Wiltshire Bacon

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Wiltshire Bacon is a wet-cured bacon made from pork loin.

The meat is cured in brine for anywhere from 1 to 1 1/2 weeks, then aged for up to two weeks under refrigeration. After that, it may be smoked or sold as is. The method, referred to as the "Wiltshire Cure", results in a lower-salt and sweeter bacon.

Wiltshire Bacon is now made more out of Wiltshire than in it.

Cooking Tips for Wiltshire Bacon

Wiltshire Bacon should be cooked slowly. Put it in a cold (e.g. room temperature) frying pan, place the frying pan on the stove, and turn the burner heat on medium. Cook for about 15 minutes, turning occasionally. It will turn a golden colour.


Wiltshire Bacon does not respond well to microwaving; it is best cooked slowly.

History Notes for Wiltshire Bacon

The County of Wiltshire is in the south of England, to the west of London. Both Salisbury Cathedral and Stonehenge are in Wiltshire.


In the 1700s, a great deal of live pigs were routinely imported from Ireland, landing in Bristol. They would be walked to London (remember, no trucks in those days), and while passing through the county of Wiltshire, the town of Calne become by happenstance a natural stopping point. Over time, people in Calne decided to start cashing in on all this pork-processing business that was walking by their front doors.

A great deal of salt used to be used in curing the bacon, as the meat had to cure without benefit of refrigeration, during which time it could spoil before it reached preservation point. In 1847, a Mr George Harris of C. & T. Harris (Calne) Ltd. made the trip to America to see how they were processing meat. He saw that they did the curing using ice houses. He came home with new ideas from the New World. By 1856, he had built a new curing plant with storage buildings whose roofs were packed with ice imported from Norway. The cool storage meant that a lighter brine cure could be used instead of heavy salting, making for a sweeter cut of bacon.

Chippenham in Wiltshire, about 6 miles away, also became a large bacon producing centre.

Though even the name of Wiltshire's largest city, Swindon, comes from its pork history -- "Swine Down" -- bacon is no longer one of the county's main products. Now, alas, it is the home of carpets and rubber.

Cecil Beaton lived in Wiltshire, as does Madonna now (2004).

Language Notes about Wiltshire Bacon

The name of Wiltshire started with West Saxon settlers who called the area "Wilsaetan" ('saetan' meaning settlers in Anglo-Saxon), and created a village called "Wiltun" ('tun' meaning town). By 878, the name was recorded as Wiltunschir.
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