to cold for cure ?

[mark bacon]

I have 72 lbs of pork bellies curing.  Now that it is much colder in the garage ( at or very close to freezing ) I have noticed that the bellies that are dry brining are not kicking out the amount of liquid they did when the garage / fridge was in the mid 40s.

Do I need to cure longer, bring the temp up, add water to wet brine or just leave as is and not worry about it ?

 

[daveomak]

When curing meats, the temp should be around 38-41 degrees.... cure won't work below 28 degrees and the closer it gets to 28, the slower it works....

 

[Bearcarver]

Similar to what Dave said, I figure it's not good to be outside of the 34° to 40° range.

I keep my meat curing fridge at 37°-38° all the time.

Bear

 

[themule69]

Dave and Bear have you covered.

Happy smoken.

David

 

[mark bacon]

Thanks guys, I guess I need to warm the meat up a bit.  I will pick up a thermometer for the garage to see what the temp is in there.  Beer isn't frozen, but it is nice and cold.  I will let things cure for a few extra days since I probably put the bacon into hibernation.....  

this week looks brutal here.  Right now at noon it is 2 in South Bend, and temps are going to be -7 to 17 the rest of the week, so unless garage fridge can act as a heater, I better bring meat into house fridge.

Boy is my wife going to be overjoyed when I start tossing vegetables to make room for curing bacon.....

 

[wade]

I dry cure my bacon between 35-37 F (2-3 C) and it cures within 10 days. I would not let it go below that though.