First Wet Cure making Boston Butt Bacon (BBB) for Void425

fangard said:

 
I love me some Buckboard Bacon.

You may want to be a bit more precise in the measuring of your pink salt. Pretty powerful stuff.

"Heaping" measurements may not be very safe.

Click to expand...

I had a 4 ounce bag of Cure #1.  The max you can use is 3.84 ounces per Gallon of water.  This is what is recommended on the package.  

Using 1 "Heaping" Tablespoon as recommended by Pops is about 1 Ounce.  Before I actually added it I was only able to get 3.2 heaping tablespoons out of the package so I knew my heaps were a little too big.  I did not feel the need to measure any closer because I was way under the max limit of putting the whole bag in. 

If you are interested in the amount of Cure #1 used, Pops has put a great post up about the safety of his method.

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/a/pops-brine-concerned-with-cure-only

It has been 12 Full days since I put the meat in the wet brine.  I never opened the container to even peek at it.  I probably should not have left it in the solution this long since the thickest point is only 2 inches, but I do not think this was too long to hurt it.  Opinions?  

The brine solution was not ropey, stringy, or slimy at all.  The liquidity appeared to be the same as when I first put it in.  The only difference was some discoloration from the meats curing process.  

I rinsed all the meat with cold water then I hung it in my refrigerator so it can dry a little bit.  I am not sure if it had to dry or not before I put it in the hot smoker.  Some guides say to let it dry for 8-24 hours after rinsing if using a Dry Cure, but there was no information on if you need to let it dry using a wet cure.  Do I need to let the cured meat dry before smoking it?

Since the smoker has not been used in a long time I will heat it up and run a batch of wood through it to make sure its ready before putting the meat in.  I will probably start smoking the meat in just 3-4 hours without letting it dry for the time listed for a dry cure unless someone posts a reason why I should wait longer before Hot Smoking.  

I am looking forward to any comments or opinions people have, please let me know.  Thanks

Since the Cure is finished I decided to move the new pictures over to the appropriate thread.   Smoking Bacon.  You may follow the link here.

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/...ing-to-make-boston-butt-bacon-bbb-for-void425