Today's culinary adventure

[tamidon]

My friend Anna asked if I wanted 7# of pork belly from her 1/2 pig that she got since she didn't know what to do with it since it was uncured or smoked. I said "Sure" but was surprised. She's a very competent cook and food maker, she actually got me started canning. When I went to pick it up I found out what the problem was. Due to a miscommunication the pork belly had been sliced and packed like bacon,but without the curing and smoking. I'm going to try to cure this sliced pork belly in a maple cure. If it stiffens up I might try to smoke some, but the curing is the hard part, to see if it does it evenly. This should be interesting. Anything is better than to toss 7# of heritage pork without even trying

Comments

[jostajam.livejournal.com]

German bacon is more like prosciutto and one of my Auntie's major complaints was that the trend in curing bacon was toward softer bacon. She expected the bacon to be very stiff and dry. If it stiffens up, it will still be OK for adding to dishes, right?

[tamidon.livejournal.com]

actually, a bit of stiffening will make it easier to smoke, but too much will send it to cooking addition instead of main event

[weegoddess.livejournal.com]

::looks forward to hearing how it turns out::

[charleshaynes.livejournal.com]

Sounds like fun! You could keep a bit aside for korean or chinese dishes using sliced pork belly if you wanted to play.

[tamidon.livejournal.com]

that is a possibility, but there is alot of it...1# can be reserved for it

[sunspiral.livejournal.com]

That sounds like a really fun challenge!