Making bacon

[David A]

Had a go at this, belly pork, covered in salt and a little brown sugar and left in the bottom of the fridge for a week. Rinsed the salt sugar off and dried it and smoked for 3 hrs. Lovely flavour.....except it was too salty. So ok yes it was in salt for a week but didn't think it would 'absorb' that much salt.

Any ideas/pointers - I'm going to do a bigger batch next time so want to get it right!

Cheers

Dave

[OllieWinchester]

What sort of salt did you use? I'd imagine that fine table salt is more readily absorbed than maldon or something similar.....

[SwanJack]

What if the belly pork was salty to start with?

[Noger]

Would be a waste of Maldon

Happened to my first batch too. It is a toss up between longevity and saltiness IMHO. Less time in the salt, but won't last as long, but you can always freeze it.

Tend to use it more like pancetta than "English" bacon.

[507bhp]

SwanJack said:

What if the belly pork was salty to start with?

It would only be salty to start with if it had been brined previously. Unless the pig gorged itself on a salt diet before being slaughtered!

[David A]

507bhp said:

SwanJack said:

What if the belly pork was salty to start with?

It would only be salty to start with if it had been brined previously. Unless the pig gorged itself on a salt diet before being slaughtered!

I doubt it had been brined as it was just a pork belly bought fresh from the butchers. Maybe I'll try a few less days in the salt next time.

[507bhp]

David A said:

507bhp said:

SwanJack said:

What if the belly pork was salty to start with?

It would only be salty to start with if it had been brined previously. Unless the pig gorged itself on a salt diet before being slaughtered!

I doubt it had been brined as it was just a pork belly bought fresh from the butchers. Maybe I'll try a few less days in the salt next time.

Yes