Curing bacon not throwing liquid

[dfvellone]

I always use the digging dog farm cure calculator and my fridge temp is 38f and the bellies barely throw any liquid at all. Happens every year and the bacon still comes out nicely, but I'm always a little skeptical because I'd feel more comfortable if the bellies were covered in liquid. Everything I read refers to the liquids contributing to the cure. What might be the issue with mine, or should I not worry about it?

 

[bregent]

I typically don't get more than a few teaspoons of liquid and don't see any problem with that.

 

[alexhortdog95]

I get tons of liquid in mine. Never used a farm cure calculator, that's new to me.

What exactly is your recipe that you used?

 

[disco]

It depends on the meat. Some bellies are quite moist and others are drier depending on the processing method. It doesn't effect the outcome of your bacon! Relax and keep smoking!

 

[atomicsmoke]

I always use the digging dog farm cure calculator and my fridge temp is 38f and the bellies barely throw any liquid at all. Happens every year and the bacon still comes out nicely, but I'm always a little skeptical because I'd feel more comfortable if the bellies were covered in liquid. Everything I read refers to the liquids contributing to the cure. What might be the issue with mine, or should I not worry about it?

Not an issue. Trust the process.Enjoy the bacon.

 

[dfvellone]

Thanks for the replies. I appreciate the input.
My recipe isn't much more than the basic cure#1/salt/sugar ratios. I use some black pepper, pinch of nutmeg and smoke. Smoke's my biggest spice.

 

[bregent]

Never used a farm cure calculator, that's new to me.

It's a basic cure calculator that one of the SMF forum members put together, and that many of us use:
http://diggingdogfarm.com/page2.html

 

[bernieross]

I tend to get a fair amount of liquid from the ordinary pork that I get from my local butcher. Not enough to submerge the belly, However, I've recently made friends with a local organic farmer who has cross-bred large black/mangalitsa pigs. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Large_Black_pig and
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mangalica
Very little liquid. Great bacon though! Don't worry.

 

[Bearcarver]

It depends on the meat. Some bellies are quite moist and others are drier depending on the processing method. It doesn't effect the outcome of your bacon! Relax and keep smoking!

Like Disco (Smart Fellow) said, "It depends on the piece of meat. Some pull a lot of juice & some don't.
Most of it ends up back in the meat with the Cure & other ingredients.
The juice carries the other dissolved ingredients into the meat.
So relax & keep flipping daily (The meat, that is).

Bear

 

[disco]

Like Disco (Smart Fellow) said, "It depends on the piece of meat. Some pull a lot of juice & some don't.
Most of it ends up back in the meat with the Cure & other ingredients.
The juice carries the other dissolved ingredients into the meat.
So relax & keep flipping daily (The meat, that is).

Bear

Smart Fellow? I should report you to the admins, Bear. Telling likes like that. Tsk.

 

[Bearcarver]

I get bellies from two different sources. One is rind on the other rind off. Neither produce a lot of liquid when curing.

As a side note when curing other meats/muscles like eye or round I typically cure 3 at a time. All are similar in weight, bought at the same time from the same store and they will all throw off differing amounts of liquid. Ranging from a 1/4 cup to a couple of teaspoons.

When curing whole pork loin you can expect more liquid to be expelled verses beef as its is a very moisture laden muscle. But again comparing 2 or 3 side by side they will expel differing amounts.

Exactly.

Bear