Freezing slabs post cure/pre smoke

[smokeybo]

Hi,

Due to timing I'm not able to smoke my slabs 2 days (pelicle time) after curing like I'd have liked.
Can I rinse and freeze the slabs until I'm ready to defrost them, let the pelicle form and then smoke them?
It will be another two weeks before I can smoke them and I don't want them sitting in cure for 24 days instead of 10 days.

 

[DanMcG]

sure why not, as long as they are fully cured, otherwise you'd want to continue the cure for the remaining time needed, after they are fully defrosted.

 

[dernektambura]

No worries.... cure salt will continue to work its equalization even if frozen.... whach your temp at thawing time.... go slow at fridge temp untill fully thawed.... you're ok...

 

[ColtWKnight]

I recently did this because a reporter was coming to the house to do an article/video on smoking bacon.

I had all the steps staged out, and on the day she was supposed to come we had 3" of rain and hurricane force winds. We postponed, and I tossed all stages in the freezer to hold for 2 weeks until we had amenable weather. I couldnt tell a difference between the bacon frozen at various stages and the fresh.