Making your own bacon at home is simpler than you might think. Finding a fresh pork belly used to be difficult, but now most specialty shops and stores like Whole Foods Market carry them or can order them for you. Also check with your pork producers at the local farmers’ market. You can really custom-tailor your bacon to your likes with savory, sweet, and heat. Use these recipes as a starting point and then have some fun. Just keep the salt ratios intact.
I thank Michael Ruhlman at least once a week for his wonderful book Charcuterie, which has taken this European tradition and introduced it to American cookery. Had it not been for Michael, I would never have started making my own bacon. But I’m here to tell you that once you’ve done it, you will be hard pressed to ever pick up another pound of processed store-bought bacon again. There really is that much difference. I encourage you to try this recipe. I think you’ll become a convert like me—great bacon is best made at home.
From BACON: a Savor the South® cookbook by Fred Thompson. Copyright © 2016 by Fred Thompson. Used by permission of the publisher. www.uncpress.org