Home Cured, smoked Bacon and Pancetta

Bacon is something that is difficult to come by here in Italy which is a nightmare for us as you can never have enough bacon.  We decided to make our own so that we could have some every weekend.  Our pigs are no good for bacon, they are too small really so we buy a half pig, about 40-50kgs twice a year and make our bacon from the centre section.

The first stage is the butchery.  We remove the shoulder and leg for sausage meat and then set to work on the centre.  Streaky bacon is made from the belly so we separate the lower portion, remove the flank steak and spare ribs, skin it and put it to one side for curing and smoking. Back bacon comes from the portion inside the rib cage and requires some careful de-boning.

Once you have finished de-boning the ribcage you are left with a great set of ribs for a barby and a number of pieces for curing.  Don't worry about any smaller bits as they will be the pancetta.  The next stage is to cure the meat.  We use the Strawbridge cure which is as follows. 

Strawbridge Bacon Cure recipe

For every 3kgs of meat
Boil 5 litres of water
Add 1kg of salt and 350g of sugar (Alternatively use 150g of sugar and 250ml of maple syrup if you have it)
Dissolve and allow to cool in a plastic container large enough for all the meat and cure
Drop in the meat and keep submerged with plates on top
Cure for 24 hours rotating the meat occasionally

After 24hrs remove the meat from the container and pat it dry with paper towels.  Fit hooks for hanging then fire up the cold smoker.  We use fruit wood chips either cherry or apple for our smoke.  We smoke for about 6 hours then remove the meat, wrap in foil and plonk in the fridge for 24 hours.  It is then ready to be sliced for bacon or cubed for Pancetta.