Pops6927's Wet Curing Brine

[dave from mesa]

Hey guys

Did Pops cure for a belly about 3# and about 1 1/2" thick

Used 2/3 C Salt

1 C sugar

1 C brown sugar

1 heaping T pink salt

Let it brine for 13 days.

When I cut a few pieces to test fry I noticed that the center didn't look cured. Looked like raw pork.

Now I don't know what to do. Re-brine throw it out or just cold smoke it. Not sure if half brined will make anyone sick.

Not sure it shows in the pic but the center doesn't look right. This is my second time doing this and the other one looked fine.

Any help is appreciated.

thanks

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• dave from mesa
• Jan 17, 2017

IMG_1956.JPG

• dave from mesa
• Jan 17, 2017

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• dave from mesa
• Jan 17, 2017

 

[SmokinAl]

I guess I'm not seeing what you are, because it looks cured to me.

It looks red in the middle from here.

If your sure of the amounts of cure you used then I wouldn't worry about it.

13 days is plenty long for a belly that size.

Al

 

[dave from mesa]

2nd pic. I guess what I'm seeing is what looks like it cured on the left and right but where my thumb is and to the right looks uncured. The first batch looked the same all the way thru.

Just don't want to waste my time smoking it and not being able to eat it.

thanks

 

[crankybuzzard]

Could be a lack of myoglobin in that spot, or oxygen contact on that spot while curing, or where the meat touched the container or another piece of meat.

With the time spent in the cure, you're good to fry and eat.

 

[dr k]

Hey guys
Did Pops cure for a belly about 3# and about 1 1/2" thick
Used 2/3 C Salt
1 C sugar
1 C brown sugar
1 heaping T pink salt
Let it brine for 13 days.
When I cut a few pieces to test fry I noticed that the center didn't look cured. Looked like raw pork.
Now I don't know what to do. Re-brine throw it out or just cold smoke it. Not sure if half brined will make anyone sick.
Not sure it shows in the pic but the center doesn't look right. This is my second time doing this and the other one looked fine.
Any help is appreciated.
thanks

IMG_1953.JPG

• dave from mesa
• Jan 17, 2017

IMG_1956.JPG

• dave from mesa
• Jan 17, 2017

IMG_1963.JPG

• dave from mesa
• Jan 17, 2017

It looks great. Time to test fry or smoke if you have done this recipe before. It's strange when you see raw pork compared to cured pork. You can search here on SMF on uncured or not fully cured pork. It'll show pork loin with a big contrast to the center that isn't cured. But it's always best to ask with pics like you did. As long as your moving pieces around for maximum exposure to the wet cure or flipping and neading a little every other day with dry curing you are doing fine.
-Kurt

 

[dave from mesa]

For what it's worth this was one piece and we cut some to test for salt that's when I saw it didn't look cured. Cut it in half and it looked the same. The pics show the center of the belly. 

Will smoke it in a couple of days.

thanks guys

 

[smoker21]

For what it's worth, I've had it happen several times and it hasn't killed me yet. I have been using smaller pieces ( under 2 lb) and have had fewer problems.

YRMV

JD

 

[remsr]

Wow! Bear and Dave what a lot of good information. I will be saving this post for reference when I start making bacon, ham and sausage. I hope you don't mind if I post you for additional information when I start my first sausage? I don't have a scale do I really need one?

Randy,

 

[remsr]

I just went back to save all that good information and it was gone????

Randy,

 

[dave from mesa]

Randy

Why don't you just subscribe to this thread if you want to save the info?

 

[remsr]

The thing is that between you and Bear answered all my questions. I thought knowone knew about sweeter then sweet but you even broke it down for me. I still have half of what I used on the bacon left andwould like to use it up.

Randy,

 

[Bearcarver]

Wow! Bear and Dave what a lot of good information. I will be saving this post for reference when I start making bacon, ham and sausage. I hope you don't mind if I post you for additional information when I start my first sausage? I don't have a scale do I really need one?

