YO - Thirdeye - One more question on Buckboard Bacon

Memphis

Yo - Thirdeye - Sorry to start a new post but the other one was so far down. I too ordered the cure from Hi Mountain - Great service - great instructions. Anyway two questions: 1) I thought one of the reasons for a cure as apposed to a brine was to dry it out. - Won't the vac pac cure with all the liquid be more of a brine instead of a cure ?? Would that not produce a totaly different animal ??
2) Once cured, smoked and sliced - how do you keep ?? Is it safe in the fridge ?? Or do you have to freeze ???[p]Can't wait to try it !!!!!!!!!!!!

thirdeye

Memphis,[p]The way I see it, curing can be accomplished in two ways; a dry cure and a brine. Both are preserving with salt, the delivery is just different. Over time a dry cure extracts moisture and eventually produces a brine whereas a brine starts off as a salt in solution and goes to work faster. Either way, you can't avoid the liquid. I can tell you that I can tell the difference between fish that has been dry cured and brined fish. The texture of dry cured fish is firmer.[p]Vacuum sealing meat that is undergoing dry curing will keep the meat in closer contact with the brine that will be produced, just as submerging meat in a liquid brine keeps it in contact with the solution. This is important.[p]After curing, the bacon will keep in the fridge like any other bacon. (not sure what the actual shelf life is) Due to the quantity I do on each smoke, I prefer to slice it and freeze on wax paper, then package in zipper bags or vacuum in 1/2 pound amounts.[p]~thirdeye~[p]