Another bacon curing question


 
R

R_Pincus

TVWBB Member
How long can you cure bacon? I have a batch based on the Michael Ruhlman's Maple Cured bacon recipe which will be curing for a week this Wednesday.

Mother nature isn't cooperating, and it looks like we'll be getting rain all week.

Would it be ok to keep the cure on a couple more days? Or is it best to rinse the cure of Wednesday as scheduled, and just keep the belly in the fridge until I can smoke it?
 
I just smoked a slab of this exact recipe yesterday. The belly was in the cure for a week. Work has me traveling frequently and I leave things to cure for "longer" than the recommended times. Has never been an issue. The times listed are usually based on the minimum that is required.

Of note, even with being in the cure for a week a quick 30 minute soak in cold water was probably too long as there wasn't that much salt factor to the bacon and the maple flavor was muted from previous bacon attempts even though I used more Maple.
 
Go to Ruhlmans wesite ( ruhlman.com ) he had this same issue. Search "the forgiveness of cured meats". He rinsed it and held it in the fridge until he could smoke it. I would do the same, by leaving it in the cure you run the risk of bacon that is oversalty.
 
Not really. There's only so much salt. A couple days more doesn't matter much. Rinse - or not - your choice.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

 

Back
Top