- Sep 4, 2012
- 8
- 10
So I am making some bacon and have a question that I am looking for an opinion on. I have made several batches of bacon in the past using Rhulman's dry rub and adding some brown sugar to it. Last week I picked up 2 whole bellies and cut them into 4 pieces to cure. When I went to cure them I realized I only had 2 ziplocks left so I ziplocked 2 and wrapped the other 2 in plastic wrap. After a week the ones in the Ziplock looked as my bellies normally do nice and pink with a couple of slightly brown-ish spots from where the brown sugar pooled up on the belly I assume.
The other 2 however were a bit different. There were some nicely pink spots and some spots that were much deeper brown-ish which I believe was still from the brown sugar, but it was a fair amount more pronounced and the meat underneath was not as vibrant pink. Some of the brine did leak out of the saran wrapped ones as well, but not until day 5. Being paranoid about these I gave them the sniff test and although they smelled fine, one of them has a slightly more "porky" odor than the others. It wasn't foul, but more like the smell you get when you open a cryo pack of ribs or pork loin and that concentrated pork flavor, if you get my meaning.
Long story short, if I used the correct amount of cure (Roughly 1/4 cup per 5 lbs which is what I always use) and kept it cold, should I be concerned. I would hate to throw out 6lbs of belly. I would assume as long as the cure was on the belly it should have made enough meat contact correct? I just get paranoid about this stuff as my wife is a micro-biologist and she brings up all the things that could kill us daily. FYI I do also hot smoke my bacon as I do not yet have a cold smoker.
Chris
The other 2 however were a bit different. There were some nicely pink spots and some spots that were much deeper brown-ish which I believe was still from the brown sugar, but it was a fair amount more pronounced and the meat underneath was not as vibrant pink. Some of the brine did leak out of the saran wrapped ones as well, but not until day 5. Being paranoid about these I gave them the sniff test and although they smelled fine, one of them has a slightly more "porky" odor than the others. It wasn't foul, but more like the smell you get when you open a cryo pack of ribs or pork loin and that concentrated pork flavor, if you get my meaning.
Long story short, if I used the correct amount of cure (Roughly 1/4 cup per 5 lbs which is what I always use) and kept it cold, should I be concerned. I would hate to throw out 6lbs of belly. I would assume as long as the cure was on the belly it should have made enough meat contact correct? I just get paranoid about this stuff as my wife is a micro-biologist and she brings up all the things that could kill us daily. FYI I do also hot smoke my bacon as I do not yet have a cold smoker.
Chris
