Smoke your own bacon
If not for Aristotle, I might have felt pretty bad about myself when I tasted my brother-in-law’s homemade bacon a couple of years ago.
He had shipped me a slab of it from Indiana, where he lives, and asked for my opinion. Its umber complexion was gorgeous, as if it had spent a week at a tanning salon. The texture was so firm, you might swear it had been working out. The capper? That dizzying scent of a perfect smoke.
I had tried making bacon years earlier, and when it never seemed to come out right -- it was either too hammy tasting, too salty or too something else -- I had given up. So when I sizzled up a slice of my brother-in-law’s slab and took a bite, I went from zero to jealous before I even digested.
And that is where Aristotle comes in. “Jealousy is both reasonable and belongs to reasonable men,” he wrote, “while envy is base and belongs to the base, for the one makes himself get good things by jealousy, while the other does not allow his neighbor to have them through envy.”
I took the words to heart and turned my reasonable jealousy into a commitment to make myself get a good thing: better homemade bacon.
I’m not the only one on such a quest. In this golden age of bacon, sales are growing every year (and now top $4 billion annually), bacon obsessives praise the singular qualities of Benton’s from Tennessee, Nueske’s from Wisconsin and Niman Ranch from California; and the flimsy, fatty stuff you loved as a kid has been all but replaced in your local supermarket case by thick-cut bacon, center-cut bacon, premium-cut bacon. (That’s not to mention a proliferation of products that includes bacon soda, bacon vodka, bacon ice cream, bacon pet treats and even bacon dresses.)
It was only a matter of time before a certain subset of bacon lovers started trying to get in on the action at home.
Up until six or seven years ago, Union Meats in Washington’s Eastern Market sold about one fresh pork belly for every 20 salted ones. Then things began to change. “It started with all the chefs doing things on TV, and it just took off,” said co-owner Bill Glasgow. These days, the equation has flipped, with Union Meats selling 20 fresh pork bellies -- about 50 pounds a week -- for every salted one.
It turns out that bacon is one of the easiest impress-your-friends things you can make -- once you know how. You cure a pork belly for a week, then smoke it. But if you take too many liberties with the steps (or the ingredients in that cure), you can go wrong.
“Keep it simple,” advised Jason Story, co-owner of Straw Stick & Brick Delicatessen in Washington, which specializes in house-cured and smoked meats. (Until recently, the operation was called Three Little Pigs, but it changed its name when New York’s Les Trois Petits Cochons huffed and puffed and blew the name down by filing a trademark infringement lawsuit.)
The advice may sound strange coming from Story, a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America. The shop, which he operates with his wife, Carolina, has made donut bacon, honey Sriracha bacon, even something they called cinnamon roll bacon. But that’s only because Story is good enough at curing meats to complicate matters and still have them come out great. As time went on, though, he wanted to challenge himself to make the best version of the classics.
“We learned,” said Story, who teaches classes in baconmaking at their store. “It’s easy to be the best in something if no one else is doing it. I want to be the best at doing something that everyone is doing.”
These days, he offers basic styles, such as breakfast bacon cured with salt, dark brown sugar, black peppercorns and curing salt; a maple bacon; and a black pepper-coated bacon.
Truth is, you have to master the basics before you can branch out. And when I first made bacon, I didn’t know how I was messing things up beacuse I failed to pay close attention. Even after I tasted my brother-in-law’s bacon and my jealousy motivated me to try again, my next attempt wasn’t quite right. That time, I had learned to pay attention, so I knew exactly where I had gone wrong.
I had added too much salt to the cure and left it on the meat too long, so my bacon came out tasting overly sharp. Since then, I’ve been careful to watch my proportions.
That doesn’t mean I haven’t gotten a little wacky with herbs and spices. It’s fun to experiment. (Za’atar bacon, anybody? Kinda cool. Once.) Like Story, though, I believe that developing a great basic cure is the way to go, because then the bacon you end up with is that much more versatile.
The main ingredient in a cure, salt, functions primarily to kill bacteria and thus act as a preservative. To prevent botulism (a relatively rare foodborne illness most often caused by improper home canning), sodium nitrite in the form of curing salt is often also used in cured and processed meats. But because bacon is fried before eating, botulism isn’t an issue, so the use of curing salt is considered optional.
Curing salt is pink (to distinguish it from table salt). The type used in bacon is pink salt 1 ( 2 is for longer cures), and it gives the bacon a rosy color and, some say, a characteristic bacon flavor. I have made lots of bacon, some with and some without pink salt 1, and I don’t think there is a significant difference in the flavor of the meat. Sometimes I use it for the color, sometimes not.
BACON RECIPES
Savory Smoked Bacon
2 1/2 pounds skinless pork belly (see note)
2 tablespoons kosher salt
1 tablespoon coarsely ground black pepper
1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves (may substitute 2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves, rinsed and dried)
1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/4 teaspoon chipotle powder
1/2 teaspoon pink curing salt (optional; see note)
Makes 40 think slices.
Rinse the belly and dry it thoroughly. Trim it so that it forms a long rectangle. (Reserve/freeze the excess pieces to add to beans or greens.)
Combine the kosher salt, black pepper, thyme, cayenne pepper, allspice, chipotle powder and pink salt, if using, in a gallon-size zip-top bag. Add the pork belly and seal, pressing out as much air as possible. Massage to distribute the curing mix evenly. Refrigerate for 7 days; turn the bag over once a day.
Rinse the cure from the meat, and pat the meat dry with paper towels. Let the meat air-dry in the refrigerator for 8 to 24 hours.
Soak a cup of apple wood chips (preferably) or hickory or cherry wood chips in water for 1 hour.
