Pork belly is a great meat because it is so high in fat! That’s why we enjoy bacon so much. Unfortunately most conventional bacons are cured with chemicals, natural and unnatural, some of which are not GAPS Legal - or good for us! If you have access to pork belly, this is a great way to enjoy this fatty cut of meat while on the GAPS Diet.
When sourcing your pork, make sure you find pastured pork. Pigs need to eat dirt within hours of life in order to have a proper microbiome which will set up the gut (and thus full body) health of the pig for their whole life.
Once your pork belly is cured, you can slice into bacon pieces. Freeze it wrapped in packages or cook up the whole batch and invite your friends to a bacon party. While delicious on it’s own for breakfast, you can also add bacon to this baked beans recipe. You can also use the grease from the bacon for this wilted salad recipe. If you like the taste of bacon, you can also use the fat as the fat to fry your vegetables in.
Ingredients for Cured Pork Belly:
5 lbs Pork Belly
3 tbsp Juniper Berries
2 tbsp Freshly Ground Pepper
2 tbsp Fresh Sage
1 tbsp Thyme
2 tbsp Salt
8 ish tsp Honey
Directions for Curing Pork Belly at Home:
Add your herbs to a mortar and pestle to grind. Mix herbs and pepper in a small bowl.
Trim any less than fresh pieces off your meat and slice into chunks.
Add spice mixture to chunks and rub into the meat.
Drizzle approximately 1 tsp of honey on each side.
Wrap each piece in unbleached butcher paper or in parchment paper. Close with tape or twine.
Add pork belly to fridge.
Every day, flip the pork belly over.
Allow to cure for 5-6 days depending on the thickness of the pork belly. If it’s thicker, you may need to allow it to cure for longer.
Cured Pork Belly
Ingredients:
- 5 lbs Pork Belly
- 3 tbsp Juniper Berries
- 2 tbsp Freshly Ground Pepper
- 2 tbsp Fresh Sage
- 1 tbsp Thyme
- 2 tbsp Salt
- 8 ish tsp Honey
Instructions:
- Add your herbs to a mortar and pestle to grind. Mix herbs and pepper in a small bowl.
- Trim any less than fresh pieces off your meat and slice into chunks.
- Add spice mixture to chunks and rub into the meat.
- Drizzle approximately 1 tsp of honey on each side.
- Wrap each piece in unbleached butcher paper or in parchment paper. Close with tape or twine.
- Add pork belly to fridge.
- Every day, flip the pork belly over.
- Allow to cure for 5-6 days depending on the thickness of the pork belly. If it’s thicker, you may need to allow it to cure for longer.