Bacon from Hi Mountain Cure

vidalia1

Twice recently I have cured fresh pork belly with the Hi Mountain Buckboard cure. The first time I did 6#'s and it turned out great and was eaten in a few days.

The 2nd time I did 10#'s and it also came out great. I took 5#'s to the Sunshine fest and it was well received. I put the other 5#'s in the freezer in zip lock bags. (I don't have a foodsaver yet). Well last weekend (4 weeks after it was cured & frozen) I took out a pound to fry for breakfast. As I was frying it I noticed a funky smell. Not too bad but...anyway I ate 1/2 of a piece and you could tell it had started to turn already.

So my question is...why did it turn so quickly?

I have thought about this but can't really come up with a reason. My next batch I will use my own cure (I have Ruhlmans book & pink salt, etc) and I will get a food saver to help store the bacon.

This has not put me off the process but has become an "I want to learn more" moment.

Any comments or suggestions are appreciated.

Sooner Egg

Kim,

I'm also curious to know about why it turned so quickly......I had some stored in the freezer that I vacuumed packed using a Food Saver, after 2 months we took it out, fryed it and it was delicious, like you I used Hi-Mountain and to date have had wonderful results both curing and storage

vidalia1

And what is weirder is after I saw that it had turned I took out some Buckboard bacon from the freezer that was 9 months old and cooked it and it was fine... :blink:

Humphrey Chimpden Earwicker

it went bad in the freezer?

can't happen.

if it picked up a smell, and you only had it in ziplocs, there's your problem right there. ziplocs (even the freezer safe ones) are nogood for the freezer. they leak at the corners with the tiniest bump or jostle. i know this because i still use them, still get frost, and still get off flavors from the rest of the fridge.

time for a foodsaver (for me, i mean).

meat cannot spoil in the freezer unless temps are off. it can pick up off smells though

Weekend Warrior

Like as in rancid Kim? I am still eating buckboard I vacuumed in October. No problems. I really don't know what to say. I can't imagine the cure was at fault, but the belly was maybe not real fresh when you bought it. Sorry I can't help more.

vidalia1

hmmmm..I guess it may be less scientific than I thought...and yes it is time for a Foodsaver for us as well....

vidalia1

I was thinking maybe the meat wasn't real fresh either..and yes it was like a rancid taste and smell...very faint but enough to where I didn't want to serve it or eat it myself..

Humphrey Chimpden Earwicker

there's pink salt (nitrite) in the hi-mountain cure too.

even if it was totally fresh and uncured, it still shouldn't spoil.

now i'm worried, because i have two 3 pound back bacon chunks in MY freezer. ..a;so in ziploc bags

Weekend Warrior

I think Jeff has the most plausible answer. Pork picks up smells and goes rancid fast when exposed to air.

vidalia1

Luckily I had given away several pounds and they had already eaten it a few weeks before...so all is well.

Thanks for the comments...

vidalia1

See my comments below about the 9 month BB...it was fine...go figure.

AZRP

Kim did you hot smoke them? I took my last bellies to 150 internal at which point it was fully cooked. I didn't care for the way it fried up. I'm smoking a couple more this afternoon and going to try a cold smoke. Anyway about the off taste, Stike is right, fat will absorb odors even when frozen. If people put ice cream in the kitchen freezer in our fiberglass plant overnight it is inedible the next day. Tastes and smells like styrene. -RP

vidalia1

Randy,

Yes I did hot smoke them to 150...I may cold smoke next time...thanks for the input...it clearly isn't a perfect science.. :(