If you have made your bacon or cooked your hogs, you probably know how delicious homemade bacon can be. English bacon is different, yet it’s simple to make at home if you own a smoker.
After slaughtering a few hogs in my home, I asked my family and acquaintances for suggestions on cuts I could make using various pork parts. The friend I was with, Mathew Normansell, who is British, has mentioned British bacon or British Back Bacon. The name of English rashers could also refer to them.
I smoke mine while the spine is still attached, so that I can take it off for soup.
WHAT’S ENGLISH BACON?
American bacon ( called streaky bacon) is made of pork belly. English back bacon created from the loin. In the photos, the bacon resembles thinly cut pork chops. And that’s precisely what it is.
A finished slice after smoking. Note the nice layer of fat on top. With a scalded pig, this will be a lot more fatty.
English bacon is a a piece of meat cut off the middle, with the attached fat cap. This creates a beautiful mix of fat to the core. It’s similar to Canadian bacon but with American bacon.
Cooks up just like any other bacon, with a little less rendered fat, of course.
HOW TO CUT ENGLISH BACON
The blue square below shows the rib-less portion of the loin, which will become the basis of your English bacon. If you need a refresher, look at the following video tutorial on the whole butchery of a pig.
The animal should be cut in two through the spine.
Lay the hog’s half-cut side up on the table.
Cut the belly in one piece and cut it in half using an electric handsaw to create straight cuts.
Locate the loin from which ribs begin.
The rib-less third of the loin. This will be your English bacon.
HOW TO COOK ENGLISH BACON
Cook UK bacon like regular bacon, or consume it as Ham. English bacon is a crucial element of an English breakfast, as are cooked tomatoes, beans, eggs, and black pudding. If you ca unable to make time to make a complete English breakfast, you can eat it by itself with toast and eggs or in a bacon sandwich, such as BLT.
English Bacon
A simple smoked English bacon recipe. It’s not the most conventional, but you’ll never care you’ll never care once you’ve had a bit. Prep Time20minutes, 20 minutes, Cook Time3hours, six days d Total Time6 days d 3 hours hrs 20 minutes minicourse Food: Appetizer, Breakfast Cuisine: EnglishKeyword: Bacon, Charcuterie Servings: 12 servings Calories servings Calories Alan Bergo
Ingredients
1 Rib-less pork loin roast, approximately 3-4 pounds, not including the fat cap.
8 1 oz brown sugar.
4 oz kosher salt.
10 grams (or 1.5 teaspoons sodium pink Nitrite.
Half teaspoon cloves of fresh garlic.
1/2 teaspoon of allspice whole.
1/2 teaspoon grated Nutmeg.
One teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper.
Instructions
Mix the spices and grind them to an excellent powder using the spice grinder. Then, mix in the pink salt and sugar.
Set the roast on its side to ensure the fat caps face upwards. Cut the fat 14 inches deep with an open-hatch pattern. Flip it over and cut it close to the spine or bone slightly as if you were about to begin removing the bone. Use a paring knife, cutting the bone about an inch or two of, which makes it easier for the cure to to be absorbed, and provide an idea of the area to cut the bone to remove it after you are sure that the “bacon” is done smoking.
Rub the meat thoroughly to coat it with cure rubbing it into all the crevices and crannies. Then, place in a zip-loc bag or vacuum sealer in the fridge for five days, frequently rotating to spread the juices.
In the next five days, separate your pork of the juice, wash and pat dry, then keep it refrigerated for at least an hour, and prefer to leave it overnight, covered to help form a skin that can take in smoke, referred to in the term pellicle.
Smoke the meat, on the fat side, at 225 degrees for 3 hours until it is slightly browned and entirely done (145-150F)* After cooling, remove the bone, cut off portions, vacuum seal, and refrigerate or freeze until you need it.
Notes
I cook it through because it’s delicious, cut thin, and shaved after cooking. It’s great on sandwiches, etc. If you prefer a traditional style of smoking the loin, you can cold smoke it and chill it at the bottom of the freezer to it’s half-frozen so that it is easier to cut.