A while back I asked for advice after seeing rickgregory 's great looking bacon. I had two pork sides in the freezer from a pig purchase last year, and set them up two days ago. For one I used the wet cure from AR/SNS, for the other I followed the Ruhlman recipe with a dry cure:
So, one wet, one dry (ish.)
I'm on day 3 now, and clearly the wet cure gets into all crevices more effectively, although both look good in their 2 gallon bags. (I used the water immersion trick to expel most of the air from the bags.) I understand that the wet cured slab should be removed (per the AR Curing calculator) after 72 hours, rinsed, smoked, etc. The dry cured should stay for at least 7 days.
I wanted to ask you what others thought of Meathead's Meathead dire warnings on the dangers of the dry cure treatment. Specifically the concern about botulism toxin. Since Ruhlman uses curing salt, and it spends a week in the bag, I feel like it will be adequately cured. In addition, it will be cooked to an internal temp of 150. Why is that any less safe than taking a brisket flat or chuck, with no nitrite salts, and smoking it to 150, then slicing and freezing? (Admittedly that would not be soft brisket!)
Note: we are not discussing sausages (ground meat), nor cold smoking, nor air curing. These pork sides will be smoked at about 250 F to an internal temp of 150.
As a retired surgeon, I completely understand liability risks, and am sympathetic to the need for disclaimers. Having said that, why is this different from cooking any brisket flat to 150?
Discuss.
Thanks,
Daniel
WET CURE (AR) ON THE LEFT, DRY CURE ON THE RIGHT (RUHLMAN) Front & Back views
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