I raise pigs here on my farm, fed with locally sourced grains and leftover milk from our cow. My wife reacts to nitrites/nitrates, so we make our own bacon fro

I raise pigs here on my farm, fed with locally sourced grains and leftover milk from our cow. My wife reacts to nitrites/nitrates, so we make our own bacon from the whole sides. We use a traditional cure that's basically just salt, letting it brine for a week in the fridge. Then we smoke the cured slabs and slice it into vacuum-sealed packs for the freezer. The result is some of the best bacon on the planet, and I wouldn't sell it for any price. By contrast, we previously had our butchers cure the bacon, and it has never been as good. Even their nitrate free recipe does not compare to homemade. Still, I think the biggest difference has been feeding them milk; the flavor difference has been nearly incomparable to past pork, which was already infinitely better than what you can buy in the stores.