If you've ever tasted truly great bacon and wondered why it's so different from the supermarket stuff, the answer almost always comes down to one thing: dry-curing.
What Is Dry-Cured Bacon?
Dry-curing is the traditional method of preserving pork belly using a dry rub of salt, sugar, and spices — no water, no brine injection. The cure is applied directly to the meat and left to work slowly over several days. The result is bacon with a deeper, more concentrated flavour, a firmer texture, and none of the excess water that causes supermarket bacon to shrink and spit in the pan.
How It Differs From Wet-Cured Bacon
Most bacon sold in New Zealand supermarkets is wet-cured — injected with a brine solution to speed up production and add weight. While it's faster and cheaper to produce, wet-cured bacon releases a lot of liquid when cooked, which steams rather than fries the meat. You end up with pale, rubbery rashers instead of the golden, crispy strips you're after.
Dry-cured bacon loses moisture during the curing process, which means what you're paying for is pure meat — and what you get in the pan is a proper fry with real caramelisation.
Why Award-Winning Matters
At Bluestone Meats, our dry-cured streaky bacon has been recognised for exactly this kind of quality. The award isn't just a sticker — it reflects the time, care, and traditional technique that goes into every batch. We don't rush the cure, and we don't cut corners on ingredients.
How to Cook It
Because dry-cured bacon has less water, it cooks faster than you might expect. A medium heat, a dry pan (no oil needed — the fat renders beautifully on its own), and a couple of minutes per side is all it takes. The result: crispy, golden, deeply savoury bacon that actually tastes like bacon.
Where to Get Dry-Cured Streaky Bacon in NZ
Bluestone Meats ships our award-winning dry-cured streaky bacon across the South Island of New Zealand. If you've been settling for supermarket bacon, this is the upgrade your breakfast deserves.