BACON BASICS
THE CUT Bacon comes from the belly of a hog. Each hog will produce two slabs of side pork, which can be cured into two slabs of bacon. The belly is about 10% of the meat from the entire hog. THE PROCESS For dry-cured bacon, pork belly slabs are cured with a mixture of salt, sugar, and spices. The cure also often contains sodium nitrate, a preservative that enhances the pink color of the meat. After about a week, the cure is rinsed away then the pork belly is dried and smoked. Commercially produced bacon is often cured by injections of a brine, made of salt, sugar, nitrates, and phosphates (which speed up the curing process and stabilize the color of the meat). The cured belly is then either smoked or injected with…