In my bacon recipe post I mentioned using a pork loin instead of a belly and sort of left it at that so I’m revisiting the topic. I really enjoy smoked pork loin which also goes by the name back bacon or Canadian bacon: it’s a cured and smoked pork loin. It’s solid, slightly dry and tastes like the meaty part of traditional bacon. After traditional pork belly smoked bacon it was the next recipe I tried in Charcuterie. The recipe called for a spiced brine and then smoke with gave a taste exactly like ham, which is far off the mark from what I wanted. Using the pork belly bacon method produced the results I wanted.
A wonderful alternative is English bacon, which is the loin with part of the belly attached. This is not a cut you find easily but if you know your butcher you’ll get it. It’s the best of both worlds: wonderful cured loin and fatty belly. Yes I could have trimmed that fat on the side but it frys up crispy and adds fat to the pan for even more flavour.