Irish Back Bacon Recipe

This Irish Back Bacon Recipe will help you make uncured Irish loin Back Bacon at home. All it takes is 3 simple ingredients, a few minutes for preparation and patience. At the end of this post, you’ll know all about Irish Back Bacon!

Homemade Bacon does not require any butchery skills. This Irish loin bacon recipe is for the skilled butcher, chef and amateur alike. It’s easy and fulfilling to know you made your own breakfast meat from natural ingredients.

What is Back Bacon?

Back Bacon comes from pig. It is cured pork that is sliced and then sold. The cut of pork used to make Back Bacon comes from the middle of the pig’s back. This cut of meat includes the loin, sometimes called the ‘eye’ meat or medallion piece, along with a little of the pork belly. The end result is a piece of meat, that when sliced, looks like an apostrophe!

Only the loin is used in this Back Bacon Recipe. Pork loin is an easily sourced piece of meat just about everywhere!

Different styles of Back Bacon

Streaky Bacon comes only from the pig’s belly. Usually it has an even amount of fat to muscle content. This type of bacon is commonly served in the U.S., where it is called regular bacon. Bacon is thinly sliced in the U.S. and cooked until golden brown and crispy.

English Back Bacon (British / U.K. Back Bacon,) does not differ much from Irish Back Bacon. Only the pork, the base ingredient differs. Irish male pigs are not castrated as they mature. This benefits the welfare of the animal and leaner and better quality of meat is produced. Pigs in England, the rest of the U.K. and most of Europe, do perform castration on their male pigs.

Canadian Bacon is made from pork loin (medallion) only, making it very lean. It is usually smoked and cut into thick slices. The main difference between Irish Back Bacon and Canadian bacon is that Canadian bacon is always cooked before being sold, whereas Irish Back Bacon is sold raw in supermarkets and butchers’ shops alike.

An Irish Bacon Joint, is a piece of pork that comes from the pig’s shoulders rather than the middle of its back. As a result, the pork has more marbled fat and is therefore less lean than Back Bacon. The fat is intramuscular, which produces a tender piece of meat once cooked. Boil or oven roast an Irish Bacon joint.

Irish Boiling Bacon is a bacon joint typically from the side or shoulder of the pig. Boiling bacon comes in smoked and unsmoked form.

Smoked Back Bacon is Back Bacon that has undergone a smoking process before being sliced and sold. Scroll down to see some tips I have provided, on how to smoke your own.

Curing Back Bacon

Most Bacon bought in supermarkets undergoes a curing process. This means a combination of salt, sodium, and nitrates are added to the Bacon. Nitrates act as a preservative and give the Bacon a pinkish color. Nitrates are natural chemicals found in the soil, air and water. A diet high in processed meats containing nitrates might increase the risk of colon cancer.

Meats such as Bacon, sausages, sliced deli meats, hotdogs and jerky might contain added nitrates due to the presence of celery juice, which naturally contains nitrates. The meat packaging will state nitrates in the ingredients section.

If you are wanting to decrease your amount of nitrates consumption, then this Back Bacon recipe is the way to go!

Technically, this recipe involves using a dry brine. So…

What is the Difference between Curing and Brining?

Curing is the addition of a combination of salt, sugar and nitrates. Flavoring and color might also be added. Curing can be wet like a marinade containing salt, sugar and nitrates (think store bought Teriyaki sauce) and it can be dry, as in a dry cured Back Bacon which is the most common way to commercially produce bacon.

Brining involves salt. There are 2 types of brining – wet and dry:

Wet brining involves water and salt. Adding sugar is optional. Choose a container that will fit the piece of meat you want brined. Add salt and water using a 9:100 ratio to water (so 9g of salt for every 100 ml), add the meat, cover the container and place in the refrigerator for 1 hour per lb. of meat.

