Another use for the keezer - making bacon

[crowcrow]

Yesterday morning I starting a batch of bacon following the River Cottage method - Dry-cured streaky bacon
Bay leaf

Pepper corns

Rosemary seeds

Grind up

Add sugar

And salt

Mix

Add to a food safe tub

Add a lump of pork belly

 

[crowcrow]

Cover the sides and top in a 5th of the mix

Put in the fridge/keezer - somewhere flat and cool!

Check back after 24 hours and pour off the liquid and add another portion of the salt mix

Repeat until all the mix is gone, then leave lightly covered for another 5 days then transfer to a sealed box. Slice off portions of bacon as needed... I've not got there yet but I'll post pictures when I do!

 

[MyQul]

Pretty cool. But why sugar? I would have thought salt and herbs would do the trick

 

[Horners]

get rid of that almond milk and you could get some more cans in

 

[Clint]

Rosemary seeds?

 

[dan125]

Looks great already
Following with interest

 

[Joust]

Very cool

A mate has done this sort of thing before. As I remember it went really well but they had a nightmare getting a nice slice.

They kept cutting to thick and uneven.

I think they ordered a deli slicer. You know, the thing with the spinning wheel blade you see in supermarkets.

 

[crowcrow]

Ha yes I want an industrial slicer now too! I'll let you know how the thin slices go. Maybe not rosemary seeds? Whatever wold be in a jar labeled 'rosemary'? It was supposed to be juniper, but tesco didn't have any! No idea why sugar is needed, but didn't want to mess with the recipe on my first go!

Keezer has loads of cans in there (thankfully) and plenty of ale and wine - since my wife got 'the virus' I've barely drunk not sure if I had a touch of it too or just the stresses of life, but each time I drink I feel like I've had 10 beers not one. It's been ages, I miss it!

 

[Drunkula]

Couple of lads that share a house on my street were saying they love making bacon in the keister. I'll tell them I'm thinking about giving it a go now I've seen you just have to rub some pork and pour off the juice. Thanks, Crow!

 

[crowcrow]

Incase you were interested in what the liquid I pour off looks like - here is a shot from today. There was much more liquid on Sunday - this should get less and less each day. I put the box at a slight angle so the liquid pools to one side.

I have an idea for cutting thin slices by wedging between two cutting boards - but no idea if it will work! I'll post pictures regardless.

 

[Session]

Incase you were interested in what the liquid I pour off looks like - here is a shot from today. There was much more liquid on Sunday - this should get less and less each day. I put the box at a slight angle so the liquid pools to one side.

I have an idea for cutting thin slices by wedging between two cutting boards - but no idea if it will work! I'll post pictures regardless.

View attachment 26878

I’ve done this before!
It will be very salty... you may want to soak the bacon to get rid of excess salt before cooking it. Try a bit first and see.

For slicing, I found having a *very* sharp knife essential, and putting the side of bacon in the freezer for 10-20minutes helped.

 

[Session]

Pretty cool. But why sugar? I would have thought salt and herbs would do the trick

It does everything needed from a dehydration perspective, but the sugar adds some sweetness which balances the salt - it’s only for flavour really.

 

[Hoddy]

Rosemary seeds?

Your right. It isn't seeds, its just dried rosemary leaves.

 

[Cwrw666]

Talking about bacon - this is a picture of inside my local, Tafarn Sinc, Rosebush in the Preseli mountains, North Pembrokeshire. Yes those are real slabs of bacon hanging from the ceiling. They've been there since about 1993.

 

[crowcrow]

Talking about bacon - this is a picture of inside my local, Tafarn Sinc, Rosebush in the Preseli mountains, North Pembrokeshire. Yes those are real slabs of bacon hanging from the ceiling. They've been there since about 1993.

View attachment 26881

- what a local!

 

[Session]

This is the tutorial I ended up using as I found the recipe to be a good balance between sweet and salty, and the use of cure #1 makes it pleasingly ‘bacon-y’

http://www.localfoodheroes.co.uk/?e=541
If you have a vacuum sealer (which is amazing when making bacon, and also means you can re-seal your packets of hops!), you can slice your bacon into portions of 6-8 rashers and freeze them, which makes it very straightforward to defrost just as much as you need.

 

[Clint]

Bacon hanging in the pub eh! Smoked with...Benson and hedges,Senior Service and Old Shag...

 

[MyQul]

Incase you were interested in what the liquid I pour off looks like - here is a shot from today. There was much more liquid on Sunday - this should get less and less each day. I put the box at a slight angle so the liquid pools to one side.
View attachment 26878

Chuck some yeast in it and see if it'll ferment

 

[Cwrw666]

Bacon hanging in the pub eh! Smoked with...Benson and hedges,Senior Service and Old Shag...

It's for decorative purposes only but you'd regret it if you tried poking it to see if it was real.

 

[RichardM]

I’ve done this before!
It will be very salty... you may want to soak the bacon to get rid of excess salt before cooking it. Try a bit first and see.

For slicing, I found having a *very* sharp knife essential, and putting the side of bacon in the freezer for 10-20minutes helped.

The recipes I follow when I make bacon all say to rinse it after curing and then leave it in the fridge to dry for a few days.
People need to be aware that if you only use sugar and salt (+ herbs/spices) for the cure the bacon will colour, brown, like pork when you cook it. If you want it to be pink when cooked then you need to use cure #1 in the mix.