Cure questions

[jeff1143]

Curing pork belly with tender quick at 1 Tbsp per pound. I rubbed the tenderquick on 1 side only and realized I should have done both sides. They are about 1 1/2 inch thick in ziplock bags on day number 8 at 36 degrees. Have flipped and massaged each day. So my question is are these going to cure correctly but will take longer or should I start over?

 

[jeff1143]

Curing pork belly with tender quick at 1 Tbsp per pound. I rubbed the tenderquick on 1 side only and realized I should have done both sides. They are about 1 1/2 inch thick in ziplock bags on day number 8 at 36 degrees. Have flipped and massaged each day. So my question is are these going to cure correctly but will take longer or should I start over?

Also the belly was skin off and rubbed on the meat side opposite of the fat cap

 

[SmokinEdge]

Also the belly was skin off and rubbed on the meat side opposite of the fat cap

You are golden in a plastic bag. What was your total time going to be? I’d stick with it and the belly will be fully cured. Enjoy.

 

[jeff1143]

You are golden in a plastic bag. What was your total time going to be? I’d stick with it and the belly will be fully cured. Enjoy.

Thanks for the reply. Was originally planning on 9 days. But now I think I’ll go 11 days due to the weather. -25 below at night here in Minnesota for the next couple days..

 

[SmokinEdge]

Thanks for the reply. Was originally planning on 9 days. But now I think I’ll go 11 days due to the weather. -25 below at night here in Minnesota for the next couple days..

Longer never hurt anyone. The salt content of TQ may over all be a bit salty at the finish, but you can soak the meat in fresh water to mitigate that. It will be perfectly cured and save though.
I use cure #1 and control my salt by percentage to meat weight. In this way my finished product has the exact salt concentration that I like. Can’t necessarily do that with TQ, which was developed by a company who sell salt. Just saying.

 

[jeff1143]

Longer never hurt anyone. The salt content of TQ may over all be a bit salty at the finish, but you can soak the meat in fresh water to mitigate that. It will be perfectly cured and save though.
I use cure #1 and control my salt by percentage to meat weight. In this way my finished product has the exact salt concentration that I like. Can’t necessarily do that with TQ, which was developed by a company who sell salt. Just saying.

Will definitely fry a piece and see how salty it is and go from there. Thanks again

 

[jeff1143]

cold smoked it for 8 hours at 60-75 degrees then turned it up to 180 till the bacon was at 95 degrees. Was a tad bit salty before I smoked it so I soaked it in water for a couple hours. Should be tasty!

 

[TNJAKE]

Great color on that. I'm cold smoking beef bacon right now. Nice work bud and don't forget to post the slices

 

[jeff1143]

Finished product

 

[chopsaw]

Looks great . I like TQ for this . I've never had it to salty .

 

[jeff1143]

 

[SmokinEdge]

View attachment 527057

Congratulations!
So how does it taste? I know you fried some,,,

 

[jeff1143]

Excellent

 

[jeff1143]

Excellent

Tastes great. Soaking it in water took away the saltiness. Almost to the point of not being salty enough. But I think it is still excellent

Excellent

 

[SmokinEdge]

Tastes great. Soaking it in water took away the saltiness. Almost to the point of not being salty enough. But I think it is still excellent

If the packages are given any time to rest, I say if because we all turn into circus freaks when there is fresh bacon and we eat it all, that said, as the bacon has a chance to rest even frozen, the salt will move around and it will balance. If not next time just rinse and dry, no soak.