Get Cracking with Squidoo: Love Bacon

I have eaten a wide variety of bacon over the past decade and found my own favourites.

Back bacon comes from the back of the pig, just beneath the shoulder. It is a leaner cut and can be grilled, fried, or baked.

Streaky bacon comes from the upper belly and contains more fat, which makes it especially nice for covering lean roasts when cooking.

There are two basic methods for curing bacon, a dry cure and a wet cure.

The dry cure method is the oldest known. Sea salt is rubbed into each cut, then it is hung to cure for 5 days. After this it is matured and air-dried for up to 20 days. Water is expelled during the drying process so there is less shrinkage when cooking.

The wet cure, the original of which is the Traditional Wiltshire Cure, was developed in the 1840s. In this method, the cuts of meat are immersed in brine and allowed to soak for up to 2 days. It is then allowed to mature for 2 weeks.

Once cured, the bacon can be smoked to give it an additional flavour. A popular wood chip used for smoking is oak, though other woods are used to impart different flavours.