Prepare the grill for indirect heat. If using a gas grill, turn the heat to high. Drain the chips and put them in a smoker box or foil packet poked with a few fork holes to release the smoke; set it between the grate and the briquettes, close to the flame. When you see smoke, reduce the heat to medium-high (450 degrees). Turn off the burners on one side.
If using a charcoal grill, light the charcoal or briquettes; when the briquettes are ready, distribute them on one side of the grill. For a medium-hot fire, you should be able to hold your hand 6 inches above the coals for 4 or 5 seconds. Scatter the wood chips over the coals. Have ready a spray water bottle for taming any flames.
Place the pork belly on the indirect-heat side of the grill. Close the lid and cook/smoke for 1 hour. Slide an instant-read thermometer into one side of the belly; when the bacon is done, its internal temperature should register 150 degrees. If it is below that, smoke for about 30 more minutes, but don’t worry about the exact internal temperature of the meat; you are just giving it smoke for flavor.
Transfer the slab of bacon to a cutting board; once it has cooled completely, wrap it in aluminum foil and refrigerate for at least 4 hours and up to 1 week. Before using, set the bacon in the freezer for about 10 minutes; chilled bacon is easier to slice.
Fry thin slices in a skillet over medium heat for about 4 minutes per side, until crisp. Drain on a paper-towel-lined plate.
Note: If the pork belly you find is skin-on, you can slice it off using a thin fillet knife, or ask your butcher to remove it.
Note: The optional pink curing salt called for here (not the same thing as pink Himalayan salt) adds color; it is available online via Amazon.com.
Sweet Smoked Bacon
2 1/2 pounds skinless pork belly (see note)
2 tablespoons molasses
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
3 tablespoons kosher salt
1/2 cup unsweetened apple cider
1/2 cup bourbon
1 tablespoon coarsely ground black pepper
1 teaspoon pink curing salt (optional; see note)
Makes 40 thin slickes.
Rinse the belly and dry it thoroughly. Trim it so that it forms a long rectangle. (Save the excess pieces to add to beans or greens.)
Combine the molasses, brown sugar, kosher salt, cider, bourbon, black pepper and pink salt, if using, in a gallon-size zip-top bag. Add the pork belly and seal, pressing out as much air as possible. Massage to distribute the curing mix evenly. Refrigerate for 7 days; turn the bag over once a day.
Rinse the cure from the meat and pat dry with paper towels. Let the meat air dry in the refrigerator from 8 to 24 hours.
Soak a cup of apple wood chips (preferably) or hickory or cherry wood chips in water for 1 hour.
Prepare the grill for indirect heat. If using a gas grill, turn the heat to high. Drain the chips and put them in a smoker box or foil packet poked with a few fork holes to release the smoke, and set between the grate and the briquettes, close to the flame. When you see smoke, turn the heat to medium-high (450 degrees). Turn off the burners on one side.
If using a charcoal grill, light the charcoal or briquettes; when the briquettes are ready, distribute them on one side of the grill. For a medium-hot fire, you should be able to hold your hand 6 inches above the coals for 4 or 5 seconds. Scatter the wood chips over the coals. Have ready a spray water bottle for taming any flames.
Place the pork belly on the indirect-heat side of the grill. Close the lid and cook/smoke for 1 hour. Slide an instant-read thermometer into one side of the belly; when the bacon is done, its internal temperature should register 150 degrees. If it is below that, smoke for about 30 more minutes, but don’t worry about the exact internal temperature of the meat; you are just giving it smoke for flavor.
Transfer the bacon to a cutting board; once it has cooled completely, wrap the slab of bacon in aluminum foil and refrigerate for at least 4 hours and up to 1 week. Before using, set the bacon in the freezer for about 10 minutes; chilled bacon is easier to slice.
Fry thin slices in a skillet over medium heat for about 4 minutes per side until crisp. Drain on a paper-towel-lined plate.
Note: If the pork belly you find is skin-on, you can slice it off using a thin fillet knife, or ask your butcher to remove it.
Note: The optional pink curing salt called for here (not the same thing as pink Himalayan salt) adds color; it is available online via Amazon.com.
World’s Best BLT
FOR THE SAUCE:
Scant1/4 cup regular or low-fat sour cream
1 tablespoon regular or low-fat mayonnaise
1/2 medium jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced (1 tablespoon)
1 teaspoon fresh lime juice
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh cilantro leaves
1/4 teaspoon minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
FOR THE SANDWICH:
8 slices thin bacon, preferably homemade
2 slices fresh bread, toasted
3 slices ripe tomato, or enough to cover the bacon
4 thin slices fresh avocado (optional)
2 leaves crisp iceberg or romaine lettuce
Serves one to two.
For the sauce: Whisk together the sour cream, mayonnaise, half of the minced jalapeno (to start), the lime juice, cilantro, garlic and salt in a bowl. Taste, and add some or all of the remaining jalapeno. (You may instead pulse all the ingredients in a mini food processor no more than three times; the sauce’s texture should remain a little coarse.)
For the sandwich: Line a plate with paper towels.
Lay the bacon strips in a large skillet or on a wide griddle (or work in batches, as needed). Place over medium heat; cook for 3 to 4 minutes per side or just until crisp. Transfer to the paper-towel-lined plate to drain.
Slather about 1 1/2 teaspoons of the jalapeno sauce on one side of each toasted slice of bread. Lay the bacon on one sauced side, then layer the tomato slices over the bacon so they cover the meat completely. Add the avocado, if using, then the lettuce leaves. Top with the remaining slice of bread, sauced side down.
For easier serving, use a toothpick to anchor each sandwich half before cutting. Serve right away with potato chips and a pickle.