Wednesday 14 March 2012

Mak'n Bac'n

Something we've wanted to do in a while, is try our hand at home curing. We finally got our acts together in January and bought us some pork from Tablehurst, the wonderful bidynamic farm in the Ashdown Forest that we go to occasionally.

I followed a recipe from one of our home craft type books - I don't have the weights but I mixed curing salt, sea salt, raw brown sugar, juniper berries, peppercorns and some herbs (thyme and rosemary) together and made sure I got it all over the belly (the pig's, not mine!)





We then left it for 2 weeks, covered in muslin in the fridge (although a cold larder will do) and occasionally drained the liquid. After 2 weeks I tried a bit - it was very salty - so I soaked it in cold water over night. The finished product was deeeeeelicious!



After about a week it started to smell a little so we used it up quite quickly. I'm not sure whether I should have put more cure on it or whether that's how quickly it goes if you don't hang it in the salt for longer. I have read, in Home Farmer magazine, that you should entirely cover it in the cure (lots and lots of cure) so I'll try that next time but a reat first attempt!

3 comments:

  1. Hello pretty lady (loved your dress!). Sorry I couldn't invite you in - was in the middle of making Tim a massive fat breakfast/lunch. Hope your mum likes all the fabric. :-)

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  2. Thank you, I was taking advantage of the first summer-dress day!

    No probs at all. It was lovely to get a sneak peak at your house - So lovely, I now have house envy and we both absolutely loved Danehill. Such a beautiful place! Added to the "places I would like to live" list...you might find yourself with a new neighbour at some point ;-)

    I'm sure she will. She's looking forward to having a good rummage.

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  3. Eeeeww meat! Well done though, I think!

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