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Bacon Curing Question.

lowandslow
lowandslow Posts: 122
in EggHead Forum
I am currently curing some bacon.  It is in a mixture of salt, brown sugar and pure maple syrup.  I have two slabs curing, one has been in the zip lock bags for 13 days, the other for 11.   

Is it OK if I just keep letting it cure past Xmas, or do I really need to get it out of there ASAP, rinse then smoke?
Hasbrouck Heights, NJ

XL Egg
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  • nolaegghead
    nolaegghead Posts: 42,109
    You can leave it in there for as long as you like.  Salt pork was stored in wooden barrels and used to feed the crew of ships for centuries.  If it gets too salty, you can remove however much salt you want with a fresh water soak.
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  • nolaegghead
    nolaegghead Posts: 42,109
    BTW - it's cured belly unless there is a source of nitrites, then it is bacon.
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  • lowandslow
    lowandslow Posts: 122
    Thank you very much.

    I am still good if I only used Kosher salt, correct?  No pink curing salt was used..

    I plan to smoke it to 150 IT to be sure.  
    Hasbrouck Heights, NJ

    XL Egg
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  • nolaegghead
    nolaegghead Posts: 42,109
    Yes.  You don't need the nitrite for safety unless you're cold smoking it, it's routinely added to pork belly because it give you the bacon flavor. 

    When you see "uncured bacon" in the store, it's not really uncured, it's that they get the nitrites from celery extract rather than adding the sodium nitrite as a discrete ingredient.  That's just a way to circumvent the labeling laws.  It's still bacon and tastes the same.  What you have is cured pork belly - it will have a different flavor - like pancetta.
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  • 20stone
    20stone Posts: 1,961
    edited December 2017
    nolaegghead said:
    Yes.  You don't need the nitrite for safety unless you're cold smoking it, it's routinely added to pork belly because it give you the bacon flavor. 

    ... What you have is cured pork belly - it will have a different flavor - like pancetta.
    ACMB*.  Pancetta gets a taste of the pink salt, too. 

    (an old Jonz family rebuttal - "au contraire, moose breath")
    (now only 16 stone)

    Joule SV
    GE induction stove
    Gasser by the community pool (currently unavailable)
    Scale (which one of my friends refuses to use)
    Friends with BGEs and myriad other fired devices (currently unavail IRL)
    Occasional access to a KBQ and Webber Kettle
    Charcuterie and sourdough enthusiast
    Prosciuttos in an undisclosed location

    Austin, TX
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  • blind99
    blind99 Posts: 4,974
    nolaegghead said:
    Yes.  You don't need the nitrite for safety unless you're cold smoking it, it's routinely added to pork belly because it give you the bacon flavor. 

    When you see "uncured bacon" in the store, it's not really uncured, it's that they get the nitrites from celery extract rather than adding the sodium nitrite as a discrete ingredient.  That's just a way to circumvent the labeling laws.  It's still bacon and tastes the same.  What you have is cured pork belly - it will have a different flavor - like pancetta.
    I think it's even worse than that, if I remember right - unless you use and measure sodium nitrite exactly, you technically can't call it cured.  Hard to know how much is in the celery extract.  So they use celery extract, and market it as uncured, mostly to lure in people who think cured is evil. 
    Chicago, IL - Large and Small BGE - Weber Gasser and Kettle
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  • nolaegghead
    nolaegghead Posts: 42,109
    20stone said:
    nolaegghead said:
    Yes.  You don't need the nitrite for safety unless you're cold smoking it, it's routinely added to pork belly because it give you the bacon flavor. 

    ... What you have is cured pork belly - it will have a different flavor - like pancetta.
    ACMB*.  Pancetta gets a taste of the pink salt, too. 

    (an old Jonz family rebuttal - "au contraire, moose breath")
    Yeah, it's commonly added now, but not always.  They don't make a big deal about not adding it.


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  • Doc_Eggerton
    Doc_Eggerton Posts: 5,321
    edited December 2017



    XXL #82 out of the first 100, XLGE X 2, LBGE (gave this one to daughter 1.0) , MBGE (now in the hands of iloveagoodyoke daughter 2.0) and lots of toys

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