Hey Bear How did you calculate your curing time with Tender Quick? The packaging says 24 hours. You have eight days. I am not challenging you on your information I am just wondering. I have my pork bellies. Brown Sugar and Tender Quick, I am ready to go. I do not want to make a mistake.
Thanks
When they say 24 hours, they aren't curing the meat, and when Morton's does a 24 hour job, the next step they do is cook it at 350° until it's cooked to 145°IT.
This is what I have in my original post, and it hasn't changed:
Calculating curing time:
The thickest place on any of these belly pieces was just under 2".
I calculate there being 4 "half inches" in 2 inches, so that gives me the "4".
Then to that 4 (days), I add 2 more days for safety, the way I was taught.
So that would be 6 days.
I then usually add another 3 days on my own, unless I have scheduling problems that make me want to smoke a day or 2 in either direction.
Note: I Never cure for less than 8 days.
Every day, while curing, I remove the packages & flip them over, and massage them a bit.
Moisture will accumulate in the packages. I leave that in, because some of it is curing juices, and at the end of the curing process, it will nearly all be gone through reabsorption.
On day 9, I removed them from the fridge, rinsed them off in cold water, and soaked them in ice water for 1 hour, to remove surface salt. Then I patted them dry, cut a couple slices, and did a fry test for salt flavor---Just right!
Bear
