need a cure please

—Order five pounds of fresh pork belly from your grocery store, the pork guy at your farmers market, or from a local butcher shop.

—Buy a box of 2-gallon zip-top bags if you don’t have a container big enough to hold the belly.

—Mix the following together in a small bowl:

2 ounces (1/4 cup Morton or Diamond Crystal coarse kosher) salt

2 teaspoons pink curing salt #1 (I use this DQ Cure from Butcher-Packer, $2)

4 tablespoons coarsely ground black pepper

4 bay leaves, crumbled

1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

1/4 cup brown sugar or honey or maple syrup

5 cloves of garlic, smashed with the flat side of a chef’s knife

2 tablespoons juniper berries, lightly crushed (optional)

5 to 10 sprigs fresh thyme (optional)


—Put your belly in the zip-top bag or on a sheet tray or in a plastic container.  Rub the salt and spice mixture all over the belly.  Close the bag or cover it with plastic wrap, and stick it in the refrigerator for seven days (get your hands in there and give the spices another good rubbing around midway through).

—After seven days, take it out of the fridge, rinse off all the seasonings under cold water and pat it dry.

—Put it on a sheet tray and put it in the oven (put it on a rack on a sheet tray if you have one) and turn the oven on to 200 degrees F. (if you want to preheat the oven, that’s fine, too). Leave it in the oven for 90 minutes (or, if you want to measure the internal temperature, until it reaches 150 degrees F.).

—Let it cool and refrigerate it until you’re ready to cook it.  But I know.  You won’t be able to wait.  So cut off a piece and cook it.  Taste it, savor it.  Congratulations!  It’s bacon!