Pork meat is the most delicious, flavorful and mouth-watering meat you can ever have. Curing extends the shelf life of pork products. Let us talk about the meat curing process. It is a process of preserving meat with the help of a solution made up of salt, sugar, nitrite, or nitrate
Pork is one of the most famous meat kinds in the world. It is wealthy in proteins, vitamins, minerals, and different vital nutrients. Pork divides into large sections referred to as primal cuts, which are then broken down further into individual retail cuts. Bacon and ham are two of them.
Bacon and ham each cut from a pig (pork). The difference between them depends on which component of a pig is taken for meat and the process of curing. It makes them pretty different in the end. Ham usually can be cured through smoking, whilst Bacon cured with salt.
Comparison Chart
| Basis | Bacon | Ham |
| Source | Taken from the belly, loin or back mostly from the less fatty area of the pig | Taken or cuts from the leg or rump portion the pig |
| Types | The types of Bacon depends upon two things: First is the thickness, and the second is which portion of the pig is used to cut the meat. |
Their types only differ in the curing process |
| How it is sold and eaten | Bacon is sold raw and must be cooked before being eaten | Ham is sold pre-cooked that’s why can be eaten straight away |
| Method of curing | Bacons are preserved cured in brine solution or dry cured | Hams can be served cooked and fresh. They can be wet cured and dry-cured as well |
What is Bacon?
Bacon is a kind of salt-cured pork crafted, usually from the pork belly or the pork’s less fatty region. The pig’s components include the back, loin, or abdomen, and that’s where the types of bacon distinction occur. For example, the kinds of Bacon include side bacon and back bacon. The side bacon cuts from the pig’s side, which is famous because of its long layers taken from the pig’s side; it is quite thick and fatty. The other is back Bacon taken from the loin in the middle of the back. It can be eaten on its own, as a side dish, or used as a minor ingredient with different delicious dishes. It is offered uncooked and ought to be cook before being eaten. The Bacon we purchase from the meat shop or delicatessen is usually gone through a preservation process which soaked in the salt/nitrates, sugar, or smoking. There are numerous different varieties of Bacon. The types of Bacon depends on the slice thickness and portion of the pig
What is Ham?
Let’s not complicate it and say ham is cut from the pork’s leg.
Ham is the cured and cooked meat prepared from the hind leg and rump. It is a less precise term, which means it could also refer to meat apart from pork, including turkey ham. It can be dry-cured in a salt-based mixture, or wet cured in a liquid brine.
Ham go through three different processes of pre-cooking which are curing, aging, and smoking, that’s why it can be eaten right away after purchasing it
The curing process is the type of process in which a solution containing a mixture of salts, sugar, nitrates, sodium nitrate, potassium nitrates, sodium phosphate administered into the fresh ham. After injecting the solution, the ham is cooked at 150 F.it’s temperature to make the ham bacteria-free.
The second process is aging in which the ham is salted and stored in a temperature-controlled ventilated room for an extended period.
The third process is smoking in this process; The ham is smoked at around 60F.
Key differences between Bacon and Ham
- Bacon meat cut from the belly, loin, or back of pig on the other hand ham meat cut from the leg or rump portion of the pig
- Bacon must be cook before eating while the ham can be eaten right after buying as it has already been through the pre-cooking process
- Bacon is sold in thin, skinny strips while ham is sell in large cuts
- Bacon meat is sold in raw form, and ham meat is sold in pre-cooked and cure form
Conclusion
The conclusion is that both Bacon and ham confer with cured meat taken from pigs. Bacon is a cured meat taken from the back or loin, the belly of pigs whilst ham is salted or smoked meat from the hind leg and rump. Thus, this is the principle distinction between Bacon and ham.