Yes, you read that correctly. This is a “how to make your own bacon” post – brought to you with the able assistance of Mr R (and a very helpful website. More on that soon!) as he is chief bacon/sausage maker in this house.
I didn’t really learn to cook and bake properly until we first left the UK, when I spent many hours trying to recreate food from home in moments of desperation (as I write this I am watching Nigel Slater’s “Eating Together” and he has just stated “cooking can be a way of expressing and preserving heritage”, and he is completely right. I have always liked Nigel!). And Mr R? He learned how to make English style bacon and sausages, also in moments of desperation. I remember an evening in Denmark when my sister and brother in law were visiting. My sister and I were getting ready for a night out in Copenhagen, and came down to a scene slightly reminiscent from Ghost with first attempts of sausage making taking place. They will both kill me for telling you that, and I shall perhaps save sausage recipes for another day, but it did make me laugh at the time (incidentally if you live close to Vienna, you should check out Britwurst, and then you wouldn’t need to bother!)…
“But you lived in Denmark, how could you miss bacon when you lived there?” I hear you ask… We did indeed, but a) I am not overly keen on the Danish stuff (sorry) and b) they export most of it to the UK believe it or not, so it’s quite hard to find. And so we started making our own – the good stuff mind you, home cured from organic meat (preferably), and not pumped full of water and chemicals…
I apologise in advance to those readers that this recipe isn’t suitable for, but bacon has to be one of the things that a lot of British Expats miss, and the smell of it cooking must tempt many a vegetarian (I speak from experience here!)… Yes, making it is a bit of a lengthy process, but I promise you it’s worth it!
Of course it helps that most Danish and Bavarian houses seem to come with inbuilt industrial sized bread/cheese/ham slicers which help with preferred thickness (or thinness), but in case you don’t have one of these Mr R suggests freezing the bacon before half defrosting it and slicing it with a super sharp knife (he also speaks from experience)…
So, on with the recipe…
Ingredients:
Good organic belly pork or back loin;
Pickling salt (Known as Cure #1, we order ours from SausageMaking.Org);
Ordinary salt;
Sugar (we use light brown);
Seasonings of choice (we use a couple of crushed juniper berries and a bayleaf);
When you’re working with Curing salt it’s important to use precise amounts (use too much and it can be toxic), for this reason a set of scales accurate to better than 1 gram are necessary. Next up you need to calculate how much of the curing mix you will need. This handy calculator also from the sausage makers is great!
Weigh the pork and let the calculator work out the required proportions for your ingredients. Mix the cure well and then rub it into the meat. Place into a ziplok bag on a plate and put in the bottom of the fridge. Now leave it for for 5 to 7 days. Rotate the bag every day (this is called “overhauling”) to redistribute the curing salt and juices that form quickly…
When the time’s up, the meat will feel firm to the touch. Give it a rinse, pat it dry with kitchen roll, put it back on a clean plate and place back in the fridge uncovered for a day or so (and although it’s now cured make sure it’s away from other food stuffs obviously). This is to form a tacky surface (“pellicule”) on the meat to which the smoke will stick to…
English bacon is cold smoked, so it stays raw. We have a ProQ Cold Smoking Starter Set which you can use in a covered barbecue, or even in a cardboard box! Put the meat on a rack, place in the covered barbecue above the smoker, light it up and leave it to smoulder away for 4-6 hrs, depending on how smokey you like your bacon…
Bacon made this way keeps in an air tight bag in the fridge for a week. Alternatively, freeze it, and as mentioned above, it’s much easier to slice anyway when it’s partially frozen…
Slice it, fry it or grill it, tuck it lovingly into white bread spread with plenty of butter, and top it with brown sauce (in our house) and Bob’s your uncle. Yes it’s fiddly, yes it’s worth it.
Amanda says
oh wow! I’m adding subscribing to your blog now… Bacon is just one of those things we missed it so much in Kuwait. I’ve got used to Greek bacon now but it’s not quite the same, must have a go at making our own. Thanks for this.
Emma says
Thanks so much Amanda! Even in Denmark, we found the bacon just wasn’t the same (the stuff we could find anyway!)… :D
Sally Sellwood (@Recipejunkie27) says
Fantastic – yes we’ve made our own bacon a few times, and sausages, more from the Husband’s curiosity and Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall fantasies than expat need, but they are so good. We’re hoping to have our own pigs next year, so there will be much bacon and rejoicing!
