I started by acquiring the bacon-making meat at a place called Nittany Meats, which is a butcher shop in Zion. The guys at Nittany Meats tell me that the pig I bought came from somewhere near Indiana, PA. They stock meat from local and regional sources, but apparently most of the pork comes from Western PA during this season. What I got is called a "pork belly," and is the strip of meat that runs in front of the ribs.
(For the record, "bacon" doesn't have to be pork. But in this case, and usually, it is.)
The photo is of my ingredients and tools laid out for bacon-making.
Left to right, there's:
1. The dish in which I will be curing everything (I promise to get that back to you soon, Aunt Linda)
2. Morton's Salt
3. Pepper Mill -- when we used the fresh-ground stuff, it's an international mix from Williams-Sonoma.
4. The red mixing bowl in which I mix up the cure.
5. Two Sisters gourmet -- "peppery mix"
6. The salt mill -- about half of the salt used is sea salt that I hand ground.
7. Two knives. I'm embarrassed to admit that my swanky Henckels santuko is awfully dull, and I had to bring in the bonus Cutco knife to finish the job.
8. Paper towels.
9. Freezer-sized Ziplock bags.
As you can see, I've split one pork belly into three slabs. We'll be trying three different cures.
The photo is of my ingredients and tools laid out for bacon-making.
Left to right, there's:
1. The dish in which I will be curing everything (I promise to get that back to you soon, Aunt Linda)
2. Morton's Salt
3. Pepper Mill -- when we used the fresh-ground stuff, it's an international mix from Williams-Sonoma.
4. The red mixing bowl in which I mix up the cure.
5. Two Sisters gourmet -- "peppery mix"
6. The salt mill -- about half of the salt used is sea salt that I hand ground.
7. Two knives. I'm embarrassed to admit that my swanky Henckels santuko is awfully dull, and I had to bring in the bonus Cutco knife to finish the job.
8. Paper towels.
9. Freezer-sized Ziplock bags.
As you can see, I've split one pork belly into three slabs. We'll be trying three different cures.
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