[hughesy]

The easiest and least messy way to make bacon involves a vac packer and is very very easy. Basically weigh the meat, rub in the correct amount of cure, vac pack, fridge, turn every day for however long it takes, rinse, dry, slice, bob's your uncle. A small domestic vac packing machine will do the job so long as you can find bags big enough.

[Bodger]

The salt draws the moisture out of the meat, doing it your way, where does the liquid go?

[Berkshire Boy]

It stays in the bag until its ready. I used to use a butcher who did it that way and it was quite good. It would stay in the bag for about  6 to 8 weeks.

[Bodger]

Eugh ! Slimey bacon?    Thanks but no thanks. That's the joy of making your own, you end up with proper bacon.

[Padge]

surely its no different to brining   it draws the moisture and sits in it yes   but then rinsed and dried/smoked is absolutely fine   we have wet and dry cured and NEVER had slimey bacon.........

[oaklandspigs]

We sit in the wet cure camp.
we get our mixes from sausagemaking.org - it comes with instructions x amount of mix to y amount of water to every z weight of meat.
 
Put in plastic bag so it is all covered, turn daily.  We normally do a bacon pig in January, so you don't need a fridge just the shed. 
Then slice (we use a cheap meat slicer - noisy but works) and freeze into 8 slice portions. 
Easily lasts a year (apart from the fact that it's eaten long before then)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

[hughesy]

Eugh ! Slimey bacon?    Thanks but no thanks. That's the joy of making your own, you end up with proper bacon.

Well we use the vac pack method, as do most butchers that produce their own bacon. It works very well. There is no slime I dunno where that idea comes from. It is proper bacon and it is delicious. We have many regular customers who come back for more week in week out.

[Pasture Farm]

If we can do it anyone can..... BUT make plans well before your pigs come back from the abattoir. As most people say the traditional butchers sausage is twice through the mincer then into the stuffer, we however work 80% meat 20% back fat. We use all parts of the pig for our sausage (not just the cheaper meat) We only ever put our meat/fat through the mincer once using the Eight millimetre disc size. From here it goes into a Hobart industrial mixer where all the ingredients are added, the mix is then returned to the fridge and allowed to rest overnight  before the suffer. One thing to remember is that sausage and making bacon is an expensive pastime, You will have spent hundreds of pounds getting your meat to this stage so do as much homework before hand as possible.

[Padge]

Pasture Farm....is that a TAS t Shirt you're sporting for your pig processing capers......

[Pasture Farm]

Of course it is...... You dress me every morning Mrs PF     

[suziequeue]

Might look into a premade cure though?  Any thoughts?

Weschenfelder is always a good place to start - then once you get confident with it you can branch out.

[caracroft]

Thank you all again.

I have a vac packer so this is 1 option 

and thanks for all the pics Pasture Farm 

[Carl f k]

Has anyone got a dry cure recipie without the saltpetre..I have half a gos on order and want to make bacon but don't fancy poisoning myself  after all were all trying to get away from additives arnt we ?

[Bodger]

Us

[Carl f k]

I'll give it a go... They went to the abattoir this mornin I should get mine Friday. Do you freeze it once its cured and cut up?