can I have a reality check? - 6 days curing - LOTS of liquid from bellies

[webpoppy8]

Looking for reassurance...

This is my second try at cold-smoked bacon, with a better pork belly than the first try.

I was also more disciplined about what I'm doing.

6 lbs of belly, 3.5 lb and 2.5 lb pieces

CURE:

1/3 cup kosher salt
1 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoon pink salt, quick cure
1 tsp himalayan pink salt
1 tsp crushed thyme thyme
1 tablespoon fresh ground black pepper
1 tsp monosodium glutamate
1 tsp cumin seeds crushed
1 tsp red pepper flakes
2 Tbsp hungarian paprika

2 Tbsp dark rum

Question 1:  the cure tasted very spicy - I'm a little worried, I don't really like hot-spiced bacon.  Problem or not?

I split the cure into two 1-gallon freezer bags, roughly proportional to the meat.  I put the meat into each and used the bags to spread the cure around.  After this, I squeezed as much air as possible from the bags and zipped closed.  I laid each flat in the fridge.

Pretty disciplined about flipping every day.

After three days, liquid was visible in the bags, and one had a tiny zipper gap where cure was stuck and it leaked a little.  Cleaned and closed it.

A day later, it seemed there was a LOT of liquid.  

Question 2: Should I be concerned?

Photos attached.

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• webpoppy8
• Mar 9, 2017

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• webpoppy8
• Mar 9, 2017

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• webpoppy8
• Mar 9, 2017

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• webpoppy8
• Mar 9, 2017

 

[daveomak]

[h3]Product Description[/h3]
Can be used in place of Morton[emoji]174[/emoji] Tender Quick[emoji]174[/emoji] in any recipe.

Ingredients: Salt, Sugar, Sodium Nitrite 0.65%

QUICK-CURE Con Yeager.jpg

• daveomak
• Mar 9, 2017

1/3 cup kosher salt
1 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoon pink salt, quick cure
1 tsp himalayan pink salt

What did you use....  pink salt AND quick cure...

I'm taking a stab here....   The belly you purchased was already injected with a curing solution...   looks like from a Chinese restaurant where they  injected soy and other stuff for an oriental dish...

 

[okie362]

@DaveOmak If you are referring to the Himalayan pink salt, it's not a cure.  More like sea salt.

 

[atomicsmoke]

@DaveOmak If you are referring to the Himalayan pink salt, it's not a cure.  More like sea salt.

Is there a sea in the Himalaya?

Just pulling your leg okie...[emoji]128512[/emoji]

 

[okie362]

I'm not familiar with the cure you are using but from my limited experience it's normal for liquids to be drawn from the meat then partially reabsorbed.  If the cure amounts are correct then you are likely fine.

And yes, reality was checked at the door when I entered.

 

[daveomak]

I am referring to his recipe / directions.....   that makes no sense....  Quick Cure is NOT pink salt...    not at 0.65% nitrite...

2 teaspoon pink salt, quick cure

 

[geezer]

 
@DaveOmak If you are referring to the Himalayan pink salt, it's not a cure.  More like sea salt.

Yep. Its just salt..........but very tasty salt. I routinely use Himalayan pink and French grey salt. Both are good but taste differently. What's kind of funny is the grey salt is reclaimed from the sea on an ongoing basis, as where the sherpa pink is ancient fossil salt.

 

[DanMcG]

Hmmm, Never knew Quick Cure was 0.65%, or that it was an all purpose cure with the added sugar.

Excess liquid is not unusual, some of it will be reabsorbed. If you actually used the Con Yeager Brand Quick Cure that Dave posted then you have a lot of salt in your mix, which will draw out more liquid, but that also means you're low on cure.

 

[webpoppy8]

It was McCormick's Himalayan pink salt for seasoning, not curing salt.  "Sourced from salt mines within 200 miles of the Himalayan Mountain range, its pink color comes from the presence of iron oxide."

