How To Guide: Bacon

Cured bacon

Overview

There are three main cuts used when making bacon rashers. These include:

• Streaky bacon – this cut comes from the belly. The name comes from the streaks of fat which reside in the rasher. The streaked fat adds a wealth of flavour to the rasher, as well as giving it a tasty crisp texture.
• Middle bacon – this cut comes from the “middle” section of the pig. It is a combination of streaky and back bacon.
• Back bacon – the UK’s most popular choice is taken from the loin so the cut is much leaner than the alternatives. Not only is it leaner, but it also has a mouth-wateringly thick, meaty texture.

Before any of these delicious cuts make it to your plate, they have to go through a variety of curing or smoking processes. There are two types of curing: dry curing and wet curing. As well as these two methods there are also a number of different techniques to choose from based on your personal preference.

Dry-cured bacon

Cuts are rubbed with a salt mix for several days and then cured for up to 20 days to allow the meat to mature. This removes all of the excess water, ensuring the bacon doesn’t shrink when cooking. The subtle flavour makes this bacon ideal for part of an English breakfast or scrumptious bacon butty.

Maple cured bacon

Maple syrup is added to both dry and wet cures but, allow up to 5 days for the curing process. This leaves the rashers with a unique, sweet caramelised flavour; the flavour is intensified when smoked. Perfect as an indulgent treat, it can easily be the centrepiece of a meal.

Smoked bacon

Smoking is usually carried out after the curing process is complete. Good quality bacon is often smoked over wood chippings, adding another level of succulent, smoky flavour. Oak smoked is the most popular variety, though chippings can come in a variety of options such as Beech, Cherry and Applewood.

Traditional

Traditional bacon is cured with traditional sugars like Muscovado, Demerara or Molasses. This creates a smoky aroma, making it a popular choice for enhancing a variety of ingredients like pasta and various salads. The distinctive taste is certainly a winner!

Wiltshire bacon is traditionally wet cured with the rind and bone still attached. It is immersed in a special brine for up to two days before it is matured for a further two weeks. The distinctive meaty texture brings a slight saltiness, complimenting other ingredients without overpowering them.

The process of making bacon can go in many different directions. Have a look at our bacon recipes collection to get ideas for your next bacon dish.

Facts about bacon

Bacon through the ages

• Until the 16th Century, bacon, or bacoun, was a Middle English term used to refer to pork in general. The term bacon comes from various Germanic and French dialects. It derives from the French bako, common Germanic bakkon and Old Teutonic backe, all of which refer to the back.
• British bacon is a large part of our national heritage; there are records of the Romans salting sides of bacon as early as 200BC. Julius Caesar brought his own bacon with him when he came to Britain in 55BC.
• The country’s earliest traditional breakfast, featuring bacon and eggs, dates all the way back to 1560.
• Roman soldiers received a ‘salarium’, a ration of salt, as part of their payment. Salt was a prized commodity due to its necessity for preserving meat. This is where the term ‘salary’ originated.

Bacon in literature

• In Shakespeare’s Henry IV, Falstaff urges action crying, ‘On bacons, on!’ referring to his peasant companions.
• Streaky bacon was first recorded in Charles Dickens’s ‘Oliver Twist’ in 1838.
• In The River Cottage Meat Book, Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall speaks of the universal adoration of bacon, adding ‘It’s no secret that almost every vegetarian admits they miss bacon’.

Bacon quotes

• US President Thomas Jefferson said: ‘I had rather be shut up in a very modest cottage with my books, my family and a few old friends, dining on simple bacon, and letting the world roll on as it liked, than to occupy the most splendid post, which any human power can give’.
• Hollywood actress Catherine Zeta-Jones noted: ‘My husband was doing a cardio workout at eight o’clock this morning when I was having a bacon sandwich. There’s nothing like a bacon butty when you come back to Wales – but he’s American.’