# British Back Bacon



## smokewood (Oct 5, 2015)

I have been meaning to cure some pork loin and make back bacon for a long time but have never got round to it.  After a long chat and with some fantastic instruction from Wade on the UK forum I decided to take the plunge and give it a go.

My pork loin was 2.6 Kg, so I used a dry cure of 58 grams of salt (2 1/2%), 58 grams of sugar (2 1/2%) 10 grams of fine black pepper (4%) and 7.5 grams of sodium nitrite number 1 cure at 180 parts per million.  

Before mixing the cure mix I prepared the pork loin by washing it under cold water and then drying with paper towels.  

I carefully weighed out all the ingredients and then thoroughly mixed them all together.  Then I completely covered the pork loin in the cure mix, any additional cure was also placed in the bag, and then sealed the bag.  I let the pork loin cure for 14 days, turning the bag over half a turn (180 degrees) daily to allow the curing process to work it's magic, during this time the pork loin will release fluid which is part of the curing process.

After a very long 14 days I removed the bacon from the bag and thoroughly rinsed off all the salt/pepper/sugar mixture, dried the bacon with paper towels and left the bacon uncovered in the fridge for 24 hours to air dry.

I must admit temptation got the better of me and I couldn't resist cutting a couple of slices off to made a bacon butty!  My verdict was great bacon but something was missing.

After 24 hours air drying in the fridge my bacon was ready for smoking.  I was going to cold smoke the bacon for 48 hours, but after 24 hours I tested the bacon (another bacon butty) and was more than happy with the flavour so discontinued smoking the bacon.  

I smoked the bacon using Apple dust, and the end result was a great tasting bacon with a fantastic smokey apple flavour.  I can honestly say it was the best bacon I have ever eaten.  Wade & Steve were correct (as always) once you make your own bacon you will never go back to shop bought again.

Needless to say I have another pork loin in the fridge curing.  If you have never tried making your own bacon you don't know what you are missing.

One of the members on the main forum has an app called ismokehog and the app works out all the calculations for your salt/sugar/nitrite, and is available from the  Istore or the following link http://www.appszoom.com/iphone-app/ismokehog-owkoj.html  













Pork Loin Curing.jpg



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Cold Smoking.jpg



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Pork Loin.jpg



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Bacon.jpg



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## freiesleben (Oct 5, 2015)

Wow smokewood, that looks good. I have three pieces of pork loin in the fridge for 7 days now, so I can soon try my new adventure as well. I will make Canadian Bacon, which is almost the same. I am following Bearcarver's step by step recipe. 

But I will make two of the pork loins with cold smoking and one with hot smoking.


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## tropics (Oct 5, 2015)

That looks fantastic,I made my own this year using Pops Brine,it is true I never want store bought any more.

Richie


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## wade (Oct 5, 2015)

Great looking bacon James. Don't forget to save me a slice 
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





. Was that cut using your new slicer?


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## smokewood (Oct 5, 2015)

No my new slicer only arrived today, thanks for all the input Wade I appreciate all your help.

Roll on 10 days time to do it all over again, I can't wait


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## vibe (Oct 5, 2015)

I'd like to soon start making my own bacon, what guides would people recommend for a first timer? What you've done seems easier than most I've read, is there an actual guide to follow to do this version?


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## vibe (Oct 5, 2015)

Oh and it looks awesome!


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## b-one (Oct 5, 2015)

Looks great!


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## oregon smoker (Oct 5, 2015)

Looks Tasty,  
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





slicing up some Canadian bacon tonight and putting four more in cure this week.

Keep On Smokin,

Tom


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## smokewood (Oct 5, 2015)

thanks everyone for your kind words.  This was all new to me, but Wade kindly provided me with all the calculations that I needed. Since then I found the "Ismokehog app which works out all of your calculations for you so it couldn't be easier.  All you have to do is add the weight of the meat and off you go.  

I have edited the original post and added a bit more detail and also the amounts of cure that I used just for reference.

I would recommend buying a set of jewelry scales as you will need to measure out the cure very accurately, but apart from that it was very simple.  The hardest part is waiting for 14 days!

James


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## vibe (Oct 6, 2015)

Thanks for the update/info!

Last question... Where would I buy number 1 cure from? Would it be Prague powder #1?

I'm also from the UK and Amazon doesn't seem to help much on this one!

~Kev


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## wade (Oct 6, 2015)

Be very careful when buying cure online from an unknown supplier. The first batch I bought from Amazon/eBay looked fine but when I had it lab tested it was not what it said it was. Make sure that you only buy it from a reputable company. The last batch I bought was from Surfy's and it was fine http://www.homecuring.co.uk/

Whichever you buy you need to make sure that it specifically states the Nitrite/Nitrate % on the pack. Most cure #1 and Prague Powder #1 are 6.25% Nitrite however it is not an absolute standard and some suppliers use different strengths.


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