EQ Cure - Fat Side Discoloration

[SmokinFox310]

Just pulled some belly from cure yesterday, after 7 days. When patting it dry, I noticed some discoloration on the fat side.

It does not look like mold and passes the nose test.

Is this a concern or is this nitrite burn?

 

[pc farmer]

It's normal. I get it too sometimes
Dry cure? What's your process?

 

[Coreymacc]

7 days seems really quick. Definitely expand on your process

Corey

 

[SmokinFox310]

It's normal. I get it too sometimes
Dry cure? What's your process?

7 days seems really quick. Definitely expand on your process

Corey

Yep, dry cure.

Used Digging Dog calculator to make cure - 1.8% salt, 1% sugar. 3 total pieces, the 1 in the photo had the large spot, the other 2 had faint traces.

Vac sealed and put in fridge ~ 36 degrees.

Turned every 1-2 days, though they were stacked. I can't recall if I changed the order they were stacked in.

The belly was 1.5" at the thickest part and I was using 1 day per 1/4" (6 days) plus 1 day as the minimum cure time which is how I arrived at 7 days.

I usually let it go for ~10 just based on my schedule but needed to cut this one shorter.

 

[Fueling Around]

Not nitrite burn.
I get green marks if using my wife's cooling racks. They are chrome plated and the copper leaches out of them.
What did you lay then on before the vacuum packing?

 

[SmokinFox310]

Not nitrite burn.
I get green marks if using my wife's cooling racks. They are chrome plated and the copper leaches out of them.
What did you lay then on before the vacuum packing?

Tough to recall, but maybe some aluminum sheet trays and some paper towel. It could have been a non-wood cutting board. I cut my vac seal bags to length, dropped a piece in, sprinkled in dry cure, sealed it. Massaged it around when I turned them.

I didn't use the wire racks until after the cure to air dry overnight. I did get some different discoloration from that.

 

[Fueling Around]

...
I didn't use the wire racks until after the cure to air dry overnight. I did get some different discoloration from that.

Yep. Drying on the rack is when I got the green treatment too.

 

[SmokinFox310]

Yep. Drying on the rack is when I got the green treatment too.

Just to be clear - this photo is just after pulling from cure and before placing on the rack to dry.