A Safer Bacon

I guess that’s about as much as one can say - safer - after all there are lots of reasons to hit at a ‘safe’ nomination - it’s meat, there’s fat, there’s the contamination with bugs and even worm infestation. But allowing for those the worst thing about preserved meats of which bacon is merely one, is the preservatives of the nitrate and nitrite denomination. Though it seems that in some ways these might aid the vascular system they have been associated with oesophageal and stomach cancer. On balance it seems to be a good idea to steer clear of meats preserved with nitrates and nitrites.

Perhaps one has to say maybe safer to be utterly honest. What I have to propose is a form of curing which is very low in salt and uses balsamic vinegar or upmarket soy sause.

What I have found to be the best cut of meat so far is in fact one of the cheapest and that is belly pork. In this country I buy it from Marks and Spencers as a slab in a clear plastic wrapper, usually with some coarse pepper, so you can see how fatty or other- wise it is. I choose pretty lean meat but some fat on or through it makes for a better tasting result.

Having tamari, Braggs Aminos or balsamic vinegar (hereafter called the marinade - for that is what it is - a marinade that is driven into the meat and not sitting on the outside as is usual)  with a marinade at hand I brush some onto the slab and some of it on the plate or board holding the meat, and with a sharp pointed knife stab I it many times. I turn it over and repeat - the stab holes sitting in a film or layer of what you have chosen to use. Now rub some over the cuts or bend the slab so some goes into the stab holes that now open.

Placing it on its edge, and bent into a U it sits in the top centre of the oven opposite the fan which usually sits centrally at the back.

The fan is alone is used and this is continues for some 10 to 20 hrs with repeated stabbing sessions and rubbing in every 2 or 3hrs. Timing is not critical

THE IMPORTANT THING IS NOT TO WORRY-IT WILL SLOWLY SHRINK AND GO BROWN AS IT DRIES.   

What drying does it to concentrate the natural flavours of the meat plus those that are in the marinade, inside the meat and where it matters from a flavour point of view.

As for the preservative aspect of all of this, drying will contribute, balsamic vinegar acts as preservative, the Aminos have a small amount of salt that is said to be natural - at least not added to the soy ferment, and of course Tamari soy sauce has quite a bit of salt.

Added to this the meat will be kept in the fridge and could even be frozen though I cannot vouch for this. Allowing the water content of the meat is reduced by drying it would seem logical that there is less in meat cells to expand and disrupt its texture as happens mostly from freezing meat.

Sliced very thinly and raw it offers a truly distinctive and sweet flavour to the meat or if like a slice of bacon it is warmed through in a pan with an egg or so it is truly delicious.
It is important never to crisp your food and bacon too especially ordinary bought bacon!

I find heating a piece in the pan and chopping it finely and adding to a vegetable salad makes a little go a long way flavour wise.