Dry brining does not involve the addition of water. Add salt (addition of sugar is optional) to the meat. Rub salt into the meat muscle. Cover the container and refrigerate for up to 8 days. Osmotic dehydration takes place, that’s why more time is needed. Osmosis happens when water is drawn out of cells over a period of time. After 8 days of osmotic dehydration, the meat will be sitting in its own liquid. This moisture has been pulled out.

In this recipe, the amount of liquid pulled out of the pork was 5.5 oz or 156 g/ml. This amount of liquid lost ended up being about 22% when compared with the original weight of the pork, prior to the dry brining process.

You might see a recipe how to cure Back Bacon. Unless the recipe includes the addition of nitrates, then technically, the Bacon is brined, most likely dry brined like this recipe.

Can You Use Any Salt For Brining?

Kosher salt is the best salt for brining. It has large sharp crystals that penetrate and score meat fibers which helps the meat to release its juices.

If Kosher salt is unavailable to you, then find sea salt, or any other type of salt. DO NOT use iodized salt. Using this type of salt will cause darkening, discoloration or spotty patterns in the Back Bacon.

How to Use Back Bacon

In Ireland, there are 2 choices of bacon for a ‘fry up,’ – Back Bacon or streaky bacon or both. A common term for Irish style Back Bacon is ‘Rashers.’

A fry up is a meal comprising of bacon, eggs, sausage, black pudding, and Irish breads. Optional items include sautéed mushrooms, grilled tomatoes, and baked beans.

The most well known ‘fry up’ in the northern part of Ireland is the Ulster Fry. Irish Back Bacon rashers feature prominently in the Ulster Fry.

An Ulster Fry will often appear at the lunch or dinner table as well as for breakfast.

Irish Back Bacon along with homemade veal liver-based Black Pudding and homemade Irish Sausages. These 3 meats are integral in the making of an Ulster Fry.

Back Bacon Recipe Ingredients

• Pork: loin, use only half of a full loin.
• Sugar: brown, use white if brown is unavailable.
• Salt: kosher is best.

Instructions How to Make Back Bacon

Smoking Back Bacon

Smoked Back Bacon is another way of preparing this bacon. It’s easy to do in a smoker. Simply preheat your smoker to 180 degrees F. / 82 degrees C. Keep the Bacon on the wire rack and place directly into the smoker. Smoke, uncovered for about 2 hours or until at least 145 degrees F. / 63 degrees C. Use a digital thermometer to get an accurate reading. Slice the smoked Back Bacon once it has cooled. The smoking cooked the Back Bacon, so you can enjoy it immediately, or you can give it a quick sear in a pan for a more traditional presentation.

How to Cook Back Bacon

The best way to cook Back Bacon is in a preheated frying pan with a little high temp oil in the pan. This is the traditional preparation. Juices and fat drain into the pan. Remove the Back Bacon when is has finished cooking. Add breads such as Soda Bread or Wheaten Bread to sop up the fat and juices.

Another way to cook Back Bacon is in the air fryer. Brush it on both sides with a high temp oil. No need to pre heat the air fryer. Air fry for 4-5 minutes at 400 degrees F. / 205 degrees C.

The level of doneness will differ from person to person. Think about steak and how everyone has their own preference how theirs is cooked. The color of the meat will darken as it cooks. The real tell tale sign the Bacon is cooked, is the slim rim of saturated fat on the top side of the Bacon. As it cooks, it will shrink and crisp as it continues cooking. Some people prefer their Back Bacon to be ‘just’ cooked. This means it is safe to eat but the fat will look white and the Bacon will be a bit pinkish. Others prefer a darker meat color with crispy, golden colored fat. It’s all a matter of preference.

A Tip From Me

The wire rack used for drying the Back Bacon needs to be stainless steel and not aluminum. Aluminum does not react well to acidic foods, Bacon is acidic. Use a plastic rack if a stainless steel rack is unavailable.

Another tip regarding this Irish Back Bacon Recipe, is that when slicing the Bacon, make sure it is very cold. Throw it in the freezer for 30 minutes or so, this will help.

Got Questions?

I’ve got answers- hopefully!