Pancetta and belly bacon recipe

Notes

1.5 kg piece of pork belly
Ziplock bag that the meat just fits in
Salt peter 0.5g per kg
Salt 30-40g per kg (did 45 could do a bit less as is quite salty)

Recipe

Pancetta spice mix

2 cloves garlic

1.5g saltpeter

60g salt
30g sugar

5g Juniper berry

20g black pepper

2g nutmeg

4 bayleaves

Bacon spice mix

1.5g saltpeter

60g salt
30g sugar

3 cloves

20g black pepper

2g nutmeg

1 tsp mustard seeds

Put garlic, juniper and bayleaves in a pestle and grind. Add the other ingredients and mix

Smear all over both sides of the piece of meat.

Put the meat in the bag and seal the end

Place in the fridge 

Leave for 7 days - every day shugle the bag around so you make sure the salt mixture goes all over the piece of meat. Water comes out of the meat so it ends up in liquid.

After 7 days take out of the bag and rinse under the tap.

You can now slice and freeze the bacon or for the pancetta hang it up to dry for either a couple of weeks in which case you need to freeze it and cook before eating, or for a month or more, in which case you can eat it raw like dried ham