Cured too long?

[nawlinsborn73]

I put a pork neck in the fridge using an equilibrium cure using cure #1 almost 3 months ago. I used 3% salt. Life got in the way and I forgot about it.

I'm not concerned about it being too salty as it's an eq cure, but I'm worried about safety.

Do you think it's still safe to smoke and eat?

 

[kilo charlie]

3 months is a pretty long time. If it were me, I'd toss it. Others may come along with a more experienced point of view

 

[in. pred]

agreed i be leery of that one.

isnt there an old saying, brine for 3 months smoke for 3 weeks. er ah maybe not.

 

[chopsaw]

If your cure brine was the correct mix , and the fridge temps are good , no slime or off smells , your probaby OK . It's all a guess from this side of the screen though . Final decision is yours .

 

[zwiller]

I push a lot of limits but that's a hard pass for me. Cure #1 only lasts 30 days. Yes, the 3% salt helps but no data on how long it helps. If you told me it was the beer fridge holding at 33F MAYBE.

 

[SMOKEOCD]

For the less experienced (me), I'd like this explained more in depth. Clean piece of meat, fully cured, never left whatever container it was in, never left the fridge. Is it bad, or more likely just not good?

 

[indaswamp]

Hmmm....tough one there bud. I can't really tell ya what do do, only what I would do. First, I would check it to see if it passes the smell test. With 3% salt brine, you have strong inhibition of bacterial growth. And the cold temperatures have slowed it even further with the salt acting in a synergistic manner. Some of the cure #1 would have degraded by now for sure, but likely still protected given the cold temps. Probably safe. But I can't say for certain without inspecting it myself.

 

[JckDanls 07]

I'm no help... But Rick @BGKYSmoker might be able to shed some light on it...

 

[banderson7474]

I'm team throw it out. It's not worth dealing with explosive issues from both ends for 3 days.