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Wow you guys are surprisingly passionate about this. This will probably really piss you off :-) Yes, bacon really is killing us (The Guardian)

FWIW, Hormel (of all people) sells a "natural bacon" they claim is without added preservatives. I saw something similar for sale at Trader Joe's today too.

Right. Botulinum is an anaerobic organism so it won't form on the surface of whole meat where it's exposed to air.

Well, both. It doesn't taste exactly like commercial bacon, but I wouldn't expect it to. It has a slightly more "porky" flavor to it than regular bacon, which I like. Also the protein portion doesn't seem to get as hard when cooked. Like I said I will need to try a batch with two cures, one...

Thanks for the feedback. I just finished a batch with no nitrite, and it tastes pretty good to me. I guess I will have to split the belly in two pieces and try it both ways next time. And am freezing the current batch to protect against botulism and other nasties.

Is there any reason to use nitrite other than cosmetics or to prevent spoilage at fridge temps? I figure I can vacuum seal and freeze it to prevent spoilage. Other things being equal, I'd prefer to have bacon without the preservatives.

Trying my hand at bacon. I got a pork belly and have cured it, and plan to smoke it tomorrow. But which way do I slice it? The piece is about twice as long as it is wide. The grain seems to run different directions in different muscle layers. Do I slice across the short end or the long end...