I have a question about the curing calculations for bacon. I purchased an almost 12lb. belly (no skin). I cut it in half with slab #1 being 5.85lb. And 2†thick. Slab 2 was 6lb. And mostly 2†with one corner at 2.75â€. I was doing Meathead’s maple cure (his is with 3lb. slabs) and adjusted for the difference for the other ingredients. After doing the cure calculations using Dr. Blonder’s formula, slab #1 came to 5.9g PG#1 salt for 5.4 days. Slab #2 came to 6.6g PG#1 salt for 10.2 days. That means that 0.75†added 5 days to the cure time. That would mean that thickness/time isn’t linear but a curve. And only one corner, about the size of a tennis ball, is 2.75†while the rest of the slab is around 2â€. Do I really wait the 10 days for curing that corner? It seems long to me or my calculations are screwed up. I don’t know how I could have gone wrong with just inputting the amount of liquid, the weight of the meat, the thickness and the shape. If I wanted to do it with 10 gallons of water and entered that into the formula it would give me the new amount of prague #1 but it would still take 10.2 days because of the thickness and shape. I am going to smoke this to 160° F. Do I wait the 10.2 days for that small corner?
Signed,
Shaken, but not cured.
I just realized I only have to take it to 150° not 160°.
Signed,
Shaken, but not cured.
I just realized I only have to take it to 150° not 160°.
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