Bacon and Hams

I collected the rest of our half pig today, from the local butcher who's prepared it. The first order of business is getting the bacon and hams into brine, and the other joints into the freezer. The meat that will become sausages, and the fat I need for the black puddings, will go to one side in the fridge, and we'll make them at the weekend.

After the success of last year's bacon, we've decided to repeat a wet cure for the bacon: 2 litres of cold water, 500g of salt, 15g of saltpetre, and some ground black pepper. The belly goes into this (weighed down with a plate) for 24 hours: tomorrow evening, I'll slice it, package it, and freeze it.

For the hams, we've decided to try something different: a Wiltshire cure. As I can't smoke things (yet!), it'll just be the curing part of the process, after which it'll be frozen until needed. It's more extravagant ingredients, so we're trying just two hams: if it's really worth it, we might do more next year. The hams will be in from tonight until Sunday morning.