Ingredients

• Pork belly (keep the rind and ribs attached if you intend to hang your meat after it is cured)
• Salt (a few cups is all you will need)

Spices (optional) such as:

• bay leaves
• chillies
• crushed juniper berries
• peppercorns

Tools you will need

• Plastic container big enough to hold your pork belly. Note: Do not use a metal container
• Cool place to store your pork while it cures

Curing times

Cure the meat for :
• 3-4 days for breakfast bacon rashers
• 7 days maximum for bacon that can be hung outside to dry until it is used. Note: This is very salty, and I wouldn’t recommend it if you intend to store your bacon in the fridge

What to do

1. Mix the spices into the salt
2. Rub a few handfuls of the salt onto the pork belly, including the outer skin, and into all the crevices
3. Place the pork into the container and into the fridge or a cool place (as salt is a natural preservative, this is fine)
4. Every day, pour the liquid that wells in the bottom of the container out, and sprinkle a small amount of salt onto the pork in places that appear to be wet
5. After you have cured the meat for the number of days required, wash the salt from the bacon
6. Pat the bacon dry
7. Hang the bacon in a cool airy place, or wrap and store it in the fridge

Smoking bacon

If you have a smoker, you can then go onto smoking your bacon.