The Cure: A Butcher's Guide to Curing Bacon at Home

Salt, smoke and nitrite, from scratch. A butcher's guide to curing bacon at home, plus four other cured cuts built on the same math.

Written by a butcher with about 13 years behind the block, using bacon he cured and smoked himself. No guesswork, no "a handful of salt." Just the numbers and the reasons behind them.

What's inside (33 pages)

• Why cure at all: what cure does for safety, color, flavor and shelf life, and why cold smoking without it is a gamble
• Know your cure and the math: how to weigh it out correctly, including the part most guides get wrong
• Choosing your belly: what to look for, skin on or off, sizes and where to buy
• The build and the fridge: applying the cure, time by thickness and how to tell when it's done
• Smoking: on a kettle, pellet grill or offset, with wood pairings and cold-smoking notes
• Slicing, packaging and storage: the partial freeze, removing the skin, cut thickness and fridge and freezer times
• Beyond bacon: Canadian bacon, corned beef and pastrami, tasso and jowl
• Troubleshooting and a one-page safety sheet

How you get it

This is a digital PDF. You get a download link right after checkout and by email. Read it on your phone, tablet or computer, or print it for the kitchen. Nothing ships.

Because this is a digital download, all sales are final.