Starting the smoke a day early

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marknb

Meat Mopper
Original poster
Feb 5, 2009
152
10
Hey all,

I put a pork belly into the fridge to cure last Saturday noon. Used the dry rub cure and honey directions in Kutas' book, except I used locally produced maple syrup rather than honey. It says to leave it cure for about 6 days.

Question, I don't want to be smoking bacon Christmas Day (I want to be eating bacon Christmas day
PDT_Armataz_01_28.gif
). Anyone see a big issue with pulling it out of the fridge and putting it on to smoke a day early? Is the 6 days allowing for some wiggle room or is it a hard and fast minimum? Anyone done this?

Thanks all,

Mark
 
I haven't done a pork belly yet but I have cured some bacon so. I don't see a problem with smoking your bacon one day early. I see you referred to the bible for the recipe and without pulling mine out I would ask you if you read in the book that it said to wait 6 days then I would let it sit for 6 days.
 
You should be fine, I have done at 5 daze and up to 10, only real differance was color.
 
I cured my belly bacon, my canadian bacon & my Buckboard Bacon all for longer than 10 days. They all turned out perfect. Eating it safely is more important than eating it quickly.
How thick was it?
If it is supposed to be cured for 6 days, it must only be about 2" thick at it's thickest place.

The rule I go by I learned from many others on this forum:
Measure the meat at it's thickest point.
Divide that in half.
How many quarter inches are there in that half?
Add 2 days for safety.

Example:
Bacon 3" thick at the thickest point.
Half of that is 1 1/2"
There are 6 quarter inches in 1 1/2"
6 plus 2 (extra days for safety)----equals 8 days.

Note: You can't overcure bacon, but you can undercure bacon.


Be safe,
Bearcarver
 
You make a good point, Bearcarver. Since I can't over cure it, I can let it ride until the 26th or 27th, should be staying home one of those days.
 
No problem there at all (26th, 27th, 28th, 29th) take your pick. I hate to see you have to wait, but better safe than sorry. It'll be worth the wait. You'll see.

BC
 
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