The perfect bacon sandwich is dry-cured streaky bacon, fried in a hot pan until the edges crisp but the middle still gives, laid overlapping on soft white bread that has been buttered right to the corners, and eaten within about ninety seconds. Everything else is negotiable, but that combination of crisp, chew, salt and butter is where every good bacon sandwich ends up.
The single biggest upgrade is the bacon itself, and it is the one part most people never touch. Most supermarket bacon is wet-cured and pumped with water, which is why it leaks a white liquid into the pan, shrinks alarmingly and steams instead of browning. Bacon you cured yourself does none of that. Here is how to get from a piece of pork belly to the best sandwich in the house.
Why does home-cured bacon make a better sandwich?
Because of what is not in it. Home-cured bacon made with a dry cure is rubbed with the cure, refrigerated while the salt draws moisture out, then rinsed, patted dry and hung to air dry. The result is firmer, more flavourful bacon that will not leak water and shrink in the pan the way shop bacon does.
That matters enormously in a sandwich, because browning is a dry-surface process. Wet bacon in a hot pan spends its first minutes boiling off its own added water, and while it is doing that it cannot brown. By the time it dries out enough to colour, the fat has often gone tough. Dry-cured bacon starts browning almost immediately, so you get crisp edges and rendered fat without overcooking the meat.
There is a flavour argument too. The Bacon Making Kit flavours your bacon three ways: chilli and garlic, juniper and fennel, and pancetta. A sandwich made with juniper and fennel bacon is a noticeably different thing from a sandwich made with the chilli and garlic, and being able to choose is a luxury the supermarket does not offer.
How should you slice it, and how thick?
By the time the bacon has air-dried it is much firmer than raw belly and slices cleanly, so a sharp kitchen knife is all you need. If you own a meat slicer, we are quietly jealous.
Thickness is a genuine fork in the road. Thin rashers crisp all the way through and give you a shattering, salty sandwich where the bacon almost behaves like a crisp. Thicker rashers keep a soft, meaty middle inside a browned edge, which is the more satisfying option if you like something to chew. For a sandwich, somewhere in between tends to win: thick enough that the middle stays tender, thin enough that the fat renders properly in the time the lean takes to cook.
Streaky is the classic sandwich cut because pork belly gives you alternating bands of fat and meat, and the fat is what crisps. If you prefer back bacon, the same cure works on a 500g pork loin joint with the skin removed.
How do you cook it properly?
A heavy frying pan over a medium to medium-high heat, and nothing else. No oil, because the fat renders out and fries the bacon in itself, and a cold pan start is fine since it gives the fat a head start on the lean.
Lay the rashers flat with a little space between them. Crowding the pan traps steam, and steamed bacon is exactly what you were trying to escape. Turn once or twice, listen for the sizzle to change from a splutter to a fine crackle, and take it out a shade before it looks finished, since it firms up as it rests. Always cook it through.
Two things worth doing while the pan is hot. First, keep the rendered fat: a spoonful in a jar in the fridge makes the best fried eggs and roast potatoes you will cook this winter. Second, if you trimmed the skin off the belly before curing, turn it into pork scratchings by cutting it into bite-size pieces, tossing with salt and a splash of vinegar and roasting on a wire rack in a hot oven until puffed and crisp, watching closely near the end. It is the perfect thing to snack on while the bacon cures.
Which bread, and does it need butter?
Soft white bread. This is a hill worth standing on. A sourdough with a chewy crust turns a bacon sandwich into a fight, and the bacon should be the only thing doing any crunching. A thick-cut soft white loaf, a floury bap or a good roll with a tender crust are the three right answers.
Butter, yes, and properly. Real butter, soft enough to spread without tearing the bread, taken right to the corners so no bite is dry. Butter also does structural work: it forms a thin barrier that stops the bread going soggy where the bacon fat lands.
Toasting is optional and slightly controversial. If your bacon is on the crisp side, soft untoasted bread is the better partner. If your rashers are thick and tender, a lightly toasted roll gives the sandwich somewhere to push against. What you should not do is toast it dark, because then everything in the sandwich is crunchy and nothing is comforting.
How do you build it?
Order matters more than people admit. Bacon goes on the bottom slice, overlapping like roof tiles so every bite gets meat rather than a mouthful of bread followed by a mouthful of bacon. Cut the rashers in half if the bread is small and lay them in two neat layers.
Sauce goes on the top slice, not on the bacon, which keeps the crisp edges crisp for a few seconds longer. As for which sauce, red is sweeter and cuts the salt, brown is spicier and leans into it, and a very good bacon sandwich made with bacon you cured yourself genuinely does not need either. Try it plain first, at least once, so you know what your cure tastes like.
Then eat it standing up, immediately. A bacon sandwich has a short and glorious peak, and no amount of technique survives ten minutes on a plate. If you have cured a whole belly, slice it or cut it into lardons and freeze the pieces spread on a baking sheet before bagging them up, so a sandwich is always fifteen minutes away rather than a full defrost away. The Bacon Making Kit is hand-packed in Britain and needs nothing from you but a piece of pork belly and a week of patience.
Bacon sandwich FAQs
Should I grill or fry bacon for a sandwich?
Fry it. A pan gives you direct contact, better browning and rendered fat you can keep, while a grill dries the rashers from above and tends to curl them.
Why does shop bacon leak white liquid?
Most supermarket bacon is wet-cured and pumped with water, which comes out in the pan. Dry-cured bacon has had moisture drawn out by the cure instead, so it browns rather than boils.
Is home-cured bacon safe to eat?
Yes, when you follow the cure quantities and timings in the booklet, use fresh pork, keep it refrigerated throughout and cook it before eating. The cure is what preserves the meat, so never reduce it.
How long does home-cured bacon keep?
Keep it refrigerated and use it within the timeframe given in the booklet, or freeze it in slices. Always cook it through before eating.
Can I make back bacon for sandwiches instead?
Yes. The instructions use pork belly because a thinner joint cures more easily, but the same cure works on a 500g pork loin joint with the skin removed.
Fancy the best bacon sandwich you have ever made? Start with our meat kits and a piece of pork belly.
