![]() You’ll never find a single antibiotic or added hormone in the brand’s meat, but you will find tons of organic options and natural ingredients, along with regenerative agriculture methods at its farms. The brand took everything the meat industry didn’t do and created a company that did the opposite, and its concern for “ the way food is raised” and how it “ can change and transform lives” is apparent in every bite. There are many good reasons why making your own bacon is worth doing and the latest health advice just adds to them.The guy who founded Applegate, Stephen McDonnel, launched the company after asking himself, “ what if you weren’t afraid to read a hot dog ingredient label?” Taking a healthy, wholesome approach to meat, his brand is one that’s associated with quality, sustainability, and the ethical treatment of animals.įounded in 1987, Applegate is now owned by Hormel, but nothing about it changed in terms of production or quality. Top-quality pork loin can be bought for £6 a kilo - even when you factor in the cost of salt, maple syrup and a bit of moisture loss, it's much cheaper. Lastly, good-quality dry-cured bacon can cost up to £24 per kilo. They are thicker than any pre-sliced bacon and the result is a salty sweet tingle to the gums. Even though each bowl of chowder contains just five batons of bacon, they make a big impact. Although the boneless loin used in this recipe is not unusual, it's part of this whole process.Ī second reason for reviving small production techniques is that they produce ingredients that taste better than anything made in a factory, where additives to lengthen the shelf life as well as the quality of produce affects the flavour. The third reason I chose to go down this path was because it meant I was cooking with different - and I think better - ingredients than other restaurants. When you're dealing with an entire carcass, you've got to grapple with some of the more unusual cuts: the cheeks are great in a long, slow braise, the hands and knuckles make gelatinous terrines, and even the blood is used for black pudding. It all springs from the fact we are surrounded by good farms - as a result, we started to buy whole animals, including pigs. This week, I tried to think back to why we started making a lot of our own products and so developed a reputation for reviving artisan food techniques. All I can say is that it's so delicious that if it's wrong then I don't want to be right. I don't like to make health claims about food as I think good eating is common sense. The texture is firm, with none of the wetness you find in factory-made bacon. My home-cured bacon can be thick sliced or thin, and it tastes of pork but with a perfect sweet-salty balance. People sometimes ask why I bother to make my own bacon: once they taste it, they understand. Our turnover means it never hangs around for long, so we don't use any preservatives apart from salt and syrup. I have been making bacon at The Sportsman for about 12 years and I have never used nitrates. The purpose of the salt is to extend shelf life, to give the meat a rosy-pink hue and to prevent bacterial growth. This is a bright pink slat added to the brine in the case of a wet cure and added dry in the process of making dry cured bacon. As far as I can make out, the problem comes with the addition of nitrate salt in the curing process. Formula for the perfect bacon sandwich revealedīut don't banish bacon too hastily. ![]() Crisp rashers between two slices of heavily buttered bread and a smear of ketchup is our real contribution to gastronomy. The idea of not eating bacon is unthinkable - many a vegetarian has turned back to the dark side by the smell of a bacon sandwich, which I would also argue is Britain's true national dish. These are worrying times for lovers of green back, smoked and streaky. Last month, the World Health Organisation published a report classifying processed meat (which includes bacon, sausages and ham) as "carcinogenic to humans" - the highest ranking, shared with alcohol, asbestos, arsenic and cigarettes. Bacon has been all over the news lately and I defy anyone not to be a little concerned. ![]()
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