Home-Cured Pork Belly Recipe (2024)

FAQs

How long does pork belly take to cure? ›

Arrange a metal rack on a sheet pan with sides and place the meat on the rack, to allow airflow. Leave it in the refrigerator for a week. Turn it over daily and pour off any liquid. The tesa is ready when the salts have penetrated to the center, one to two weeks depending on how thick the belly is.

It is absolutely possible to cure bacon without nitrates; but be aware that the end product will be more the color of cooked pork and that the flavor will be akin to that of a pork roast. With or without the pink salt, homemade bacon is worth the effort.

Home-Cured Bacon

You can get by with all kosher or sea salt, but the bacon will look like well-cooked pork (grayish), taste more like salty pork than like bacon, and will keep for only a week in the fridge. You can easily double this recipe, and freeze whatever you won't eat within two weeks.

The brine can start to break down the meat, resulting in a texture that's overly-salty and mushy. It's not a pleasant experience. So if you do accidentally leave the pork chops brining for longer than recommended, you can try your luck and cook them anyway, but your results won't be as good as you'd hoped.

Cured pork belly is a versatile ingredient in the kitchen. It can be eaten raw, in sandwiches and tapas, or cooked, as an ingredient in stews and other dishes. If you prefer to eat it raw, it is important to cut it into thin slices and serve it at room temperature.

The Curing Process. The old-fashioned way to cure meat simply involves completely covering the meat with salt for one to five days. The size of the piece of meat and the curing method you choose will determine how long the process takes.

1 pink salt is used to cure all meats that require cooking, brining, smoking, or canning. This includes poultry, fish, ham, bacon, luncheon meats, corned beef, pates, and other products. It is 93.75 percent table salt and 6.25 percent sodium nitrite. It is used at a rate of 1 teaspoon per 5 pounds of ground meat.

If you don't have or don't want to use curing salt containing sodium nitrite, you can brine meats without it. Without curing salt that contains sodium nitrite, the color of the cured meat will be gray rather than pink and the flavor is less sweet with a more pronounced “pickle” flavor.

To cure pork, start by mixing water, sugar, and salt in a large pot. Then, add bay, pepper, clove, allspice, garlic, and thyme to the pot. Once you've prepared the curing mixture, put the pork in the pot and weigh it down with a plate so it's completely submerged.

What can I use in place of curing salt? ›

What is a substitute for curing salt? Celery juice powder and celery powder are natural substitutes for curing salt.

For an extra boost of flavor and preservation, after seasoning, most bacon is placed into a smoker. If a smoker is not used, the meat is instead put into a conventional oven or left to air dry in cold temperatures for weeks or sometimes months!

Bacon must first be dry rubbed and cured for about 7-10 days. And while you can slice and fry it immediately after curing, American-style bacon is usually smoked to give it flavor. Here, I offer three ways to smoke the baco: full-on grill smoking, oven roasting with liquid smoke, or a combination of the two.

Check the belly to see if it's done curing. Press on it in several spots to see if it is firm. If it is not firm all over, let it cure for another day or two.

For dry-cured products, cure 7 days per inch of thickness. For example, if the thickest part of the ham measures 5 inches, then the ham will take 35 days to cure (7 days per inch × 5 inches = 35 days). The best temperature for curing meat is 32 to 40°F.

Cured bacon is pork belly preserved with salt and artificial chemical additives, particularly nitrates and nitrites, such as sodium nitrate and sodium nitrite. The curing process turns pork belly into bacon. Curing is a way to preserve meat, extend its shelf life, and prevent spoilage, bacterial growth, and botulism.

Dry-cured pork belly becomes its most tender and flavorful when it is first sautéed, then cooked (braised or simmered) in a liquid such as stock, pot likker, or soup. Dry heat is good for rendering fat and crisping, but the pork will be tough until it is braised.