Hello, and welcome to Le Gourmet TV. Today, we are going to start a process that I have never done before and we are going to make bacon. I was over at Ted Reader's house, not too long ago, and he served up some of the bacon that he had made, and I thought, Ted's Bacon was really good. And he told me that it wasn't that difficult to make.
So, I am going to attempt it. And doing a little bit of reading, it doesn't seem that it is that difficult to make. It's just a little bit of long process, and that I'll make a dry rub today. I'll rub it into the pork belly, I'll put it into the fridge,7 to 9 days from now, I'll take it out of the fridge and I'll smoke it. So, overall it really doesn't take too much of your time, but it is a fairly lengthy process. This is just about making an absolutely incredible tasting bacon. So much better than most of the commercially available bacon out there. So let's get started.
In this bowl, I have got Coarse Kosher Salt. So this is a non-iodized salt, very important to start with that. And I have got about a two cups here. Now there is a whole pile of different ratios out there, in all kinds of different recipes that I read. And I am going to start out with something that I may end up with too much of the dry rub for the amount of pork that I have got. I have got about 10 pounds of belly. 5.1 kilos, so almost 12 pounds of belly. And I don't really know how much rub, I am going to need. So maybe just a little bit extra.
So I have got about two cups of salt. I am going to add in a cup-and-a-half of brown sugar, and then about three-quarters of a cup of maple syrup. So, we are going to mix this up. So, this is just one way to make bacon. There is also a brining method where you're actually making a brine, like you'd brine a turkey and you slip the pork bellies into that.
Generally, everything that I read, points to the dry cure as being much tastier. Although, it takes a longer time to cure, and since, it's just sitting in the fridge, a week really isn't that big of a deal. Great! So, the cure is mixed together, and now it's time to deal with the pork belly. I have got two pieces here, and I think, they are just little bit too large to manage, so I am going to cut those down a little bit. I just get a knife here. So, this is fresh Ontario pork belly, and it's been provided to me today by Homegrown Ontario. I think that's it's really important to buy locally produced meat. It didn't have to travel very far. This was produced on a small farm, sustainable practices, and I think that's something that we all should support.
So, I am just going to cut these two in half. So I have got four pieces, just a little bit more manageable. And this is pork belly with the rind on. So the skin is still on here. So, that's it, any you can kind of see the texture here of what will become bacon. It looks fantastic. I am going to get a half sheet and put it on the counter here, because I have a feeling that as I rub this mixture into the pork belly, I am going to get it everywhere.
So, the first piece, just take a handful and rub it in. Okay, so I have got the cure rubbed into the pork belly, both sides all around got it in the every nook and cranny. Still got a little bit left over, but not that much. Now, what I am going to do is put these, each of these pieces into a heavy duty freezer bag. It's kind of messy. Try not to get the cure everywhere, on the outside of the bag which is maybe a little bit of chore.
So just force as much air as possible out of the bags, and seal them. Now it's just a waiting game. So I am going to take these four bags I am going to put them into the fridge for the next 7 to 9 days, and everyday, I am just going open up the fridge and turn the bags over. You really want to make sure that the cure is getting into every part of this pork belly. So, I guess I'll see you back here a week from now.
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