Shelf life of home cured bacon

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Mofatguy

Meat Mopper
Original poster
SMF Premier Member
Jan 31, 2019
210
125
Missouri
Hey all. I have a question on the shelf life of home cured bacon that has been cold smoked.
I have only made bacon once usimg disco's dry rub with bsugar salt and instacure #1 cold smoked and then fried for breakfast.
When I vac packed I only put enough slices for 2-3 days worth.
How long will it keep refrigerated.

Just thinking I should be able to pack at least a weeks worth...maybe?

Thanks!
 
Cool! Figured it would be at least a week. Thanks for the link.
 
So it specifies “dry cured”. What about bacon wet cured with Pops brine? I can’t inderstand what the shelf life difference would be.
 
jcam222 jcam222 Brine cured bacon contains a lot of moisture. It is more susceptible to Spoilage Bacteria that are salt tolerant and unaffected by the Cure #1. Same with National Brand Bacon. A pack of Oscar Mayer Bacon, once opened, is good for a few days before it gets Sour from spoilage bacteria. Grandpa's Dry Cured Bacon hung out in the smoke house, as is, fall, winter, spring and summer, until it got eaten. Bad Mold also grows faster on the high moisture Brined bacon...JJ
 
So if I cured using Cure #1, salt, sugar then cold smoked the bacon I could leave it just sitting on the kitchen counter for 3 weeks? Or is it 3 weeks below a certain temperature?
I would never do this, but it would be nice to know.
 
So if I cured using Cure #1, salt, sugar then cold smoked the bacon I could leave it just sitting on the kitchen counter for 3 weeks? Or is it 3 weeks below a certain temperature?
I would never do this, but it would be nice to know.

No Sir...Don't forget, across the country and even in Europe, Hog's are slaughtered and the Curing/Smoking takes place when the temp outside drops below 50° during the day and lower at night. The Salt, Cure, Smoking and most importantly Drying, is done at progressively Colder ambient temps over Nov, Dec, Jan and Feb, give or take a month by region. At this point the meat, will still be edible but is sufficiently Salty, Smokey and Dry to be safely stored at ambient temps through the Spring and even Summer months at 90+°F...JJ
 
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No Sir...Don't forget, across the country and even in Europe, Hog's are slaughtered and the Curing/Smoking takes place when the temp outside drops below 50° during the day and lower at night. The Salt, Cure, Smoking and most importantly Drying, is done at progressively Colder ambient temps over Nov, Dec, Jan and Feb, give or take a month by region. At this point the meat, will still be edible but is sufficiently Salty, Smokey and Dry to be safely stored at ambient temps through the Spring and even Summer months at 90+°F...JJ

Not trying to argue, but just trying to get clarity... you first say No, but your last sentence sounds like a Yes (given sufficient salt, cure, smoking and drying).
 
No problem Solman. Skidog's post was confusing Curing bacon on the counter, ambient temp, any time of the year and the centuries old curing method of " Starting " the Curing at <50°F in the late Fall so by the time the ambient temps went above 50°F the Bacon would be Shelf Stable at ANY Ambient temperature, even during the Summer...

Skidog' s First question...

So if I cured using Cure #1, salt, sugar then cold smoked the bacon I could leave it just sitting on the kitchen counter for 3 weeks?
(My answer...No Sir...)


Skidog's Second question...

Or is it 3 weeks below a certain temperature?
(My answer with an explanation on how Room Temp Storage can be Safe...

Don't forget, across the country and even in Europe, Hog's are slaughtered and the Curing/Smoking takes place when the temp outside drops below 50° during the day and lower at night. The Salt, Cure, Smoking and most importantly Drying, is done at progressively Colder ambient temps over Nov, Dec, Jan and Feb, give or take a month by region. At this point the meat, will still be edible but is sufficiently Salty, Smokey and Dry to be safely stored at ambient temps through the Spring and even Summer months at 90+°F...JJ)

 
No problem Solman. Skidog's post was confusing Curing bacon on the counter, ambient temp, any time of the year and the centuries old curing method of " Starting " the Curing at <50°F in the late Fall so by the time the ambient temps went above 50°F the Bacon would be Shelf Stable at ANY Ambient temperature, even during the Summer...

Skidog' s First question...

So if I cured using Cure #1, salt, sugar then cold smoked the bacon I could leave it just sitting on the kitchen counter for 3 weeks?
(My answer...No Sir...)


Skidog's Second question...

Or is it 3 weeks below a certain temperature?
(My answer with an explanation on how Room Temp Storage can be Safe...

Don't forget, across the country and even in Europe, Hog's are slaughtered and the Curing/Smoking takes place when the temp outside drops below 50° during the day and lower at night. The Salt, Cure, Smoking and most importantly Drying, is done at progressively Colder ambient temps over Nov, Dec, Jan and Feb, give or take a month by region. At this point the meat, will still be edible but is sufficiently Salty, Smokey and Dry to be safely stored at ambient temps through the Spring and even Summer months at 90+°F...JJ)
Hey Chef jj, correct me if I am wrong, but didn't they do the salt box cure where the meat would basically just take on all the salt it could, and it was much much higher than the 2~3% we do when we measure out the salt, sugar, and cure #1 then put the meat in a bag for an equilibrium cure?
The higher salt concentration pushed/pulled more moisture out of the meat and this was allowed to drain off and not reabsorb back into the meat. Then the slab was hung where more moisture was released...then smoked where upon more moisture would leave the meat.

