I got a 15 lb pork belly for curing, smoking, and slicing bacon. I am dry curing that the same way I always do. But this time after truing up the edges I found myself with about 3 lbs of "scraps". I usually square out the belly after it's been cured and smoke the scraps with the rest, but this particular belly was pretty bad.
I decided to try a wet cure, because I've got multiple smaller pieces, and used Pops Wet Curing Brine (https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/threads/pops6927s-wet-curing-brine.110799/). The only problem was that I didn't have quite enough curing salt and wound up with 1/2 tablespoon in stead of a full one. I used 1/2 gallon of water, so the 1/2 tbs scales down correctly.
I cure my pork belly, smoke it, slice into bacon, vacuum seal it, and store it in the freezer. I defrost one pound at a time and cook it up. My question is this: If the cure is off, what's my level of risk? I've never wet brined before but the pork is in a plastic zip lock (then in a bowl) and fully submerged in the brine.
Thank you!
I decided to try a wet cure, because I've got multiple smaller pieces, and used Pops Wet Curing Brine (https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/threads/pops6927s-wet-curing-brine.110799/). The only problem was that I didn't have quite enough curing salt and wound up with 1/2 tablespoon in stead of a full one. I used 1/2 gallon of water, so the 1/2 tbs scales down correctly.
I cure my pork belly, smoke it, slice into bacon, vacuum seal it, and store it in the freezer. I defrost one pound at a time and cook it up. My question is this: If the cure is off, what's my level of risk? I've never wet brined before but the pork is in a plastic zip lock (then in a bowl) and fully submerged in the brine.
Thank you!
