Bacon Likely Bad... Confirm and Help Me Learn

[TheReluctantCraftstronaut]

I'm afraid I may have ruined $100 worth of bacon, and I'm not interested in getting sick, so I know the answer is likely, "not worth the risk." Even still, I'd appreciate insight into what went wrong here or in the rare chance everything is OK, some confirmation to help me move forward with confidence.

Cure, by weight:
- 2% sea salt
- 1.5% brown sugar
- 0.25% pink cure no. 1

Vacuum sealed three bellies separately with cure weighed out by the amounts listed above and stuck in the fridge for 15 days. The cure was a bit longer than I've done before, but the thickness seemed to merit the extra time. Every 2-3 days I would massage the vacuum-sealed bags a bit and flip them over. After the curing process, I took them out of the bag, pat dry with paper towels, and placed on wire racks uncovered in the fridge for about 6 hours. Cold smoked outside on a cold day for 6 hours. I have a masterbuilt with the cold smoke attachment, so not much heat transfers to the meat. Brought inside, placed back in the fridge for 2 days. Tonight (day 2 after smoking) I was slicing the first belly up and noticed the black spots on the fat side of the belly. I'm obviously concerned the meat has spoiled.

I had two bellies fat side down against the wire racks and one belly fat side up. Each belly has some of this occurring and it is ONLY on the side touching the rack. Nothing on the "top" or sides at all. The spots do seem to discolor through the fat a bit. Only thing I can smell is smoke.

Is there any reasonable confidence that the metal racks caused some discoloration of the bacon and that it's safe to consume? This is my 4th or 5th time making bacon and this has never happened to me, at least not that I've noticed.

Thank you for the advice.

 

[indaswamp]

Absolutely nothing wrong with your curing process....

I assume you placed the belly horizontally on a rack to smoke it. If that is the case, your belly is fine....the black is likely from the grate of your smoker. Keep on doing your cold smoke sessions until you have the color/smoke you want (I cold smoke bacon 4 nights; 12 hours per night below 70*F).

 

[SmokinEdge]

The dark spots seem to be 100% on the wire rack line. I’m positive the rack has caused the discoloration. Probably from rust spots where the coating on the rack is damaged. Take a sharp knife and just skin those spots, they will be superficial in nature and won’t effect the quality of the bacon. I would 100% carry on after removing the spots, just because they may flavor the meat over time. Your recipe and time line is solid as long as fridge was below 39*F I would just carry on. And post up some pics frying in the pan.

 

[indaswamp]

Oh, and hang your belly when smoking from now on to avoid this issue....

 

[SmokinEdge]

Stainless bacon hangers.

 

[forktender]

Take a filet knife and skim the black spots off, scrub the heck out of your grates and continue smoking.

I've had the same thing happen with racks that I thought were clean, they apparently weren't clean enough. LOL

 

[Fueling Around]

I've gotten the same reaction from the wire racks I used for drying in the fridge. Never figured the chemical reaction other than the chrome plating has some weak spots.
I bought new wire racks that are used for drying only

 

[TheReluctantCraftstronaut]

Thank you all for your insight! I really wanted to believe it was staining from the racks, but with food safety, I always want to be cautious. Thought my bacon was doomed.

Edit: yes I smoked the bacon horizontally on cooling wire racks that they also sat on while in the fridge as well. 2/3 racks were also coated with a black enamel which is associated with the highest occurrence of the discoloration, but the belly on the "chrome" wire rack had two small spots of discoloration which made me think spoilage was probable.

 

[JLeonard]

Thank you all for your insight! I really wanted to believe it was staining from the racks, but with food safety, I always want to be cautious. Thought my bacon was doomed.

Bacon looks good to my unprofessional eye. And nothing ever wrong with asking someone elses opinion. These guys wont steer you wrong.
Now if your really worried about it....I'll send you my address and you can just ship all that bacon to me for "proper disposal".....LOL.
Jim

 

[chopsaw]

Is there any reasonable confidence that the metal racks caused some discoloration of the bacon and that it's safe to consume?

It happens .

Good that you asked though . Post it up when you're done .

 

[jbchurchill]

And maybe the bellies were not dry enough when they went in?

 

[wesir]

I've run into the same issue a few times, always happens when the fat side is touching the grate, wiped off what I could and cooked it up and I'm not dead yet.

If you're going to hang your next batch it's worth buying the hangers like the ones SmokinEdge showed. The Sausage Maker sells them on amazon and their website, my last batch I hung using some cheap meat hooks and whatever shape it forms when you hang it is the shape it's going to stay in when you go to slice it. If you do yours in half belly chunks I wouldn't go with anything smaller than the 8 prong, you can always put smaller chunks on it but if you go over the size the ends may flop in weird directions or curl

 

[Fueling Around]

I found an interesting thread today. Confirms what I found that it is caused by the rack.

Green Ham | The McCrone Group

McCrone scientists are often asked to identify foreign materials in food products. A recent case involved the discovery of green spots on ham.

www.mccrone.com

 

[wesir]

Another thing that might look scary but is usually fine is if you see greenish spots after slicing, it's something called 'nitrite burn' and if you look at it from different angles it might be rainbow colored. Buddy of mine threw out several pounds of home cured bacon one time thinking it was bad and by the time he showed us a pic it was too late.

 

[pit 4 brains]

I found an interesting thread today. Confirms what I found that it is caused by the rack.

Green Ham | The McCrone Group

McCrone scientists are often asked to identify foreign materials in food products. A recent case involved the discovery of green spots on ham.

www.mccrone.com

I'm thinking more than likely it's chromium plating and not stainless steel.
Stainless steel doesn't corrode (oxidize) well. Try cutting it with an oxyacetylene torch.

 

[Fueling Around]

Another thing that might look scary but is usually fine is if you see greenish spots after slicing, it's something called 'nitrite burn' and if you look at it from different angles it might be rainbow colored. Buddy of mine threw out several pounds of home cured bacon one time thinking it was bad and by the time he showed us a pic it was too late.
...

Dried beef gets that sheen, too.

I'm thinking more than likely it's chromium plating and not stainless steel.
Stainless steel doesn't corrode (oxidize) well. Try cutting it with an oxyacetylene torch.

Does the green come from the copper plate base under the nickel and then chromium plate?
Corrosion resistant aka stainless steel has varying characteristics depending on the grade. 4xx series is more ductile, magnetic, and also more corrosion prone.

 

[pit 4 brains]

Corrosion resistant aka stainless steel has varying characteristics depending on the grade. 4xx series is more ductile, magnetic, and also more corrosion prone.

Very true. There are alot of different stainless steels out there. Heck some are magnetic and some are not. I was just saying I think the spots are from the rack, which I find hard to believe is actually stainless. It could be, but I haven't ran across one in a off-the-shelf smoker.

 

[TheReluctantCraftstronaut]

Well, I'm here to report that after consuming much of the bacon amongst friends, we're all still alive. Thanks for the confirmation and encouragement on this one!

 

[Markl]

Happy to have found this post. My 3rd time cold smoking bacon and first time seeing a couple of black spots. Good to know a minor issue, easily resolved.