Cycling Naturalist
Guru
- Location
- Llangollen
It looks pretty simple, and I'd be tempted to dispense with the saltpetre. Any reports?
It looks pretty simple, and I'd be tempted to dispense with the saltpetre. Any reports?
Feeding an addiction isn't curing it.The only thing I've cured is my craving for pies.......by eating three for lunch.
You NEED the saltpetre .... it's won't be 'cured' otherwise.It looks pretty simple, and I'd be tempted to dispense with the saltpetre. Any reports?
Not so. You can cure without nitrates. They do, however, help to kill off bacteria. Think of them as presevative agents, not curing agents.You NEED the saltpetre .... it's won't be 'cured' otherwise.
I can't remember whether there's any belly pork left from the half-pig we got a couple of year's back, but I'd vaguely intended to try this with a bit.OK, now I'm on something other than a phone...
I used a half kilo slab of belly pork, skinned. 20 g of salt, 5g of sugar, a few dried herbs and a bit of black pepper. Rub it into the piggywig, and put in the fridge in a largeish container - I used a Tupperware type thing with a lid. Turned it over whenever I remembered, and gave it three days in all. Rinse well, hang up overnight to dry a bit, then I lit three briquettes in the barbie, added some damp applewood prunings, and smoked the bacon for about 30 minutes with the lid on and all the vents shut. Let it cool, then slice into rashers. Fantastic!
It doesn't save any money, but it's not more expensive either, and it's no great effort. Well worth a go.
That'll be 'The Marie Cure'.With the recent health scare over processed meat, some wag remarked that smoking causes cancer, bacon causes cancer, but smoking bacon cures it.