Bacon.

As a recent Facebook “Piece of Flair” notes: Bacon – The candy of meats.

I must say I agree, wholeheartedly. Well, if you’ve read my last entry (which was quite lengthy and I will understand if you did not), you’ll know that I have a book of charcuterie and, being the food nerd I am, I’ll be exploring all the wonders of preserved meats. Well, that day has arrived and I have begun my journey, beginning with (as astute readers will have already surmised) bacon.

I am lucky. Not in the gambling sense (I’m too miserly for that), but in the “blessed” sense. No, that sounds too churchy. What the hell is the term? I don’t know, so I guess lucky will have to fit. Anyway, there is a locally owned/operated business called “The Piggery” (www.thepiggery.net) that raises and butchers fantastic hogs (any pig over 160 pounds is considered mature and, therefore, a hog). All their hogs are pasture-raised and organic, which means they are allowed to forage for much of their own food and live a happily organic existence (seriously, check out The Piggery’s website). Well, I spoke with the owners and ordered a four pound slab of pork belly, to be picked up at their booth at the Ithaca Farmer’s Market on this Sunday past. When Heather pulled the slab out of the cooler, it was beautiful…truly, it was a nice piece of meat.

The next day, I began the curing process for my fresh bacon. I dredged the beast in the basic cure (kosher salt, dextrose (which is corn sugar…a bit finer than granulated), and a small amount of pink salt – sodium nitrite…to prevent botulism) and popped it in the fridge, where it will live for the next week or so. It’s a pretty low-maintenance process, requiring a flip every couple of days until the meat firms up to a uniform density at which point, it’s off to the smoker. Yes, I have a smoker which is technically a “hot smoker” meaning that the temperature in the smoking chamber will be above 100 degrees Fahrenheit. Later, when I tackle more involved meat-curing, I will have to figure out some sort of cold-smoking apparatus (no worries, I have an idea or two), which requires that the meat be smoked is in a chamber that stays below 100 degrees (preferably WELL below), allowing the meat to smoke much longer, without cooking it. The bacon will cook and smoke until it hits an internal temperature of 150 degrees. And then…well, the sky is the limit…

Thus far, I have flipped my meat once, happy with the progress of the cure pulling liquid from the meat and creating its own brine…all looks well. I have some photos of the meat-in-progress which I will post, eventually – probably in a montage of the whole process. In a week(ish), we’re looking forward to having some BLTs that are entirely home-made – lettuce and tomatoes from our garden, my bacon, and some of Louise’s magnificent bread……….drool.

Hmmm….what else? My trip to Buffalo to hang out with Mulligan and the Hoff was great. We made one foray to the Anchor Bar to try their wings (good, but not the most amazing things ever), then went back to his house to drink homebrew and talk “all night” (or until about midnight…we’re such old farts).

On the cheese front, I’m currently making some yogurt cheese. What is yogurt cheese, you ask? It’s easy and tasty. Take a large container of plain yogurt and put it into some cheesecloth, tie the corners and hang the package to drain. How long? However long you want – the longer it hangs, the firmer the texture. I let mine go for four or five hours at a time. After that, you can eat it as is, or what I do it drop it in a bowl and add some salt and herbs – it makes and awesome soft, even spreadable, cheese. Or, you could add a touch of sugar and some dried fruits for a tasty sweet spread.

More to come soon.

~ by mholl on August 28, 2008.