The Things We Take For Granted - My Dad's Bacon

Meat Burner said:

Bo, did you have a chance to sample any of that bacon today?

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I sure did. The flavor was like a time machine that took me back years ago sitting around my parent's table eating breakfast with both of them and my brothers and sister. Now, it's not exactly like my Dad's and I am thinking about possible adjustments to the process I used to bring it more in line but it is so very close. As strange as it may seem, I kind of felt like the food critic in the movie "Ratatouille." A major thing I want to replicate is the rind. As you can see in the pic, the dark "outline" on the top of the bacon slice is the rind and it is delicious. My Dad's bacon had a little thicker rind on it than mine, so I may have to talk to my butcher about that detail.

I bought a new camera and all of the pics I took of the bacon after it was sliced and cooked were taken with it. Unfortunately, the camera hasn't lived up to expectations and the pics were grainy and the color was off. So, I will have to post some pics that will be taken with my old camera soon. In the meantime, this is the best of the photos I took with the soon to be returned to where I bought it camera.

denniscloutier said:

That Looks Awesome.

What is the texture of the rind like? Hard, chewy, crunchy??

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It's hard and crunchy. I used to like to crunch on it when I was sopping up the remnants of an egg with a biscuit.

jasonjax said:

I'm gonna hug my dad next time I see him!

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That's great to hear! You know what? I never thought this thread would strike such chords in people.

The most important people in our lives should be treasured and we should let them know how much they mean to us while we can let them know. When you lose one of them, it's a painfaul loss and they can never be replaced. So, I'm glad that you will be reaching out to your Dad like that. As a father myself, I bet he will appreciate it much more than he will ever tell you he does.

OK, Brethren, here are some pics of the first batch.





I will be posting some followup info soon.

Thanks for looking.

Roguejim said:

Bo,

Could the pork belly be hung in a fridge, thereby eliminating the liquid in the bags?

Would you consider writing down the steps of the curing/smoking process so that it could be printed out by us guys that would like to try it ourselves? Thanks.

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Certainly it could be hung in a fridge. That is what I would prefer to do but I don't have a fridge that can accomodate it.

Making bacon is something that shouldn't be done without some research since if it's done incorrectly it can result in some serious illnesses. I'd suggest that if you want to make your own bacon pick up a good book on the sibject. "Charcuterie: The Craft of Salting, Smoking, and Curing" by Ruhlman and Polcyn is a good one.

Here is a pic of the bacon sliced using the meat slicer my Dad gave me. I sliced all of the bacon, wrapped it in plastic, and put it in the freezer. I am very pleased with the bacon and will be making more as I need it.



Here is a pic of the site at the back end of a field in my Dad's property where he used to keep his hog pen.



This is a pic of the site of the original smoke house. It was under the tree in the center of this pic.



In the late '70s, my Dad built this cinder block building and used it as the smoke house. It isn't used for that nowadays. If you look closely at the left end you can see where a door has been removed and blocks installed. That is where the door was for the portion of the building that was used to smoke the pork.



I was talking to my Dad recently about curing pork and he told me that when he was younger living at home his father would raise hogs, cure the meat and sell the bacon, hams, loins, and shoulders and use the money to buy fat back, sugar, salt, and pepper. He said he rarely ever had ham when he was young. His parents would plant their own wheat and corn and have it ground for flour and they would raise sorghum and have it pressed and boiled down to make syrup.

He told me that every year a man would come through the community with a mule drawn sorghum press. Everyone would bring their sorghum to the place where the press was set up and the sorghum would be pressed to extract the juice that was collected in large pans. I googled sorghum press and found these pics. My Dad said that by the time every one's sorghum was pressed the muled would have wore a circular trench where he was walking to turn the mechanism in the machine.



My Dad described a "boiler" that would hold an 8 foot log that was set on fire. Over the fire were three large pots that the syrup was cooked in to thicken it. This is a pic of one of those sorghum cookers.



When every one's sorghum was pressed and simmered down to syrup, the press was packed up and the mule would pull it to the next community.