Loin curing not fully submerged … safe?

[Inscrutable]

So I put this in Pops brine, a ziploc bag, and into a fridge crisper.
went to flip, and the bag leaked into the crisper, so much of this loin would not have been submerged for as much as 3 days.
Repackage and keep going, or toss out?
Not a big investment so leaning toward the latter.

 

[Fueling Around]

Tough luck
I would toss
It may be ok but did the bag leak on day 1 or day 3 is the variable

PS this one of the reasons I changed to dry brine

 

[SmokinEdge]

The loin was in the fridge and we are talking about 3 days, so I say mix up some more brine repackage and go again. You may think about putting the zip bag in a tub or some kind of containment vessel. And I agree with John about preferring dry brine.

 

[mneeley490]

I agree. Repackage with more brine, and you should be fine.

 

[Fueling Around]

Listen to SmokinEdge
I was thinking sideways.
Pops is a slow brine so the meat will equalize in salt and cure

 

[slavikborisov]

If it was in the fridge just rebrine

 

[Inscrutable]

Just repackaged. Thanks all!

 

[dr k]

That's why I don't use zip locks for wet cure brine as a weight to keep submerged and use a heavy dinner plate to keep submerged in a wet curing vessel. I used POP's for a few years then went with the EQ of weighing the water to cover the meat plus the weight of the meat then .25% cure 1 and 1.5% salt and 2% sugar if you even want sugar. I dry brine cure now and no longer do Pop's. If I do boneless loin chops for Kassler Rippchen for cured 2" thick cold smoked then grilled chops I'll weigh each chop in grams and do the above % at 1/4" per day plus 2 days for good measure. This is precise so 10 days or 30 it's equilibrium based on the weight of the meat. It can't over cure plus it hasn't absorbed 10% brine as in wet curing brine from lost myglobin flavor for a watered down vs dry brined result since the water brine has meat juices in it and dry brining reabsorbs it's own juice in a few days. I really suggest weighing everything and dry cure 1 brining and convert to grams vs Pop's wet for a more consistent result. You will get 156ppm cure 1 every time with weighing cure. Also, more consistent weighing salt and sugar. If you cure bone in loin chops back out 20% of the cure and salt since no absorption with bone weight and if doing bacon on a stick with curing back/St' Louis ribs then back out 40% cure and salt.

 

[Inscrutable]

1/4" per day plus 2 days for good measure.

that’s the part that had me wet brine and inject. So confident of that penetration/rate for thick cuts and does it vary ?

 

[dr k]

that’s the part that had me wet brine and inject. So confident of that penetration/rate for thick cuts and does it vary ?

Whole boneless pork loin for back bacon falls in the 2" range with pop's wet curing brine being a tender cut even though it's thicker than 2" without injecting and you're right that other thick cuts over 2" should be injected with the wet brine cure. A lot of times I don't get to my dry brine cures till day 30 but the salt would still have taken the cure 1 to the center with thicker cuts. I've never cured brisket points or whole hams. Pop's wet cure is pretty much aligned with the dry brine cure 1 at 1/4" per day + 2 days. So a three inch pork loin would be 14 days dry brined and that's what Pop said with his duration. 3 weeks for hams and brisket I believe he said with injecting around the ham bone. I have done a 12 lb turkey in pop's wet cure for 5+ days but the uptake of brine and the release of myglobin made it a little watery/diluted tasting. I started dry brining with just salt with whole turkey under the skin vs wet from an article at Thermoworks.com by food scientist Kenji Alt-Lopez. So if I have the time with steaks I'll dry brine with kosher salt an hour an inch on the counter before cooking to tenderize and flavor and a couple days for whole roasts he mentions but usually I just season roasts in the fridge the night before. I really like doing the individual back bacons (Kassler Rippchen) more than the whole loin since they are individually weighed in grams and curing in their own bag with .25% (multiply by .0025 to get grams in cure 1) for 156ppm cure 1 every individual chop. 1.5% kosher salt no sugar. Season with anything without salt before cold smoking The pics below are traditional Kassler Rippchen with the rib portion pork loin (I've been doing boneless pork loin more), cured, cold smoked then after 4 hours of cold smoke or what you like, then grill to 145IT. I have a couple in the fridge and just grab one to cold smoke and grill at anytime between days 10-30+ curing in the fridge.

 

[Inscrutable]

I don’t wet brine anything just for brining … have only done it when curing/making Canadian bacon (and now first attempt at bacon). Any other brining I’ve done has been dry.
But gonna do dry on next loin and belly.