Randy,

I would say a scale is more important when using Pink Salt (Cure #1) than when you use TQ.

I use a scale, but most of the curing I do with TQ could be done safely without a scale.

I believe the cure in Cure #1 is about 12 1/2 Times stronger than TQ.

Bear

 

[remsr]

Thanks Bear.

Randy,

 

[ab canuck]

Well that's saved for the upcoming spring and bellies...... 

 

[bobjr21w]

This forum is awesome.  I can't wait to do it this.  I do have a couple questions:

I have a wood fire smoker built from brick and cedar.  I do have a propane suplimentry heat supply to keep the temp more consitant.  I read a few different posts on temp but I want to make sure I get it right. I live in ND and outdoor temp is about 10-20 deg; is 170 deg smoker temp a good temp for the whole smoke?

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• bobjr21w
• Dec 7, 2016

I have a wood fire smoker built from brick and cedar.  I do have a propane suplimentry heat supply to keep the temp more consitant.  I read a few different posts on temp but I want to make sure I get it right. I plan on doing a cold smoke and I live in ND and outdoor temp is about 10-20 deg; is 170 deg smoker temp a good temp for the whole smoke?

How long should I add smoke? I have read people have done a smoke in one day and others multiple days.  

 

[keithaa]

Hello All
I tried this brine with 2.5 pounds piece of belly.
Used 1/2 cup salt
1 cup sugar
1 cup Brown sugar
And 1 TBS cure.
10 days in brine.

It was to sweet for us.

Wondering what others have done to change this?

Increase salt to 1 cup?

Decrease sugar?

Lots of recipes I have seen salt is always higher thank sugar so I'm not sure what to do.

Any guidance would be appreciated.

Thanks

 

[daveomak]

 
This forum is awesome.  I can't wait to do it this.  I do have a couple questions:

I have a wood fire smoker built from brick and cedar.  I do have a propane suplimentry heat supply to keep the temp more consitant.  I read a few different posts on temp but I want to make sure I get it right. I live in ND and outdoor temp is about 10-20 deg; is 170 deg smoker temp a good temp for the whole smoke?

How long should I add smoke? I have read people have done a smoke in one day and others multiple days.  

Bob, evening....  170 is fine as long as the meat has cure #1 added to it...  You do want to control / stop / kill botulism....   Low oxygen environment is a breeding ground for botulism... 

Adding smoke is personal preference...   I generally add smoke for ~4-6 hours depending on what I'm smoking..   I do a lot of cold smoking below 70 deg. F....  other stuff I smoke ~130-140 deg. F...    Then the meat is moved to the kitchen oven to cook....  It's easier to cook meat in the oven.... 

 

[wade]

 
How long should I add smoke? I have read people have done a smoke in one day and others multiple days.  

You can do either. If, like Dave, you are only smoking for 4-6 hours then this is easy to do in one hit. If you are smoking for 12 hours plus then it is sometimes easier to smoke it over several sessions - refrigerating in between. Resting the meat between shorter periods of smoke can also help the smoke flavour to penetrate more evenly.

 

[skorepeo]

So much conflict with doing bacon makes me afraid to try it cause I might kill my family doing it. But I guess no here has died so I'm going to just do it

 

[wade]

There isn't a great deal of conflict - more a number of variations on a couple of themes. People have their own preferences and are keen to let other people know. If you want immersion cured bacon then Pops brine is a good one to go for. If you want dry cure bacon then you can use one of the calculators to calculate the cure mix - 2.5% salt for dry cure is a good place to start. 

For your first time, for simple peace of mind, post up here exactly what you are doing and we can get back to you quite quickly if it looks as if you are doing anything that may not be safe. Curing bacon is more of an art with scientific principles and the safety margins are quite wide. If you are worried about safe storage of bacon after it is made, then to begin with just make enough that you can eat within a week or so and keep it refrigerated.

Yes - just go do it