I’ve gone for a more British cure this time. Clearly in this flat I’d get in trouble for a actually Smoking Cured Meats and the yellow tinge on the ceilings would not be welcome. So I’ve improvised, as ever…..

Ingredients:-

1 Kg of Pork Lion, with some of the fat and rind removed (We’ll be making Pork scratchings out of that bit!)
30g of Salt
2g of Saltpetre
3 Tbsp of Smoked Paprika
4 Tbsp of Paprika
1Tsp of Turmeric

Method:-

(1) Cut the rind and the greater part of the fat off. You can make outstanding crackling from this bit!
(2) Mix the rub ingredients in a large bowl.
(3) Coat the meat evenly on all sides and pummel a bit. (Think of somebody who has done you wrong!)
(4) Place in a box with a lid. It doesn’t need to be air tight.
(5) Pop in the fridge and turn every day for the first week.
(6) After a week remove the lid and turn weekly to absorb any remaining juices.
(7) At 2 months / 8 weeks you’ll have the best Bacon you’ve ever tasted. The longer you leave it, the better it gets.

Notes:-

The really fatty cut of Pork was good on this occasion because the fat cures along with the meat and will melt in the pan when the curing process is complete, adding flavour to whatever we cook it with.