A few years ago I read a post by Pops (RIP) that relayed info from his family about the meat quality on short cure versus long cure. Long was much better.
Is this a wet cure thing only or does it also apply to a dry cure?
This rings true with all curing, but some borders need to be layed down.
1) wet curing with high salt and cure #1 concentration are ment for faster curing and the meat can only sit in that cure a specified amount of time or it can get over salty and to much meat proteins can be broken down. The stronger the cure solution, the safer the product is in variable temperature. Cool temps but not necessarily refrigerated temps. This is old methods.
2) equilibrium curing where we balance the salt and nitrite to meat weight takes longer to produce a finished product but gives us a more flavorful and balanced product, but we need refrigeration for food safety because our salt concentration is not high enough, but this produces a better tasting product but also takes more time.
3) Salt concentration is the driver of curing time. In a brine, 26% salt is the highest salt concentration obtained. Any additional salt added will fall to the bottom of the tub and sit as salt crystals. However in a dry rub, the amount of salt applied is 100% salt acting on the meat. So dry curing is faster than brining, however, brining adds moisture to the meat in uptake, and dry cure draws moisture out of the meat and dries it concentrating the meat flavor.
In both methods, more time is better if we are in equilibrium or there abouts. If we are high salt concentration in brine or rub, a time limit is needed as to not over salt the meat and make it unpalatable. one method needs more time to tenderize the meat and balance flavor while curing, the other method is faster but more harsh and time must be controlled.