It's BACON!!

We have finally finished our batch of bacon from the pig we butchered last week! I was getting really nervous about this because I didn't have the cure mix that I like for hams...so I decided to wing it with a different method. I used 2 Tablespoons brown sugar and 1 Tablespoon Tender Quick per pound, and did a dry cure method. I rotated the meat daily and we kept it in the cure for 6 days. Yesterday I pulled the meat from the cure and gave it a good rinse in cold water, then patted it dry.

Once it was dry, I handed it off to Bob to go into the smoker. There are 4 good slabs plus one small slab...that was an oops while cutting the carcass.It cold smoked for 3-4 hours using pecan wood.

Then it went back into the fridge overnight to cool and tighten before slicing. I am all about the tools when it comes to kitchen gadgets. I LOVE it when I have the right tool for the job whether it is pitting cherries or slicing meat. I try to get manual machines rather than electric, because I like to know that the tool is useful even if we have a power outtage. However, this meat slicer is an electrical appliance. Without it, I would not be able to cut the nice straight thick slices of this wonderful bacon! This is my newest appliance, I bought it earlier in the year for slicing large chunks of cheese and my home made pastrami and bologna. Today it got to taste bacon as well!

We cut nice thick slices...not the way the grocery stores sell it, but a nice piece of meat to go along side some fresh eggs fried up sitting next to a slice of homemade bread toasted to a golden brown, slathered in fresh butter and home made jam. Sorry. I got carried away.

Which is exactly what happens when you bite into one of these tasty morsels!It took a lot of work to get to this point. We bought the pigs on March 12, and butchered the boar on August 22. The gilt is still here, we are hoping to get a litter of piglets sometime within the next 3 months; but for now....I'm ready for breakfast!