I tried to slice it and it came out thick and store brand tastes much better..Why is this? It sounds stupid but does this happen to everyone who gets the first slab.. It has a skin and then thick fat and then meat.. Who knows... Thanks Jim.. It's my first time with this sort of thing..

-- Jim (onemaur@yahoo.com), September 23, 2001

Answers

I'm not sure if this works with bacon or not, but it does work well with other kinds of meat. Freeze it and use a sharp knife. Using this method I can slice beef for jerky so thin you can almost read newspaper through it.

Wishing you enough.

-- Trevilians (aka Dianne in Mass) (Trevilians@mediaone.net), September 23, 2001.

Using a sharp knife, remove the skin (rind). Actually, we cure and smoke our bacons without the skin. The cure and smoke get to the meat better and the rind is just a nuisance.

We chill the bacon until it is almost frozen before we slice it. Use a wooden meat board and a super sharp big, heavy knife. Take your time and slice it not quite as thin as store bought bacon.

If you got a good cure and smoke on it, the fat will be as flavorful as the red meat that you see. The secret is to fry it without scorching it, but to fry it "done enough".

If you find it to be less desirable than store bought, you may not have enough of a cure and smoke on it. Curing with the rind on will slow down the absorbtion of the salt and cure to that side of the meat. Don't be discouraged. It takes several times and efforts before we find what works for us and what we like.

You might be surprised at how wonderful "fresh side" is. That is the same meat that you make into bacon, but don't cure it. Just chill it, slice it about 1/4 inch thick. Fry is with salt and lots of pepper in a medium hot skillet. It is one of our favorites. Careful not to scorch in too hot of a skillet, but fry until slightly crisp. Can't beat it.

Most people live and die on this earth and have never tasted good, fresh side, - fried right.

-- homestead2 (homestead@localnetplus.com), September 23, 2001.

When you remove that skin/rind, save it for a big pot of pintos or green beans. fine eatin'

-- Rog (rw285@isoc.net), September 25, 2001.

Homestead's answer is the same as mine. Not frozen, but nearly so. And you MUST have a good quality, sharp knife. But then, you'll need several of those in various configurations anyway. GL!

-- Brad (homefixer@SacoRiver.net), September 25, 2001.