This is my first effort at making my own bacon. It is fresh from about two hours in the oven after spending seven days in a salt/sugar/pink salt dry brine in my refrigerator. It already tastes very good. (It’s not that I’m not humble, I’m just surprised.) For the past year-and-a-half I have been learning how to make my own cheese, sausage, and beer. I’m also remembering how to make my own bread. It turns out that it is actually pretty easy to do all these things. And it really does taste better than store bought. Its more a matter of time than skill – and its a kind of time that doesn’t demand constant attention. I just need to get the process started and then check in on it every so often. In the background is a big corn pot which is currently incubating about a gallon of goat milk into Chevre frais which is roughly a 24 hour project. Twelve hours to let the bacteria work and 12 hours to drain the whey.
I like doing this because its a way to remember where my food is coming from. My yard is too small for any serious farming and the neighbors would probably object if I installed a chicken coop but there’s a whole other opportunity to grow things and make good food in my kitchen.