Emma says
My best friend kept pigs until they relocated to Asia. It was a fantastic experience for their children too and kept the whole eating meat experience thing real. I did have to laugh when they ate their first produce though and their eldest whether they were going to eat the dog next! :D Thanks Sally x
Carolin says
It’s crazy what you start missing when you live abroad. I used to jump on Teewurst as soon as I came back to Germany, I missed it so much :D
Emma says
I remember nearly bringing you some teewurst back for BritMums once Carolin! :D
Carolin says
HahaI know. That was last year, wasn’t it?
Emma says
It was! :D
Rachel @ The Ordinary Lovely says
You are so right!!! My mum used to have to buy packs of the stuff for when we landed back in the UK. By the time we came to leave Switzerland, they had attempted to stock bacon in the local Coop but it was the worst, water-soaked bacon that I’ve ever come across. Well done for making your own. Expats of the world are in your debt!
Emma says
One of the first breakfasts I usually have at home. The bread is good here, but nothing beats bread from home either to make a perfect bacon sandwich! Thanks Rachel! :)
Michelle Twin Mum says
Oh yes indeed, I would miss a good bacon sarnie on really nice white bread if I moved away. Mich x
Emma says
That’s exactly what I mean Mich, it’s not just the bacon either. I miss the bread too! :D x
Cass@frugalfamily says
Oooh now that’s a bit controversial!
Brown sauce? We argue about this a lot in our house and I’m told that it should be tomato sauce all the way with bacon sandwiches x x
Emma says
Tom sauce is only for sausage sandwiches in our house! :D Thanks Cass xx
Alice says
Oh god my mouth is literally watering. This is definitely one I’ll be trying!
Emma says
Thanks Alice! :)
Anya from Older Single Mum and The Healer says
Ooh those sarnies look good. They have no calories on a Friday. I also broke my vegetarian streak with one of these and missed bacon terribly when abroad. Great advice here – thanks for sharing :)
Emma says
I LOVE the sound of a no calories to worry about Friday! I might start today! Thanks Anya! :)
Nikki Thomas says
How wonderful! I love bacon and yes the thought of not having it to hand would be hard as I not only love it in a big doorstep sandwich but I also add it to so many dishes. That is so clever, I would love to have a go at making my own.
Emma says
Let me know how you get on! Thanks Nikki! :)
Vanessa says
Brilliant article – we found English bacon in the local German supermarket and it changed our lives ;)
Emma says
It’s as rare as hen’s teeth down here… Thanks Vanessa! :)
Boo Roo and Tigger Too says
I think that I would certainly miss English bacon if I lived aboard, there is just something about it that is rather special.
Emma says
It’s funny the things we miss isn’t it? I remember travelling in Malaysia when I was 21 and for my birthday we found a cafe that did an English breakfast, it was one of the best things I have ever eaten! :D
A Patchwork Life says
I’m so impressed! That’s serious bacon dedication! Understand though, think it’s one of the things I’d miss the most if we moved away xx
Emma says
Thank you T! :)
Liz Burton says
I’ve done a fair bit of cold smoking at home. I went on a course and the guy was adamant that you need no fancy smoking contraptions, just a cardboard box and he was right!
Never tried my own bacon though (although of course I can buy it easily here so I don’t have to). But good quality bacon I’d done myself would be something else I’m sure.
Emma says
Now that’s a course I would love to send Mr R on! Thanks Liz! :)
Mum of One says
You have just made me INSANELY hungry woman. Darn it. That looks and sounds delicious. And now I want a smoker.
Emma says
Buy one, they are brilliant! Thanks Jen! :)
Christie (A Sausage Has Two) says
LIFE CHANGER!! Oh my word I had never even thought about trying to make bacon myself. Thank you thank you thank you. I had some of Rich’s a while ago and I just brought some back from The Sausage Man Never Sleeps in Berlin… but now I never need smuggle it back from the UK again! THANK YOU!! *orders bodyweight in curing salt. And better scales*
Emma says
Now you definitely would LOVE a cold smoker. Get one ordered woman! Thanks Christie! :) x