My method is for wet cure 360 grammes salt, 160 grammes sugar, (brown or white to taste) 15 or so peppercorns, about same juniper berries to 6 litres of water. Boil it all up until salt and sugar are dissolved. Allow to cool. When really cold, put chilled pork loin into water. 1 day per 1/2 inch thickness of meat. No more than 7 days. Take out rinse, leave in fridge for 2 days. Then chill down to almost frozen before slicing. I always slice a couple of slices then try it. If its too salty then soak for 24 hours changing water every few hours.
Dry cure - much preferred. Roughly the same ratio of salt to sugar leave out the juniper berries and bash the peppercorns about a bit so they are broken. I add any extras (whatever happens to be flavour of the month on that day) at this time, rub mixture well in, especially into the crevices and around the sides. Its difficult to give quantities as I do large amounts at a time. Make sure you have enough cure to rub in to all sides top and bottom. Put bacon in a polythene bag, seal if possible. Or tie the end. I put this in a shallow bowl to stop the cure from leaching out all over the fridge. This gets left in fridge at 4 deg. C for 3-5 days depending on thickness. i.e. 3 days for a belly, 5 for a loin. Even 6 or 7 for a really deep loin.
Take it out wash it off, chill etc. This works for me.
Or alternatively use a pre-mix as suggested by everyone else. If you are doing it just for yourselves although its a tiny bit dearer its well worth the extra expense.
For a great ham Kate posted a great recipe for a party ham. So easy even I can do it.
HM
Topic: Bacon? (Read 12614 times)
