Why Is Bacon Cured with Sugar?

While salt wants to pull all of the water from the meat, sugar is hydrostatic, so it keeps the cure from drying out the pork completely. You can use any type of sugar you want: granulated, brown, raw, totally up to you.

Why is sugar used in bacon?

Sugar and salt are of course used for flavor, but also act as antimicrobials. A lot of salt is used in bacon, so the sugar can help to balance the flavor out2. Sodium nitrite, not nitrate, is generally the nitrogenous ingredient added to bacon. Nitrate can also be added, but is quickly reduced to nitrite in the meat2.

What does sugar cured bacon mean?

adjective. (especially of ham or bacon) cured in a mixture of sugar, salt, and sodium nitrate or sodium nitrite.

Marcus Vance

Marcus Vance

Cybersecurity & Digital Privacy Researcher

Marcus Vance is a cybersecurity auditor and technology writer dedicated to educating the public about online safety, data privacy regulations, enterprise security, and emerging cyber threats.