I'm making some bacon using the "curing and smoking bacon" recipe, can I use the same recipe to make salt pork?

Stephanie is the Head Recipe Tester of Food52.

added 5 months ago

Salt pork is typically made with pork belly or fatback, so you could do it using the same cut of meat. It is made by letting the pork sit in salt for several days. There so seem to be lots of recipes with similar techniques and ingredients. Here is a recipe from another Food52 user: http://www.aliyaleekong.... Here's one from Serious Eats: http://www.seriouseats...

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trampledbygeese added 5 months ago

Thanks for the links, those look great.

Is the sugar necessary? I don't keep sugar in the house, but I do have honey and maple syrup.

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Stephanie is the Head Recipe Tester of Food52.

added 5 months ago

I've never tried, but I'd be hesitant to substitute something for the sugar for fear of altering the brine concentrations.

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trampledbygeese added 5 months ago

That makes sense. I'll pick some up next time I'm in the shop. Do you think unrefined cane sugar would be a suable substitute for brow sugar in the first recipe you linked to? It's my first time curing meat, although I've salted and smoked fish before.

I wonder why the recipes use sugar. The medieval and 19th C references I've seen, usually stick to salt with maybe some spices and/or salt peter (which I think is like nitrite).

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