Does anyone know how to cure pork so that it tastes like bacon instead of ham? I ADORE bacon, but I rarely buy it because it's expensive and very bad for me due to the high fat content. I TRIED to cure pork so that it tasted like bacon, using the morton cure that claimed it was for ham OR bacon, but what I ended up with really did taste like ham, and not bacon!

-- Terri (Hooperterri@prodigy.net), December 28, 2001

Answers

And if anyone has a method for curing that will make bacon good for me, I'd really be interested....

:-)

-- chuck in md (woah@mission4me.com), December 28, 2001.

Terri boy can you ask some ? now we used to do it but ill have to think on it for a while. i rember we used a boston butt and brined it for a long time then smoked it. ill try to rember how we made the brine and how long it soaked and ect,ect boy no wonder i cant get up in the morn. that was a long time ago. Bob se,ks.

-- Bobco (bobco@kans.com), December 28, 2001.

Chuck, the pork I used was off the shoulder. I figured it would cut the fat content, while still having enough fat in it to make it taste rich!

-- Terri (hooperterri@prodigy.net), December 28, 2001.

Terri, we've made bacon from the side meat of a hog, and I don't know why it wouldn't work for any cut of pork. I made a sugar box out of white oak ( the recommended wood, next being hickory or maple). the box was about 12 " deep, and roughly 2'x2'. (with a lid) Inside it's important to fasten 1" strips across the bottom, as it keeps the meat up off the bottom. We used a mix of sugar and curing salt (about half and half), and put this under the pieces of meat, then completely smothered the meat with the mix, almost to the top of the box. You also have to drill a few 1/2 to 1" holes on the bottom of one end of the box, and tilt the box so that the meat juice will drain through the holes. We turned the meat about every 2-3 days. Curing took about 3-4 weeks. The end product was excellent, better than store bought sugar cured bacon. Worked for us!

-- Truman Dodson (gamefarmone@hotmail.com), January 03, 2002.