Just when you thought bacon couldn’t get any more delicious, think again. Melbourne company Saltsmith is pushing the boundaries of what’s possible, with hand-made, free-range bacon products that will challenge your perceptions of the humble bacon rasher. The team is serious about quality, flavour and attention to detail, combining Victoria’s best free-range pork with innovative processing techniques to create a completely unique product with unparalleled complexity. Whilst most other producers focus their product range on different cuts of bacon, at Saltsmith you’ll only find streaky bacon – however, each product is cured and smoked differently to create new-world flavours, including collaborations with much-loved Melbourne brands such as Starward Whisky.
Saltsmith is the brainchild of Simon Lawry and David Ball, two mates with a vision to recognise bacon’s rightful status as the ‘king of meats.’ After researching the commercial bacon market, the duo noticed a gap for genuinely high quality bacon. At the time, no one in Australia was getting creative with bacon or challenging the status quo. What started as an at-home charcuterie hobby quickly became a commercial bacon-empire especially after Starward Whisky founder, David Vitale raised the idea of a bacon and whisky flight night. The Starward team told the boys it wasn’t possible until they produced their product commercially, and so, Saltsmith was officially born. Years of experimentation, adjustments and trials with different flavours, equipment and processing techniques have resulted in Saltsmith, as it stands today – a company that will challenge your perceptions of what bacon can be.
Embracing a paddock-to-plate philosophy, Saltsmith works directly with local Victorian farmers to ensure their products can be traced back to the pasture. As a result, all their suppliers are APIQ, free range accredited, which not only ensures that the animals involved are happier – something which is essential to the team – but it ultimately increases the quality of their products. When animals can roam freely and move their muscles, the quality of their meat substantially increases. After all, the team believes that “food should be treated as more than just a product. It’s about being mindful and respectful of the process and of the farmers who raise the animals and of course, the animal itself.”
Whilst commercial producers have ditched traditional techniques, Saltsmith is doing things differently, starting with traditional processes and innovating from there, pushing curing and smoking methods to their limits to create unique products. For example, each rasher is dry-cured for seven days – which is unconventional compared to larger bacon producers – then cold smoked (instead of hot smoked) using peach and cherry woods with custom-made equipment. The team is constantly trialling new flavours and different smoking woods such as whisky barrels and Australian Red Gum, all of which create a new level of depth and complexity to the bacon.
The creative flavours themselves are what truly set Saltsmith products apart from other standard bacon producers. For an introduction to Saltsmith, their Breakfast Bacon showcases the extreme quality of their product in its purest form – sugar and salt are transformed into a heightened, bacon-y, almost umami experience. This is where regular bacon is ruined. The next level up in experimentation is Saltsmith’s Four Pepper Bacon, perfect for a homemade, peppery carbonara, or for sprucing up a steak and bacon sanga. Finally, suppose you’re a lover of the sweet. In that case, Saltsmith’s Maple Whisky bacon is the one for you, striking the perfect balance between the distinctive sweetness of authentic Canadian maple syrup and the fruity maltiness of Starward whisky.
Saltsmith’s products prove that innovation and experimentation are practices that can create something new and different, even in something as simple as the humble rasher of bacon. The team is proud to say that no one else in the Australian industry uses their techniques and equipment, let alone their stand-out flavour combinations. If you’re looking to elevate your meal with a unique, gastronomic bacon experience, you’ll want to try Saltsmith. After all, it’s nothing short of “damn good bacon.”
Saltsmith Bacon is available from Queen Victoria Market every Saturday, St Ali and online at saltsmith.com.au
Saltsmith is located at 87/88, Queen Victoria Market, Shed I, Victoria St, Melbourne.
Opening hours: Saturdays: 7am – 4pm.
