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A question about bacon

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ChillyWillis
ChillyWillis Posts: 893
in Off Topic
I'm curing two 4lb slabs of bacon for the family reunion next weekend. One is following the sweet recipe from Ruhlmans and the other the savory. The sweet is progressing much like all of my other attempts at curing but the savory..... not so much. In all of my previous attempts at bacon after applying the dry cure the belly leaches out a fair amount of juicy pork goodness to bath the belly for its week long cure but with my savory belly there are almost no released juices at all. I'm at the 7 day mark and was planning on smoking today. 

To to all of you experienced charcuters (if it's not a word I just made it one) is this normal or should I be worried? Will I be risking killing off half of the family by serving this next week? Will it just need an extra day or two of cure time?

Thanks in advance! A few photos to help illustrate my plight.....

Sweet bacon swimming in delicious pork cure goodness:


Curiously dry savory bacon:

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Comments

  • theyolksonyou
    theyolksonyou Posts: 18,458
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    I've had differing levels of moisture. Your gonna cook it anyway, no danger there. 
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  • Darby_Crenshaw
    Darby_Crenshaw Posts: 2,657
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    you are fine.

    the savory does not have sugar in it, right?

    but the sweet had both salt and sugar?
    there's your answer right there.

    sugar is as much, maybe more hygroscopic than salt.

    it draws out as much or more water than salt does.  that's why the savory cure exuded less liquid, because the sweet batch had the additional sugar.



    FWIW, the reason you are doing this isn't that you preserving it. you are flavoring it.

    i mean, yeah, technically you are also preserving it, but it wouldn't be dangerous if the cure failed anyway.  if you had put another uncured slab next to it in the fridge for a week, you'd be safe to eat that one uncured one today too.  and smoke it . 

    we cure bacon today because we like the flavor and the way the cure changes the meat.  not because it makes pork belly safe to eat.




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  • blind99
    blind99 Posts: 4,971
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    I use Ruhlmans as my cure most of the time and I get very little liquid.

    I like to cut a few slices off and fry them to get a look inside and see if the cure has gotten all the way to the middle and if I'm happy with the flavor and saltiness. You can call an audible and adjust if needed. 
    Chicago, IL - Large and Small BGE - Weber Gasser and Kettle
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  • Darby_Crenshaw
    Darby_Crenshaw Posts: 2,657
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    blind99 said:
    I use Ruhlmans as my cure most of the time and I get very little liquid.

    I like to cut a few slices off and fry them to get a look inside and see if the cure has gotten all the way to the middle and if I'm happy with the flavor and saltiness. You can call an audible and adjust if needed. 
    if the meat has stiffened and firmed up, it'll be fully cured.  i never had a belly cure that took more than six days, fwiw. 
    [social media disclaimer: irony and sarcasm may be used in some or all of user's posts; emoticon usage is intended to indicate moderately jocular social interaction; the comments toward users, their usernames, and the real people (living or dead) that they refer to are not intended to be adversarial in nature; those replying to this user are entering into a tacit agreement that they are real-life or social-media acquaintances and/or have agreed to or tacitly agreed to perpetrate occasional good-natured ribbing between and among themselves and others]

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  • blind99
    blind99 Posts: 4,971
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    I just had a bunch of family over and ate all the rest of my cold smoked bacon. Gonna have to make more soon. 
    Chicago, IL - Large and Small BGE - Weber Gasser and Kettle
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  • ChillyWillis
    ChillyWillis Posts: 893
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    Thanks for the feedback. The two slabs just hit the egg, I'll post the results. 
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  • blind99
    blind99 Posts: 4,971
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    better yet, just send me one of the slabs, i'll make sure it's OK :)
    Chicago, IL - Large and Small BGE - Weber Gasser and Kettle
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