Dry Aging Bacon

[STEbbq]

So I have some Umai bags and some bacon in a wet cure in the fridge. A search on the Umai site doesn’t tell me anything.

Is it realistic to dry age bacon or pork belly before wet curing it for bacon? Would it be even worth it for a relatively thin cut of meat with the pellicle?

My meat fridge might force me to cut the pork belly in half but I think that’s probably okay.

I guess my initial thought is full speed ahead with a fresh pork belly next time and an Umai bag and cure it afterwards. Maybe go for 35 days, or time it so the first batch of bacon is eaten and the new batch arrives freshly cooked.

[barelfly]

I’ve cured belly then dry aged for pancetta, but never dry aged and then cured. Will be interesting to see what you go with and how it turns out!

[STEbbq]

Yeah, I don’t think I can risk pancetta with my kids being so picky. I am just glad they are eating bacon. Well, it sounds like I have a plan for next time.

[Donw]

I personally wouldn’t bother. First is that pork doesn’t age well unless preprocessed, it will most likely just rot. Every aged pork product I know of has gone through some process to render it safe.

Even if you cure first, from my experience making country hams, no matter how throughly cured, the aging process will probably get you a nice covering of mold on your bacon. The mold is harmless but definitely unappetizing and needs to be scrubbed off before using. If your kids are finicky eaters they shouldn’t see that part of the process.

[jfmorris]

Yeah… I’m not up on the why’s, but unlike beef, pork is just not something that holds up to aging. I wouldn’t do it from safety concerns.

[STEbbq]

Well, I guess I will table the idea! Good to know guys.