2.4.19
I've just returned from another sojourn to hospital.  10mm of kidney stone on the move and then stuck in the pipes.  A stent went in, and I'm back to hospital in 2 weeks to have the rock lasered.  Oh joy!

My home-made meat safe for air-drying. It's on the south side
of the (unfinished) house, out of direct sun and open to
the breeze to help with the drying process.

The first of the bacon hung out to dry. The 

mesh is seriously heavy duty, stainless steel.

The same bacon sliced and vacuum sealed.

A little fatty and salty, but delicious.  It's

in the freezer now.

We just ate the first few rashers of the bacon for breakfast.  A little salty, as I was a bit heavy-handed during the curing process, but still delicious.  I'm going to leave the second flitch to hang for a few more days before slicing and sealing so it can firm up some more.

It was nice to see news reports last week about nitrites being unnecessary for curing meat.  I've gone the traditional approach and only used salt and time to do the cure on the first two flitches.  The next one, I'll try some spices as well but don't want to overdo it.

Time to turn the prosciutto in its salt this morning, so it will be interesting to get a feel for how it's progressing.  It'll be more than a month before it can hang, but it will fit in the meat safe when the time comes.  

I'm focused on catching up on marking Extended Essays at the moment, as I lost 3 or 4 days with the rock.  Once I get back on target with the marking, I want to have a go at making either chorizo or salami or both.  I'll post once the process is started.