Ah. I thought smoking was a form of curing. Or at least part of the same process.
Tip for a n00b: Don’t ever cook bacon naked. Or shirtless, even. Just don’t do it.
I usually wear long sleeves AND oven mitts when the need for stovetop bacon (eg for stew) arises.
Curing is the part involving salting for an extended period of time (with or without nitrites/nitrates). Inoculation with certain types of bacteria which causes the meat to ferment is often part of this process. (You will notice this in the slight sour taste the bacteria imparts in the meat–you’ll find this most often in types of salamis). Smoking can be done in addition to curing to further preserve the meat. For example, prosciutto and corned beef are two example of products that are cured, but not smoked. Pulled pork, smoked brisket, or just barbecue in general is an example of food that is smoked, but not cured. Smithfield ham, the most familiar types of bacon, many types of dried sausages, are both cured and smoked. Add to that, there are two types of smoking, cold smoking (which is done at 80F-100F over a period of days, usually) which does not cook the meat, but imbues it with smoke flavor and preserves it, and hot smoking, which actually cooks the meat, and is used more for flavoring than preservation (hot smoked meat does not keep for months like cold smoked meat does.)
The term as it is used in most deli sections I’ve seen is misleading. They usually use this term to indicate a bacon that has no nitrites or nitrates added. However, it is still cured, just with salt (and sometimes celery juice powder and/or lactic acid.) I’ve never liked this particular use of the word “uncured.” The traditional cured hams of Italy or Spain, as far as I know, are just cured using a crapload of salt and nothing else. But they are certainly cured, and have the texture and smell of a cured product.
Bacon up that sausage, boy…
Joe
Personally I prefer bacon microwaved. It’s not quite as greasy.
Trivia: Israel raises more turkeys per capita than any other nation, largely because turkey bacon has basically the same taste as the real stuff but can be made according to kosher laws.
Interesting! Thanks, pulykamell! Between this and the link you posted in the “baby back ribs” thread, I feel like I’m almost ready to slaughter me a hog!
Bacon isn’t fermented, is it? I knew that was done with some salamis, but I didn’t know it was done with any other type of meat.
And just to be clear, aside from the likely health benefits, there’s nothing better about non-nitrate bacon, is there? It’s something of a specialty item, so it’s likely to be come from a high-end producer that may indicate better quality, but the nitrate-curing itself isn’t anything undesirable or even non-traditional from a purely epicurean standpoint, is it?
No. I’m not sure if it’s possible to ferment whole pieces of meat like that. I can’t see how it would be possible, (ETA: well, I guess if you left it in a wet cure for a long time–I’m sure some culture must have a fermented meat product) but I can’t answer definitively on that. I’ve only come across bacterial inoculation in sausages (well, and certain types of fish, vegetables, and that sort of thing.)
ETA2: Now that I think of it, I wouldn’t be surprised if pickled pork feet or things like that aren’t traditionally naturally fermented.
Hákarl–your one-stop shop for fermented meat.
Ooh! I want to try that!
I love the “Hákarl is an acquired taste [citation needed]”
If it’s anything like Surströmming, I believe it. I love strong flavors. This fermented herring “delicacy” goes above and beyond on the “strong flavor” part. It is every bit as much a sensory overload as that video makes it out to be. I’ve always been disappointed and underwhelmed by what people consider an “acquired taste” (including stuff like chitterlings, natto, uni, and durian fruit. Those are pretty pedestrian.) Surströmming is the only thing I’ve ever eaten that’s given me pause. I am not exaggerating when I say the instant I opened it up on my stoop, it acted as some sort of clarion call to all the flies within a one block radius of my house. Within a minute, I had a swarm of about 50-100 flies circling around me. A bit of the fermenting juice dripped onto the steps, and, in what seemed like an instant, that area was covered with a solid mass of flies crawling over each other to get at the goodness.
So…was it good?
There’s a fermented pork product in Thai cuisine called naem that can be made with different cuts of meat, including ribs.
Pickled pig feet, though, is a vinegar and salt pickle.
Yeah, that’s the way I’ve always had it, but I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s a traditional way of doing it that involves a lactic acid fermentation rather than vinegar.
You can buy thick sliced salt cured no nitrate bacon at Whole Foods. $7.99/ lb here in L.A.
Very rich with great depth of flavor
Try it and you may thank me later.
Let’s just say that I didn’t acquire the taste. Not at least from one try. Would I eat it again? Sure, given the right circumstances, I’d definitely give it another shot. But it was the most intense smell from a purported foodstuff I’ve ever experienced. I really do wonder how they figured out this was safe to eat, as every sense is telling you it’s not fit for human consumption.
I found the email I wrote a Scandinavian friend of mine after I had my first taste (September 2005):
Lol! I HAVE to try this.
You used to be able to buy it through The Northener, a online Scandinavian import store, but they haven’t had it in a number of years. It might no longer be available in the US–I know some airlines banned it because of the danger of it exploding en route.
I almost wish I had a physically demanding job, just so I could justify a hearty bacon and eggs breakfast 5x a week. Yes, it would still be bad for me, but what isn’t? I honestly don’t mind if I don’t live past 80.