This is how the meat was able to become shelf stable....
 
Hey Chef jj, correct me if I am wrong, but didn't they do the salt box cure where the meat would basically just take on all the salt it could, and it was much much higher than the 2~3% we do when we measure out the salt, sugar, and cure #1 then put the meat in a bag for an equilibrium cure?
The higher salt concentration pushed/pulled more moisture out of the meat and this was allowed to drain off and not reabsorb back into the meat. Then the slab was hung where more moisture was released...then smoked where upon more moisture would leave the meat.

This is how the meat was able to become shelf stable....
Yes, you're correct.... back in time, cured meat was much saltier.. people would first either soak in cold water for hours or boil dried meat to basically de-saline and afterwards prepare meal the way they wanted... that's how they did it up untill someone discovered that small amount of "saltpeter" actually acted as today cure #1 & #2.....
 
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Salt Box or a version of it, salting and stacking on a shelf, is done for Salt/Sugar Only Curing. The amount of Salt/Sugar used is not really " All it Could Take, " but was, is based on age old techniques past down. The Master is there telling the Apprentice, " That's enough. Add another row of meat and Salt, etc. Or the staff is highly trained.

With the addition of a Cure #1 we can reduce the salt to 2%. Curing in the bag. 7 to 14 days, lets the relatively small amount of curing mix to do it's job penetrating the belly. From there the Bacon is rinsed and rested/ hung, IN THE REFER, to dry for one or more days to form a pellicle and Smoked, a couple hours or several hours over days. This QUICK Cured Bacon needs to be refrigerated or frozen.

As pointed out above, the addition of Salt Peter and better yet Nitrite, Cure #1, let us reduce the salt and curing time...BUT...With Belly Bacon some Artisans use a combination of old and new techniques to get Country Style Dry Bacon using Cure #1, Salt and Sugar, combined with multiple drying steps under refrigeration and long continuous Cold Smoking, Days, to further Dry and add the Antibacterial properties of Smoke. The end result, like Old World Salt/Sugar Only Dried Smoked Bacon, is self stable.
Sorry guys but I don't have a specific detailed recipe and procedure to do this...JJ

Here is an interesting video on how Benton's Salt and Sugar Only Country Bacon is made and becomes Shelf Stable...

 
I remember my grandpa telling me that, back in old days and without fridge they would load cured and smoked/dry aged bacon in to big terracotta or metal barrels and pour melted pork lard over the top to submerge bacon... pork lard would cool and seal.. then, they would store this barrels in cold cellars... it would alow them to keep it from spoiling and fresh trough summer....
 
That is pretty cool and was likely way more flavorful than many modern bacon styles. Fat Sealing for preservation has gone the way of Curing and Smoking. There is no longer a Need to Preserve meat and other food items with these techniques but we remember that they Tasted Great. There are many French Charcuterie preparations are sealed in fat, Duck, Pork, And others to preserve them. Duck Confit, salted Duck slow cooked an sealed in it's own Fat. Pork Rillettes are another similar preparation...JJ
 
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I remember my grandpa telling me that, back in old days and without fridge they would load cured and smoked/dry aged bacon in to big terracotta or metal barrels and pour melted pork lard over the top to submerge bacon... pork lard would cool and seal.. then, they would store this barrels in cold cellars... it would alow them to keep it from spoiling and fresh trough summer....
That's how they did it here too...
 
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Sorry for the confusion. I meant first curing it in the refrigerator. Then doing the cold smoke. At that point you could leave it on the counter for 3 weeks?
 
Sorry for the confusion. I meant first curing it in the refrigerator. Then doing the cold smoke. At that point you could leave it on the counter for 3 weeks?
Cheffjj already explained in great detail but let me try differently....
a lot of folks here mixing up cold smoking and thermal treatment..
cold smoking is smoke treatment at very low temperature for extended period of time, days or weeks...
Thermal smoke treatment is smoking at above 120F for long period counted in hours...
Cold smoking means:
curing, smoking at low temp and aging for extended period of time to get shelf stable product which doesnt require to be kept in fridge for extended period of time. .
Thermal smoke treatment means:
curing, smoking at higher temp, doesnt need aging and must be vacpacked and either kept in fridge or frozen...
So answer to your question depends on smoking temperature. ...
 
I'm
So answer to your question depends on smoking temperature. ...
Also-how it is cured... dry cured products start pulling moisture out immediately, and continue to do so as it cures. Brine cured meats do not, they retain water....
To be shelf stable, water must be removed to inhibit bacterial growth (along with the salt, cure, and smoke).

Smoke also has anti-microbial preserving properties with some of the compounds created from the flame. With Cold Smoking, those compounds are allowed to permeate through the entire thickness of the bacon slab depositing those compounds deep within the meat.
 
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