Since I have already posted the Canadian bacon on my website www.webdees.com I thought I would post slab bacon today! This is also a huge hit in my house. The hard part of slab bacon is finding pork bellies. The local Shop Rites here have pork bellies but you have to call and make sure they just got it in and don't cut it up! I buy the whole un-dressed ones from them. I can also get them from a local butcher where they are dressed. What I mean by dressed is that they already cut off the skin and the ribs off the belly and it is ready to go. Since the Shop Rite's are not dressed I have to trim it off myself which isn't so bad as we have ribs that night and pork rinds another as well as the bacon. I don't waste anything! You could ask them to dress it for you and give you everything back if you ask which I may next time I get it. Hmmm didn't think of that! Pork Belly runs about $2.69-$2.89 but it depends where you get it. They are about 9-14 lbs depends if dressed or not. So let's assume you have a belly all dressed. About 9 lbs. Get yourself some of those 2.5 gal. Ziplock bags. Makes it very easy for our purpose. So here is what you will need.
Pork Belly
Morton's Tender Quick
Kosher Salt
Brown Sugar
Optional Liquid Smoke
Optional Black Pepper
If you got a full belly you may want to cut in half to accommodate the bags and make it easier to handle. In a bowl mix 1 tablespoon of tender quick per pound of meat, 1 pound of brown sugar and 1 cup of kosher salt (any salt is ok just NO iodine!) and optional liquid smoke. We are going to do a dry cure method and I will explain why in a bit. Put your bellies in the bags and divide your cure between the two and rub them down completely on both sides. I like doing them in the bag, contains the mess. Make sure you get all the surface including the sides. Zip them up and lay them flat in the refrigerator. You can stack them on each other if you want, I do. Turn them once a day draining them after day two, of accumulating liquid. Some people don't drain them but I do. Continue for 7 days. After 7 days remove from bags and rinse off. Soak in clean water for about an hour changing the water twice or more to leach out some of the salt. Pat dry and you can cook as it is or go a bit further. I rub them down with black pepper and I smoke mine in my homemade smoker but you don't have to.
Slice off your bacon
Remember to always cook your bacon before eating! Had to say that for safety! Now the reason for dry cure. Your bacon will NOT shrivel up to nothing and it will not spit at you! During curing we took out all the liquid! Your pound of bacon will make a mountain compared to store bought. What you are buying in the store is mostly added liquid they add to add weight and when you fry it the moisture is released into the grease and spits. You will notice that your bacon cooks faster and no spit and is much more tastier than store bought! Believe me once you make your own you will never buy store bought again. Wow your family and friends. My family only eats mine now and I have spoiled them big time! One slab of pork belly keeps us in bacon for each weekend for a couple of months. So for a little prep time and lots of wait time you can make your own. I will be happy to answer any questions or comments below!
Enjoy!
Steph
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