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Bacon, Jerky, Hams, etc

german bacon recipe, sliced on a board
Photo by Holly A. Heyser

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  • About: Whole Meats vs. Salami | Where Beginners Should Start
  • Recipes: Bacon | Hams & Other Whole Meats | Jerky

About

You’ll find lots of recipes here to make your own bacon at home, cure hams and other whole cuts of meat, like lonzino or bresaola.

Curing whole cuts of meat can be both easier and more difficult than making salami. Since the interior of meat is pretty clean, you have fewer sanitation issues — but since the interior of a large cut like the back leg of a hog can be huge, controlling the temperature and humidity can be tricky if you want the cure to get to the center of the meat before it rots from within.

If you’ve never done this before, start with a duck ‘prosciutto,’ which can be done in a few weeks. For those waterfowl hunters out there, this is a great use for the breasts of Canada and snow geese. Other easy projects on this page include my bacon recipes as well as my jerky recipes.

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Bacon in All its Forms

sichuan bacon recipe

Basic Unsmoked Bacon

This is a “green” bacon, so called because it contains no nitrite, and so will not be that pretty red color. Green bacon also goes bad much faster than cured bacon.

Read More about Basic Unsmoked Bacon

ventreche recipe

Ventreche, French Bacon

A lightly cured, smoked variant on pancetta. This is a great addition to any French dish.

Read More about Ventreche, French Bacon

german bacon recipe

German Bacon

Bacon with German seasonings that is smoked over oak or beech wood.

Read More about German Bacon

sichuan bacon recipe

Chinese Bacon

A Chinese style of bacon that is heavily spiced and heavily smoked.

Read More about Chinese Bacon

Sliced jowl bacon on cutting board

Jowl Bacon

Southern jowl bacon is a tradition. Cured, then smoked, then put into beans or greens.

Read More about Jowl Bacon

A cross section of guanciale, cured hog jowl.

Guanciale

Italian jowl bacon, this version is cured, then hung to dry for weeks before slicing and eating with pasta.

Read More about How to Make Guanciale

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Hams and Other Whole Cured Meats

duck prosciutto recipe

Duck or Goose Prosciutto

This should be your first project when you are a beginner at charcuterie. It can be done with domestic or wild ducks or geese, and cures rapidly.

Read More about Duck or Goose Prosciutto

Two small honey glazed smoked hams on a baking sheet.

Honey-Glazed Smoked Ham

This is an “Easter Ham” style ham made with wild pig. Cured, smoked and glazed with honey.

Read More about Honey-Glazed Smoked Ham

goose leg ham recipe

Prosciutto D'Oca

Goose leg ham, a recipe from Northern Italy. It’s easy to cure, but to make it really well, you need to hang these legs for several months.

Read More about Goose Leg Ham, Prosciutto D’Oca

corned venison recipe

Corned Venison

An awesome recipe for the big roasts on any kind of venison. Cook up several of these, vacuum-seal and freeze them, and you have lunch meat ready to go.

Read More about Corned Venison

A close up of lonzino slices

Lonzino

Lonzino is cured, air-dried pork loin, also doable with wild boar backstrap. It is a delicately flavored meat that you slice thin and eat alone, or on sandwiches.

Read More about Lonzino, Air Cured Pork Loin

Finished bresaola, with slices.

Bresaola

Similar to lonzino, this is cured, air-dried beef or venison. Typically it’s done with eye round of beef, I use bison or elk. You can also use venison backstrap.

Read More about Bison Bresaola

A close up of venison ham slices

Mocetta, or Goat Ham

Mocetta (MOH-chet-ah) is a Northern Italian ham normally done with wild Alpine goats, but domestic goats or venison work just fine.

Read More about How to Make Venison Ham

Lardo, salted down

Lardo, or Italian Cured Pork Fat

Sliced thin, this is like pork butter. A little goes a long way…

Read More about Lardo, or Italian Cured Pork Fat

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Jerky

Slices of chipotle deer jerky

Chipotle Deer Jerky

You want to make this. Yes you do.

Read More about Chipotle Deer Jerky

Holding a piece of ground deer jerky.

Ground Venison Jerky

Another popular style of jerky, this one is loosely based on the flavors of pemmican.

Read More about Ground Venison Jerky

Finished duck jerky recipe in a bowl

Wild Duck Jerky or Goose Jerky

Thinly sliced pieces of duck or goose breast, salted, spiced and air-dried. A perfect use for snow geese or diver ducks.

Read More about Wild Duck Jerky or Goose Jerky

Carne seca, sliced and dried

Venison Carne Seca

Best made with large, hind-leg roasts, this is Mexican jerky. Good on its own, carne seca is also good tossed in stews, or simmered in a salsa and put into burritos.

Read More about Venison Carne Seca

Finished homemade machaca in a casserole dish

How to Make Machaca

Once you have carne seca, you can pulverize it into threads to make this northern Mexican classic, which is served with eggs, peppers and onions for breakfast.

Read More about How to Make Machaca

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Avatar for GregGreg says

    July 7, 2015 at 12:55 am

    Hi Hank
    Did your duck jerky recipe but substituted it with top side roast meat cut into 1/4 inch strips and it was superb.Great site and lots of good recipes you can follow easily.
    Cheers

    Reply
  2. Avatar for Adam HattonAdam Hatton says

    July 1, 2014 at 12:56 pm

    I will try the Mocetta with Himalayan Tahr and feral goats as soon as I move back to New Zealand. We also have a large population of Canada Geese which I will experiment with.

    Reply
  3. Avatar for chanmanchanman says

    April 7, 2014 at 12:19 am

    I believe there’s a typo in the description for the German Bacon article. It incorrectly describes it as “A Chinese style of bacon that is heavily spiced and heavily smoked.”

    Reply
  4. Avatar for Hank ShawHank Shaw says

    December 20, 2013 at 10:26 am

    Brandon: The closest would be the Mocetta (goat ham) recipe above. To do a real venison ham, you would need a very fat doe (doable) and you’d need to keep the skin on, which isn’t easy.

    Reply
  5. Avatar for BrandonBrandon says

    December 20, 2013 at 10:15 am

    Hank,

    Have you done venison ‘prosciutto’?

    Reply
  6. Avatar for Hank ShawHank Shaw says

    November 16, 2012 at 10:52 am

    Ricardo: Not sure, but I would not keep it around very long. In the past, it was stored submerged in the brine. Butchering books? I can recommend The Butcher’s Apprentice: The Expert’s Guide to Selecting, Preparing, and Cooking a World of Meat, although in full disclosure — I am in it. 😉

    Reply
  7. Avatar for Ricardo RodríguezRicardo Rodríguez says

    November 14, 2012 at 9:28 pm

    Nice! I will try the corned venison recipe. Just one question: This is supposed to come from the time refrigeration was not available, so, although you mention putting it in the freezer or in the fridge, how long was it supposed to last if left at room temperature?

    And speaking of cuts, any good book you could recommend about butchering? I have the Basic Butchering of Livestock and Game, and it is very good, but it stops at the T-bone and Sirloin steaks, and I was looking for more modern cuts.
    Thanks

    Reply

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Hank Shaw holding a rod and reel in the American River

Hi, my name is Hank Shaw; I’m a James Beard Award-winning author and chef. I started this site back in 2007 to help you get the most out of all things wild: fish, game, edible wild plants and mushrooms. I also write cookbooks, have a website dedicated to the intersection of food and nature, and do a podcast, too. If it’s wild, you’ll find it here. Hope you enjoy the site!

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