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So, I am from India. And it's very difficult to find bacon in local super-markets here. I was wondering if there is a way that I can make bacon at home or any other alternative to bacon.

Ashin Mandal
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1 Answers1

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Sure. Michael Ruhlman has a post about it, and I think there was an episode of Good Eats that described the process pretty well, too. I'm not sure what you can get at the butcher in India, but you'll want to find the belly of the pig.

What you do is rub the meat with a cure, which is a mix of salt, sugar, seasoning, and "pink salt" (a curing salt that is part regular salt and part sodium nitrite). Leave it in your fridge in a ziploc bag for a week or covered on a tray, flipping it over daily so that it cures evenly, then rinse it off. At that point you can roast it in a low oven, smoke it, or hang it to dry.

Aaronut
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Adam Jaskiewicz
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    Thanks a lot! :) I think getting the belly of the pig would be the most difficult of all the steps. It's easy to find lamb, mutton and chicken but pig I have doubts about. But almost all the restaurants here have pork dishes so they must get it from somewhere. I have to find out.

    Also, when you say seasoning, what do you mean?

     – Ashin Mandal Jan 25 '12 at 13:52
  • @AshinMandal By seasoning he means that salt, sugar, and pink salt is the base for the cure but you can add additional flavors that you like in the bacon. If you like smokey tasting bacon but don't plan on smoking it, you can add seasoning to make it taste smokey... and etc. – Jay Jan 25 '12 at 14:24