Back bacon is a pain in the ass to find in the US. Some Whole Foods seem to have it (we lived next to one in Arlington), and there are a couple of butcher shops in the Chicago area as well. Unfortunately none of it is as good as what we've found in the UK, which (according to my dad) is still way less flavorful that it should be.
This is our first experiment in making it ourselves. We're using a ~completely trimmed loin roast from Trader Joe's, roughly 1.75lbs. Fully trimmed means no real fat cap, though, so I'm looking for a butcher who can do a loin roast with the fat and foot still ok. Longer term target is to just start buying whole pig torsos, but that's a good ways down the line (i.e. when we have a house, ideally similar to one we've seen in Richmond - giant basement with 2 concrete rooms under the garage, which would be ideal space for a climate-controlled butchering/meat-aging/curing space).
This recipe comes via two online resources, though I'm going to look into books that go into better detail about the process. Sources are:
http://www.keefcooks.com/how-to-make-home-cured-back-bacon/
https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/homemade-bacon-3362606
There's a guy on telegraph.co.uk who has this one:
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/recipes/0/maple-cured-bacon/
The maple syrup may have some antibacterial effect? Not sure here (honey works for this because it's supersaturated and so dehydrates most bacteria it touches; given that botulinum can show up there in small amounts - hence no honey for babies - and the curing salt is partly there to kill botulinum in particular, I don't know if that actually works).
For now I'm dry-curing. The Keefcooks guy seems like an idiot but at least includes some more detail on timeline; mainly I'm following the foodnetwork one.
Key questions:
* What's an appropriate amount of salt to use? (the amount of curing salt is probably suitable, the kosher salt may make it excessively salty)
* Any other herbs/spices to include?
* (via independent research) Can you do this using a vacuum sealer instead of a ziplock bag?
* (via independent research) Keef soaks his in cold water before the fridge step - what does this do?
* (via independent research) Is the cooking step necessary?
* (via independent research) Can you do the cooking step sous vide?
* (via independent research) is the curing salt purely necessary? (see telegraph guy and a lot of "natural" bacon recipes)
This first round is just for #1.
Apparently it works even better if hung/dry-aged, and I'm interested in getting some kind of extra fridge/minifrige to do this. Would also be helpful for the dry-brining step on my chickens.
Ingredients (targeted for a 2lb loin, but ours is smaller):
1.75lbs pork loin
~20g Kosher Salt (~2 tbsp)
~2g Curing Salt #1 (aka 6.25% Sodium Nitrite; ~0.5tsp)
Make sure your hands are clean. Wear gloves (I didn't, but will in future).
1) Mix the salts together (plus any spices - none this time) very thoroughly
2) Thoroughly dry the pork and trim off any irregularities in the shape. Put on a sterile surface (e.g. a plate).
3) Coat the pork with the salt mixture, being sure to keep it distributed evenly and rub it into all nooks/crannies/cracks.
4) Put the pork into a ziplock bag and tip in any residual salt mixture. Remove as much air as possible and seal (I did this by just dunking the bag in a tub of water to push the air out; I'm interested to know if vacuum sealing would also work here).
5) Refrigerate in the bag for 10 days (I'm erring on the side of caution - Keef did it as 1 day per half inch plus 2, vs. food network guy says 7 days for a 1.5" and longer for thicker). Flip every day.
6) Remove from the bag, rinse thoroughly in cold water, pat dry, then refrigerate on a rack in the fridge for 48 hours. Flip once.
7) Preheat oven to 200 degrees F and cook until the pork registers 150F in the center (2-3 hours).
Food network guy says this will keep for about a week in the fridge, others say months. I don't know how long it'll last with us either way.
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