Hello! I need some help with curing bacon. On April 25th I started curing some bacon using Meathead's maple bacon recipe and following the instructions for curing meats. According to the calculator, it had 5.2 days of curing to go. I fell ill and had to leave home for my parents' place and left the bacon curing. It's still there. Is it still any good, or should I (sadly) dispose of it?
-
-
as long as it was refrigerated, it should be fine. Rinse or soak it well, and go for it! -
Once the salts in the meat equalize with the salts in the curing liquid, it can't get any more "cured". And since curing preserves the meat anyway, you should be fine.Comment
-
If the liquid is not cloudy and doesn't smell funny, it should be fine. It MIGHT be oversalted, so I would soak it for about 6 hours in cold water in the fridge, changing the water once or twice. This will remove some of the maple flavor, so when it is smoking, give it a light coat.Comment
-
I over cured mine: during a 7 day cure I thought the dry brine was too thin and not covering enough so I added more product. It came out so salty that we almost stopped eating bacon. I have 1 un-sliced slab left which I will have to do what Meathead suggested, soak it for a few hours. What I have been doing with the slices is soaking them just before cooking. But that has reduced the flavor and it is still a little too salty.Comment
-
"we almost stopped eating bacon" .... that may be the saddest sentence in the English languageComment
-
Dick Anderson RonB Meathead JimLinebarger ecowper thanks guys! Appreciate the help. Will soak and smoke in the following days and report back.Comment
-
Meathead I just brewed up some maple bacon. Meathead's recommendation to add a light coating of maple syrup gave me an idea to add a glazed to the bacon while smoking it. About 135* I brushed a coating of maple syrup. Wow came out just the way I hoped. It added just enough more syrup to make a beautiful glazed a touch sweeter.Comment
-
Comment
Comment