At  Evermore Farm, we offer regularly four kinds of bacon in our farm store and online store- Regular Smoked and Sliced Bacon, Uncured Sliced Bacon, No Nitrates; No Sugar Added Sliced Bacon, and Canadian Bacon. We get lots of questions about the differences in these bacons. Here’s the skinny on “makin’ bacon”.
What Is Curing?
Curing is the addition of salt to a product to change the chemical properties in a way that preserves it. The salt in the brine prevents the growth of certain kinds of bacteria that cause meat to spoil. Curing also imparts flavor to the meat. In addition to salt, often sugar, herbs, or spices are added to the brine for flavor.
Both cured and uncured bacon start as slabs of pork belly that are either injected with a wet brine—a saltwater solution—or placed into a wet brine. Some bacon is still made using  a dry salt and seasoning mixture—but wet brines are more common.
Smoking meat is also a way of preserving it, and most bacon is smoked over a low temperature after being cured to help further dehydrate the meat, and to impart a nice smoky flavor.
What Is Cured Bacon?
Bacon is most often cured using artificial nitrites, a chemical additive that preserves the meat and gives bacon its pink color. The bacon at Foster Sundry is  Pink salt is also known as Prague powder, Insta Cure #1, or pink curing salt #1, and it is commonly used to cure meats
“There’s a more attractive color on a cured product especially when it’s been cured with pink salt. That’s a large part of the reason butchers prefer cured bacon. When exposed to air, cured bacon maintains its pink color much longer than uncured bacon, which can quickly turn gray.
What Is Uncured Bacon?
Most things that are labeled as uncured have had celery salt added to it.
Celery salt, which contains naturally occurring nitrites, cures the bacon. Bacon labeled as uncured was cured without artificial nitrites like pink salt
.
Do Cured Bacon and Uncured Bacon Taste Different?
While cured and uncured bacon use different curing agents, there is hardly a difference in taste between the two. Cured bacon may taste a bit saltier in some instances but it depends on how long the bacon cured. Because uncured bacon has to sit in its brine for longer, in other instances it can taste saltier than some cured bacon, but the difference is negligible.
It is more likely that you’ll taste the difference in flavor based on what seasonings were added and how it was smoked.
What is the difference between regular bacon and Canadian bacon?
Canadian bacon is made from cured and smoked pork loin—which is much leaner than the pork belly used to make American smoked  bacon. Canadian bacon is closer to mild ham than it is to any of our other bacons.