Useful

**Excognito** · 08-02-2012, 18:50

Any recommendations for someone in the Surrey / W Sussex area?

**vinniethemanxcat** · 08-02-2012, 19:19

Aldi do a "special" drycure streaky which is pretty good.... it's £1.99 for a small pack, but you get value and good quality.

Haven't made any for a while now, but you can make your own streaky in a week from belly pork.... get it from a freezer centre and get them to cut out the ribs (Sticky chinese sauce) and it's best skinned as well, after a week's salting its like trying to cut through an old boot.

**Chef** · 09-02-2012, 00:13

Thanks a lot chaps, plenty to go on there, I shall have to have a go at making my own, as well.

Back jn the 70s, the trade papers advertised saline injectors for pork and poultry, the message being 'Why sell meat when you can sell water?' The ads were withdrawn but the damage had been done.

**putteesinmyhands** · 09-02-2012, 00:23

If you're going to tell tales of the old days, you could relate how an ACC Chef could turn this:

into this:

But don't forget to relate the "One slice" mantra.

**ugly** · 09-02-2012, 16:01

Easy to make bacon, I get my belly from a hobby pig farmer locally who doesnt like the belly for free and use it for sausage filling or bacon. Old Berkshires is the breed!

**Blokeonabike** · 09-02-2012, 16:07

Civvy Pete got it right. You need dry cure bacon. Most modern bacon is wet cured - that is to say salt water is injected into the meat to speed up the curing process. It is this excess salt water that then come sout as white "scum" when you cook it. It also means dry cure bacon will shrink less and yield more meat when cooked.

**Pigshyt_Freeman** · 09-02-2012, 16:10

This is a very good guide to dry-curing your own (tho personally I add a bit of 5-spice to the cure mix as well):

Dry-curing bacon - The Accidental Smallholder

**Ulster_Rifleman** · 09-02-2012, 16:52

Buy your bacon in Norn Iron (although that has probably also gone the supermarket way by now). Whatever you do don't expect to get proper bacon in Bonnie Scotland.

**vinniethemanxcat** · 09-02-2012, 16:58

Originally Posted by Pigshyt_Freeman

This is a very good guide to dry-curing your own (tho personally I add a bit of 5-spice to the cure mix as well):

Dry-curing bacon - The Accidental Smallholder

That's pretty much like mine.... I liked to add some crunched up bay leaves and juniper berries.