Five-year bacon
It's been five years since I cured bacon. I'd ordered a belly in the summer, but it sat in the freezer as other demands and distractions came up. Last week I defrosted the freezer and the belly, and yesterday started curing the belly.
Figure 1: Bagged and one day into its cure.
I kept the recipe simple. I follow Ruhlman and Polcyn's basic ratio for a dry cure, and rub on 2.5% of the meat's weight. This belly is 2,953 grams, so that means 74g cure, and then
- 30g black pepper
- 25g brown sugar
- 8g ground cinnamon
- 2 star anise
- 3g nutmeg
- 4g cloves
- 4g allspice
with all of the spices ground. This bacon will be slightly sweet, warmly and richly spiced, and a nice Sunday morning brunch treat.