Author Topic: Making bacon from frozen meat (Read 6127 times)

daveh · « **on:** August 25, 2012, 11:16:29 pm »

Our two large black pigs will be going to the slaughterhouse in a couple of months time, one for pork and the other for bacon. This time round, we would like to have a try at making our own bacon, rather than have the slaughterhouse/butcher do it for us. But we don't have the facilities to deal with a complete pig all at once. Does anyone out there have any experience of freezing the meat, defrosting it a bit at a time and making bacon in more manageable lots.
Does freezing beforehand affect the process of making bacon or alter the taste?
Regards, Dave

NicAlford1234 · « **Reply #1 on:** August 25, 2012, 11:35:16 pm »

I don't know the answer to your question, but last year, I got a big chunk of belly pork, salted it for about 5 days, then smoked it and so made smoky bacon, and that meat had been frozen, and kept in the fridge for over a week!!

I have the recipe somewhere, but I'm sure people know!

suziequeue · « **Reply #2 on:** August 26, 2012, 07:02:37 am »

I can only speak from personal experience but we make our bacon from frozen meat and it's very good - never been a problem.

Takes a couple of days to defrost then I usually cut the back/belly into three portions, dry cure it in the fridge for a couple of weeks, then put it in the freezer for half a day before slicing it. After slicing we vacc-pack it and return it to the freezer.

All the little raggedy bits get bagged up into cubetti which goes into soups and pasta sauces etc. We keep the skin on and cut the it off (because it really is VERY tough!!) just before putting the bacon under the grill. The birds get the rinds and they love them.

Seems to work fine.

ZacB · « **Reply #3 on:** August 26, 2012, 07:33:34 am »

Echo suziequeue, frozen meat defrosted & cured, sliced & then back in the freezer (although don't know why because it went so fast !)
DaveH, hope the large blacks work out well. Our first two piggies were OSB, the bacon was to die for (but not enough of it). This lead us to get some large blacks for a try. Betsy & Belinda have been great but I do find myself looking at them & thinking thats all bacon from there to there....

Maggie · « **Reply #4 on:** August 26, 2012, 08:42:39 am »

What everyone else said, hear hear. Last year I took 2 large black sows to the slaughterhouse, for sausages/bacon as I didn't have the facilities to deal with that amount. I was very disappointed with how they processed the meat, nowhere near as tasty as I've made myself, and was way too salty. So if you've plenty of freezer space, take back large cuts and then do it yourself later.

suziequeue · « **Reply #5 on:** August 26, 2012, 09:16:27 am »

Cutting it into thirds made it possible to have the slabs in the salad drawers in our fridge whilst they were being cured (each one measured about 10" square) and made them more manageable for the slicer too.

HappyHippy · « **Reply #6 on:** August 26, 2012, 09:28:30 am »

I've made bacon from frozen pork too, works fine

Good luck and let us know how you get on

robert waddell · « **Reply #7 on:** August 26, 2012, 10:49:58 am »

if you have the capacity to freeze them then it is just the curring space that you need is that correct

Eve · « **Reply #8 on:** August 26, 2012, 01:29:25 pm »

Making bacon from frozen meat works very well indeed.We have the bellies skinless and cut in half to make curing and slicing easier. A half belly fits in the fridge.

Tudful Tamworths · « **Reply #9 on:** August 27, 2012, 01:16:42 am »

I defrost and process all the time. Makes managing large amounts of pork more easy. Just make sure the pork is well-wrapped to avoid freezer burns. I defrost loins and bellies for bacon and then re-freeze after curing if necessary.

I also have a lot of my pigs cut into primal joints before freezing, so that I can defrost the required quantities for sausages and burgers as required. Again, as the meat has not deteriorated and has been processed, it can be re-frozen.

ppd · « **Reply #10 on:** August 27, 2012, 06:08:15 pm »

All that info was really helpful for me too as my 2 go off very soon and was wondering about the freeze then the re-freeze thing
Thanks

oaklandspigs · « **Reply #11 on:** August 27, 2012, 07:09:48 pm »

Came in late on this today, but as i think you have sussed by now the answer's YES!

WarescotFarm · « **Reply #12 on:** August 27, 2012, 07:27:37 pm »

Brilliant! I was about to post a questions asking if you can defrost a pork leg then turn it into ham / bacon and refreeze it.
All answered here brilliant advice thank you very much!

daveh · « **Reply #13 on:** August 28, 2012, 07:27:03 pm »

Thanks to all who replied, my mouth is watering at the thought of all that lovely bacon.
We went for large blacks this time round as we couldn't find any OSBs which we have had on the previous two occasions. The butcher made us some collar bacon rashers from them, the first I have tasted for many a long year. Yum.
The previous OSBs had not read any books on pig keeping. They loved chewing on the remains of brussel sprout plants which they are not supposed to like but steadfastly refused to touch a carrot in defiance of all accepted wisdom. We have yet to find ANYTHING that the LBs won't eat.
Regards, Dave