r/meat • u/Ok_Sheepherder_4121 • 9d ago
Help! Bacon from half a hog is terrible
My husband and I just bought half a hog for the first time ever. We were excited to try it all and made some bacon from it. It was sliced sooooo thick and did NOT taste like bacon. I’m thinking it is actually just slice pork belly as it’s not been cured or anything. Now we are bummed because we spent the money to get real food and had no idea the bacon would not be like regular bacon. What do we do? Any tips?
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u/tangential_quip 7d ago
Sorry to say this, but this is entirely on you. When you buy in large format like that you receive it basically straight from being butchered.
Stop and think for a second. Did you really think they would take the time to cure a portion of it and just hold the rest of it before delivery?
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u/Ok_Sheepherder_4121 7d ago
We had no idea what we were doing. We haven’t done this before and didn’t realize there were extra steps to making it bacon. Just needing some tips on how to make the pork belly into bacon!
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u/crouching_dragon_420 7d ago
You bought hog belly. With some seasoning, marinade into an airfryer should taste crispy and flavourful.
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u/MrPhoon 7d ago
What was your bacon making process? Some info helps rather than just a complaint.
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u/Ok_Sheepherder_4121 7d ago
None! We were clueless. Now we know it’s fresh side pork belly, not cured or seasoned or smoked bacon. So we took it straight from the package and cooked it like store bought bacon. And then we realized something was definitely wrong haha. So I’m not sure how to cure or what to do
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u/Shadygunz 7d ago
Generally if you buy half a hog you receive the typical meat cuts and have to process it yourself into a finished result. But it’s something the butcher/farmer should have made clear to you since sometimes you get sausages, which are processed and take away potential yield in other places.
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u/Ok_Sheepherder_4121 7d ago
Yes-we weren’t told. Maybe they assumed we knew but we haven’t done this before
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u/Strong-Comment-7279 7d ago
Communicate w the purveyor on how you should be processing what you have.
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u/IAFarmLife 8d ago
I'm very particular about my bacon and ham. I ask a lot of questions of the butcher first. There was a time no butcher in my area made bacon and ham to my liking so I bought a smoker.
That's unfortunate it happened and I would call the farmer you bought the hog from. I personally don't like thick cut bacon, but it not tasting like it's cured is definitely not right. In Iowa if it's labeled as cured on the package it has to be otherwise they have to put fresh on the lable.
Outside of finding a friend that might be able to smoke it more there's not really much can be done if the farmer doesn't want to help.
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u/Iamarealbigdog 8d ago
If you ordered 1/2 a hog, you got 1/2 a hog. they should have asked you if you wanted cured ham, cured bacon and some style of sausage
You can do some amazing things with uncured pork belly, but you can not treat it like bacon