gourmet Bacon
Chris Battle is passionate about bacon. A trained butcher and master curer, he began his career at his father-in-law Jack Scaife’s Butchers in Keighley, Yorkshire at the age of 16.
It wasn’t until the 1980s that Chris really honed his curing expertise. The mass-market imported bacon available at that time was produced with added water, resulting in rashers shrinking when cooked and the tell tale white bits in the pan. Customers increasingly started to ask for bacon ‘like it used to taste’. At that point, Chris saw the true value of the techniques he had learnt as an apprentice.
A return to traditions
Chris knew that the traditional method of dry curing and air drying would produce superior bacon. He spent two years perfecting his famous dry cure, based on Jack Scaife’s original recipe.
The technique involves hand-rubbing cure and sea salt into the meat, before air drying for up to 21 days to remove the natural water content of the pork. This produces a fantastic texture and flavour - with no more white bits.
The quality of bacon Chris cured really put him on the map and he began sending his artisan bacon all over the world.
"Together, we’ve developed a reputation for producing delicious dry cured, air dried bacon; all based on Jack Scaife’s original recipe"
Quality curing
Chris brought his expert knowledge to Cranswick in 2004 when we jointly founded the Cranswick Gourmet Bacon Company. Together, we’ve developed a reputation for producing exceptional dry cured, air dried bacon.
This venture ensured Chris’ artisanal techniques could be brought to a larger audience through the major supermarkets.
Together, our products revolutionised the retail bacon category and a whole new tier of super premium bacon is now available in the major retailers, bringing Chris’ traditional recipe to new generations of bacon lovers.