Homemade Bacon

Homemade Bacon

The recipe:

Go to Local Harvest. Find a farmer near you who offers pasture-raised pigs, such as this one. No, that’s not where I got my pork, but my farmer doesn’t have a website. Ask for a half or a quarter — this will cost a couple hundred $$ but in my neck of the woods that’s actually cheap (esp. considering the long-term benefits of feeding my family well). I love getting the cuts that other people won’t — they’re a bargain and they make for some good eating.

Make sure you get some pork belly. Sliced. Thin or thick, your choice. Specify that you want it uncured. This is key, and sometimes you have to repeat yourself several times before they understand. It’s not that the farmer is dense, but that most customers DON’T ask for this kind of thing (they want their bacon ready to cook) so if you say uncured they may think you don’t know what you’re talking about and give you cured stuff — which, even if it comes from sustainably raised pigs, will likely still contain carcinogenic ingredients like nitrites, etc. which you don’t want in your body. I know because it happened to me once, getting the cured version inadvertently, I mean. So now I make sure the farmer understands exactly what I want.

Take your pork belly, and marinate it in just enough vinegar to moisten it (it shouldn’t be dripping or soaking, plus garlic (minced or mashed to a paste), some salt to taste, and black pepper. If you want bacon a tad sweet, add maple syrup or brown sugar — just the teeniest bit or your bacon will burn — right before cooking. Or, I’d brush it on the last few minutes of cooking. Pineapple juice is good too .

Back to the marination. Do that overnight (or two nights). Bake on a parchment-lined baking sheet in a 350 degree F oven, in one layer, for 15 minutes or so. Drain on paper towels and serve. Yum yum. Your kids will love you, if they don’t already.