Recipe

French style bacon

Rise and shine with this deliciously smokey French style bacon from The Australian Women's Weekly 'Made from Scratch' cookbook.

Oct 07, 2015 3:18am
  • 30 mins preparation
  • 4 hrs cooking
  • Makes 2 kilogram
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Ingredients

French style bacon
  • 8 5cm long pieces mesquite or apple wood blend
  • charcoal barbecue
  • meat thermometer
  • 1/3 cup (30g) sea salt flakes
  • 1/4 cup (40g) crushed black peppercorns
  • 1 kilogram piece of female pork belly (see tips)

Method

French style bacon
  • 1
    Combine sea salt and pepper; sprinkle over pork and press to coat. Transfer pork to a large ziplock bag; add any remaining salt mixture. Seal; refrigerate for 3 days to allow pork to cure, turning occasionally to cure evenly.
  • 2
    Rinse pork briefly under cold running water; pat dry with paper towel. Roll pork belly to form a cylinder then tie at 2cm intervals with kitchen string to secure. Set aside for 30 minutes to come to room temperature.
  • 3
    Preheat a kettle-style charcoal barbecue or off-set barbecue for indirect grilling to 120°C. Add a piece of wood to the coals, place grill on barbecue, then pork, cover with lid and smoke for 2½ hours or until cooked through and pork reaches 65°C on a meat thermometer. (Add more charcoal and wood pieces as you cook to maintain the barbecue temperature.)
  • 4
    Set pork aside to cool; wrap and refrigerate until required.

Notes

Start recipe 4 days in advance. Bacon will be ready in 3 days. The meat of female pigs tends to be less ‘porky-tasting’ than that of uncastrated male pigs. The bacon will keep refrigerated for up to 8 days or freeze for up to 3 months. Cut thin slices (or small cubes) and fry as you would bacon and eat with fried eggs. Use it in quiches, soups or in a potato salad, or make a spaghetti carbonara with it.

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