Hey folks,
i tried doing some back bacon by curing a half pork loin. I did two 3.5lb pieces. I used the Wet Curing Calculator to know how much curing salt to use. I let it cure for 8 days.
my problem is that the cure didn't get deep. It got about an inch in, but the deeper thicker meat doesn't have any cure at all in it.
What can I do to fix this problem?
Doc Blonder answered this same situation recently:
"With dry brine you can't over cure- the total amount of curing salt is fixed when you rub on the dry brine. With a wet brine it is possible to go over. But only in the case of a fast brine which starts with a highly salty brine (like 6%), and where you only brine for a couple of hours. This drives salt into the surface, and after you remove from the brine, that trapped salt does its magic. In a liquid "equilibrium" brine where you normally brine for days, if you use the calculator, you won't go over because the calculator presumes a *minimum* cure time, sets the salt level accordingly. Longer time adds very little salt. So you're fine."
I’ve been in your exact situation before, and with a pork loin. Cut it in half and continue to cure until done. Then soak the meat for several hours to remove any extra saltiness the extra curing time took.
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