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Makin' Bacon help please

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    Makin' Bacon help please

    Hi all,
    Two main questions when it comes to Meathead's bacon recipe.
    1 - his recipe is very specific for the amount of salt, sugar and black pepper per 3/4 cup of water for a 3 pound pork belly. With the container I have, I will need atleast 4-5 cups of water to completely cover the meat that size. Does this mean I multiply the amount of salt, sugar and black pepper for every cup of water? Or is that amount fixed no matter how much liquid?
    2 - will it matter if I leave it in the wet cure longer than recommended?
    Thanks all

    #2
    Pull up the curing calculator and adjust the amount of water in the formula and that will tell you how much to adjust the curing salt. All of the other ingredients is really all up to you. I’ve done it both ways...adjust everything and just adjust water and curing salt and to me it wasn’t that much of a difference.

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      #3
      Curing Calculator ChadyC

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        #4
        And it will not matter about curing time. I’ve cured for over a week before and some ppl on here have cured for 2 weeks.

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          #5
          Once the curing salt in the meat reaches equilibrium with salt in the water, no more salt will be absorbed. So all you have to worry about is the meat going bad. And that's not likely 'cause you just cured it.

          Edit to add that I'm talking about a few extra days - not a few months...

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            #6
            Any access to 2 gallon (6-8 liter) zip closure plastic bags or a vacuum packer??? That would solve the problem. Agree with cwain8845 on time. I routinely do a week and more if I forget...

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              #7
              No need to add more liquid, Use a ziploc 2 gallon size and push the air out then set in a container in case of leaks . Also flip and massage in the bag daily to mix the liquid it is pulling from the pork belly with the cure.

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                #8
                Thanks all for your help! I think my problem would be solved if I can get myself some of those zip lock bags. If using those, I'm assuming it takes very little water to ensure the meat is completely submerged?

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                • HorseDoctor
                  HorseDoctor commented
                  Editing a comment
                  Correct! Only liquid I add is a 1/2 cup of maple syrup per bag. After a day or two the cure will have pulled ample liquid out of the pork belly that it's still basically a "wet" cure. I think MH's recipe does call for a little water though if you are using that. Enjoy!

                #9
                Thank you time to find some on eBay! I'm eagerly waiting for Amazon to be properly set up here in Australia!

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                  #10
                  It's not necessary to have the meat completely submerged. Go with the recipe and as others have stated, simply massage the liquid around the meat, place in refrigerator, and flip/massage once a day during the cure.

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                    #11
                    If you are using a 3 to 4 pound pork belly it should fit in a 1 gallon ziplock just fine. I cram up to 4.5 pound bellies in them all the time. In fact getting ready to smoke a 4.3 pound belly today that cured for one week in a one gallon bag. No need to fully submerged just flip it about every day and you’ll be all set.

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                      #12
                      Thanks very much for the advice all really appreciate it

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