For weeks now I’ve been plotting, planning, calculating, formulating my next meaty project.
From the get-go I knew it would have to be a bacon.
The hard part was determining what sort of bacon it would be. The belly from my pig was around 15 pounds, and once I divided it up, I figured I could get around 6 batches of bacon out of it if I didn’t resort to roasting any for dinner.
Scott over at The Sausage Debauchery had turned me on to the possibility of a cocoa-laced bacon (and really, haven’t we combined chocolate and bacon enough to know that this would be really good?) but I hadn’t gotten around to procuring the necessary supplies that I thought would improve on his original attempt, so it was out.
I’d also been toying with the idea of incorporating fennel pollen or lavender somehow, but I hadn’t quite figured out a plan of attack on that one, either.
There was the possibility of chili’d bacon, but I changed my mind when I saw how much frozen jalapeño guanciale was still left in the freezer.
Then, last weekend at the farmer’s market everything suddenly started falling into place.
A chance sighting out of the corner of my eye unearthed an intriguing variety of honey from our local honey man. The so-called “campfire honey” was a blend of both the honey and the comb that has been heated and concentrated until it was a nice, rich amber colour. I knew that it would make the perfect honey for my first batch of bacon, so I picked up a small jar along with my regular purchases.
During the course of the next 7 days I defrosted the belly and portioned it out into more manageable-for-curing-sized pieces. I was amazed at how accurate my portions turned out to be, running the gamut from 2.25 pounds to 2.75 pounds each, though I had been hoping for an even 2.5 per. Once the slabs were sized, they were tightly wrapped and returned to the freezer, with the exception of one, which was left in the fridge to finish defrosting overnight.
After much deliberation (plus burning through the first of 2 spice grinders in the process), I settled on a cure comprised of the campfire honey, a bay leaf. some pink and Szechuan peppercorns, a tiny pinch of vanilla powder and a little salt. Combining it together in a small bowl proved to be a challenge with honey that was so viscous and thick. It was a cakewalk compared to the disaster I made of trying to rub the honey into the pork belly. Apparently warm honey + cold pork = one sticky, wax-like mess. Once my hands heated it up finally, the cure was applied and the easy part began. You just let the meat sit for a week, flipping occasionally to distribute the cure. At the end of next week we will rinse, smoke over wood and call it a day.
This is going to be some of the best bacon in the universe. I can tell the Everyman is a little hesitant about my flavour profile, but I know it’s going to be absolutely amazing.
Until next time…
Tags: bacon, belly, cured meats, honey, New Projects, pork, Preservation, The Sausage Debauchery
OUTSTANDING! That belly looks phenomenal. We may have to do some sort of mail bartering so I can get me a piece of that loveliness.