same time for a bit of variety.

Is mollases sugar just the standard liquid stuff (actually called black treacle in the UK as I recently found out). Because I've just bought some!

I replied to this last week but it didn't go through.

Molasses sugar: https://www.express-supplements.co....fCZ6kyiRb1cYrT0IaC7zMt6eS4O5VFoEaAqb-EALw_wcB

I'm sure the treacle will be just as good if not better.

 

[UnderOpenSky]

Can see it being a total mess though, so think I'll keep it for marinades and sauces and try and get some of that.

Given partners reaction when she saw the fat on the belly I think I'll be sticking to making back bacon anyway...

 

[spitfire]

Done, happy with that, tasted great. Not very sweet though. I should probably take the rind off to get more flavour in but I like it with rind on.....

 

[spitfire]

sealion

Same batch.

 

[sealion]

sealion

Same batch.

That ^^^ looks marvellous

 

[equationgirl]

God, I love bacon with the rind on. It's very difficult to get these days.

 

[spitfire]

God, I love bacon with the rind on. It's very difficult to get these days.

There’s a few producers that do mail out bacon and a decent butcher should be able to do it to order if you ask nicely. I’ll post some links up later.

 

[equationgirl]

There’s a few producers that do mail out bacon and a decent butcher should be able to do it to order if you ask nicely. I’ll post some links up later.

Ooh thank you

 

[spitfire]

OMFG. May get some of this next.

 

[spitfire]

equationgirl

Cure & Simple - Home (not sure about the rind on this one, hard to tell from pics.)

C Lidgates Butcher Charcutier

Hepburn's Bacon | Ham, Sausages & Bacon | Meat & Poultry | To Order | Christmas Hampers | Smoked Salmon | Chocolate Gifts

There is another one but I can't remember what it's called, I've not used any of these but they all have good reputations.

 

[equationgirl]

Thanks spitfire much appreciated

 

[Gerry1time]

Not sure whether it's right to bump this thread or start a new one, but is anyone out there doing more than making bacon? Reason I ask is that after lots of research and thinking, I've just got my first charcuterie curing fridge up and running. Am starting with biltong, as a reasonably serious biltong habit over the summer was the inspiration for getting this thing going in the first place, but I've got a lump of silverside curing in red wine in my main fridge at the moment for bresaola, and a few duck breasts arriving before xmas that I intend to cure and dry too. I might be the only person on here doing this, but thought I'd bump this thread and check. Happy to share my progress with stuff if it's of interest to other people.

Here's a photo of the chamber so far. Two different types of biltong drying in there, a traditional one, and a rice wine and five spice one too. I put a piece of traditionally spiced venison loin in there earlier today too, to see what that's like as biltong.

 

[Gerry1time]

Well I got some likes for that last post, so I'll post some more.

Here's a bresaola I took out of a seven day wine and spice marinade in the fridge earlier. Bresaola is the first thing I made about 15 years ago, using the Hugh F-W recipe, but looking back I was never happy with the food safety angle of that recipe, so I've always wanted to try it again properly. This time there's cure #1 in there too, and it's being dried in controlled conditions, rather than in a box hanging in a tree over winter like I did last time.



I also wanted to help avoid 'case hardening' on it, where the outside dries hard, meaning the inside can never dry, so I've stuffed it inside an ox bung, or in scientific terms, a cow's cecum. I'm not sure I'll ever get used to the smell of them. It's...just disturbing.



Here it is hanging in the curing fridge. It needs to lose about 40% of its weight, so I suspect it will be ready in March or April or so.



The biltong is coming along ok too. Am thinking I might just do it in a warm drying box next time though, is taking a fair while, and starting to bloom with white mould, which, whilst no bad thing, isn't something I especially look for in my biltong tbh.

 

[klang]

Not sure whether it's right to bump this thread or start a new one, but is anyone out there doing more than making bacon? Reason I ask is that after lots of research and thinking, I've just got my first charcuterie curing fridge up and running. Am starting with biltong, as a reasonably serious biltong habit over the summer was the inspiration for getting this thing going in the first place, but I've got a lump of silverside curing in red wine in my main fridge at the moment for bresaola, and a few duck breasts arriving before xmas that I intend to cure and dry too. I might be the only person on here doing this, but thought I'd bump this thread and check. Happy to share my progress with stuff if it's of interest to other people.

Here's a photo of the chamber so far. Two different types of biltong drying in there, a traditional one, and a rice wine and five spice one too. I put a piece of traditionally spiced venison loin in there earlier today too, to see what that's like as biltong.

View attachment 192630

are they rats?

 

[Kevbad the Bad]

This is slightly off-topic, but when I was a kid my mum used to cut off the bacon rind and fry it separately. Being only little I tried saying ‘bacon rind’ but could only manage ‘bintys rye’. This then became family jargon and we all called it that for years. It was much later at school, when I was about 15, I was talking to other school kids about ‘bintys rye’ and they all started giving me funny looks. I felt a right plonker!

 

[Smangus]

Well I got some likes for that last post, so I'll post some more.

Here's a bresaola I took out of a seven day wine and spice marinade in the fridge earlier. Bresaola is the first thing I made about 15 years ago, using the Hugh F-W recipe, but looking back I was never happy with the food safety angle of that recipe, so I've always wanted to try it again properly. This time there's cure #1 in there too, and it's being dried in controlled conditions, rather than in a box hanging in a tree over winter like I did last time.

View attachment 193258

I also wanted to help avoid 'case hardening' on it, where the outside dries hard, meaning the inside can never dry, so I've stuffed it inside an ox bung, or in scientific terms, a cow's cecum. I'm not sure I'll ever get used to the smell of them. It's...just disturbing.

View attachment 193256

Here it is hanging in the curing fridge. It needs to lose about 40% of its weight, so I suspect it will be ready in March or April or so.

View attachment 193257

The biltong is coming along ok too. Am thinking I might just do it in a warm drying box next time though, is taking a fair while, and starting to bloom with white mould, which, whilst no bad thing, isn't something I especially look for in my biltong tbh.

Years ago my mate from Zimbabwe made biltong in a cardboard box with a light on at the bottom to warm it . Worked really well and tasted really nice, I think it needs a bit of warmth.

 

[Gerry1time]

are they rats?

Nope, strips of cured topside.