My curing salt is the 6.25% nitrite Prague powder, "Anthony's Pink Curing Salt #1."

No injected soy - the butcher brought the full belly out for me, and cut it practically in front of me to my (novice) request; it had been shipped in the day before.  It is a grocery chain, but one with a very good reputation for meat.

Should I mix up more cure and put it in?

Should I drain off that liquid?

 

[atomicsmoke]

You went a little heavy handed on the cure. Is normally 1tsp/5lb.

I wouldn't worry about the liquid. Turn it , massage it (if you can without bursting the bag). If it bursts put everything (liquid and meat) in a new bag.

 

[biteme7951]

Some of the liquid will be re-absorbed as everything equalizes. You still have a few days to go. 

Barry.

 

[webpoppy8]

Washed off the cure last night, dried in fridge for 8 hours and re-bagged into fridge for this morning.

Today I smoked it for 8 hours.  MES 30 with cold smoker attachment filled.  Main smoker temperature set to 115º, I saw temperatures varying 95 to 135 degrees.  Outside temperature 17º-32º, smoker started off saying the interior temp was 8º.  

Cooled it in fridge after smoking while doing an errand.

Then I sliced it all down with my food slicer.  The meat is very red!  Cooked ten or so slices up to taste. Spiciness fine. We found it a little too salty still. I think that I will shift to more brown sugar or maybe maple syrup.

Attached some pix.  

Not sure if my new ($70 bargain) food slicer is really up to snuff.  The photo of the "organized" slices shows a good junk of bacon that was either shredded outright or ended up 2" long at most. Not sure how to assess that.

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• webpoppy8
• Mar 13, 2017

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• webpoppy8
• Mar 13, 2017

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• webpoppy8
• Mar 13, 2017

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• webpoppy8
• Mar 13, 2017

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• webpoppy8
• Mar 13, 2017

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• webpoppy8
• Mar 13, 2017

 

[SmokinAl]

It sure looks good from here.

If you freeze the bacon for 2 to 3 hours it will slice much better.

Al

 

[tallbm]

For being too salty there is a remedy to that.

After you wash off the cure and pat dry (before you smoke) you do a "fry test".   This is where you cut a slice, fry it, and taste it to see if salt content is too strong.

if it is too strong you can soak in ice water to remove salt content.  Do another fry test and then if still to salty you continue to soak in fresh ice water, if tasting good proceed to smoke.

I used a store bought bacon seasoning and followed the directions to the letter and the fry test revealed a super salty pork belly.  I soaked for 6 hours in ice water, fry tested again, and all was right with the world!

So I guess a best practice would be to do a fry test.  ESPECIALLY when trying someone elses recipe or a store bought seasoning.  It can save you from having 8 pounds of bacon that is only good for beans and soup flavoring :)

 

[dirtsailor2003]

If doing a dry rub cure I'd recommend using this calculator for calculating the proper amount of cure, salt and sugar. You can add other spices if you like. I use this and have never found the product to be too salty.

A third cup of kosher salt is approx 95 grams. It's no wonder it was salty. If divided into two bag that's twice the amount needed.

1 teaspoon or 5.66 grams of cure one per five pounds of meat would have been the proper ratio of cure to use.

Your 3.5 pound hunk should've had 3.96 grams of cure #1.

28 grams of salt

Your 2.5 pound hunk should've had 2.83 grams of cure #1

20 grams of salt

http://diggingdogfarm.com/page2.html

 

[daveomak]

4 days in the refer to cure is about 10 days too short...    You are using a recipe that is no good...  The sugar did not have time to penetrate the meat...  another reason it was too salty....

 

[myownidaho]

Lots of good advice so far. Keep up the effort! As for cure time, I've found ten days is about right for me. I wouldn't go less.

I've got a cheapie slicer that doesn't serve me well on bellies, even when the meat is almost frozen. As a result I hand slice my bacon.