How to Make Ventreche - How to Make French Bacon | Hank Shaw
I always knew the French had their own version of bacon, but until I met Kate Hill I thought it was all unsmoked variants on petit salé. But in Gascony, Hill says they favor a lightly cured, smoked bacon called ventreche. Ventreche (ven-tresh) tastes more like fresh pork and less like a cured meat, and is normally kept pretty simple: Pork belly, salt, black pepper and smoke. | @huntgathercook
Easy Homemade Bacon Recipe
Bacon Rub (per 5lbs of meat): 1/4 cup celery salt 2 tbsp coarse salt 1/4 cup brown sugar 2 tbsp onion powder 2 tbsp garlic powder 1/4 cup maple syrup A few tbsp red pepper flakes (optional) Rub and coat your entire slab of meat, then place in sealed, airtight bags for 7 days, flipping them over every day. After your time is up, pull it out of the bags and rinse under water well. Pat dry and add any additional seasonings if desired. Place into your smoker at 160-170 degrees F for around 6 hours, or until the meat comes to 155F internal temp. (You can also bake in the oven at 200 degrees until it reaches 155 internal) Take off the smoker, place back in the fridge uncovered until FULLY cooled. Then slice and package!