I use the loin for back bacon and the belly for streaky, dry curing is my preferred method - easier and tastier IMHO
You can buy pre-made cures from places like Tongmaster & Weschenfeldar, that's probably the best way to get started (and saves you worrying if you've done it right
) I measure how thick the piece of meat is and allow one day for each half inch plus two days on top of that, then I soak it overnight (don't like overly salty bacon) before letting it dry. Top tip is to 'temper' the meat before you cut it - get it to almost frozen and it slices so much better than when it's fresh
For sausages you can also buy ready made mixes that you add to your minced meat and fat, or you can try experimenting. We use around 10% rusk to improve the texture and juicyness and then mix in whatever you fancy - honey & mustard, sweet chilli sauce, grated apple, caramalised onion..... the possibilities are endless !
It's worth mixing a little batch and frying it to taste, before you go stuffing 10 kilo's of it - that way you can check seasoning, strength of flavour etc. You'll find videos on youtube that show you how to link sausages - it's not as hard as it looks (it can't be - I managed to do it
)
A couple of books that I have which I'd recommend are 'Charcuterie' and 'The manual of a traditional bacon curer' (you'll find them both on Amazon) but there are loads to choose from.
Good luck and let us know how it goes
Karen
Topic: How to make bacon and sausages!! (Read 4677 times)
