Stop eating store bought bacon!

[ecowper]

One of the big differences between bacon smoked to 155 and brisket smoked to 200, give or take, is .... the temperature. Once that meat has been over 160F for hours, there’s nothing left alive in it.

[ecowper]

One of the absolutely most important articles you can read on the science of curing, including why nitrites and nitrates are important and why you want to use them.

https://amazingribs.com/tested-recipes/salting-brining-curing-and-injecting/curing-meats-safely

[bronzewound]

Grew up in Claremont New Hampshire but since I left in '70 a local butcher opened North Country Smokehouse. It has taken off over the years with a great website and now some of the local NH chains carry their products. Love their bacon and the sausages are terrific. Now I haven't tried my own on the PBC but will. I'll have to do a taste test between NCS and what I produce. If curious here is their website https://ncsmokehouse.com/

[DrSAK]

I picked up some sliced pork bellies at Costco some time ago, and wet-cured them for five days with a salt with 0.5% NaNO2. I will smoke them tomorrow according to Prof. Meathead’s recommendation! Most of the salts Meathead references (e.g., Prague #1) have a 6.5% nitrite content, and I’m curious about the 10-fold difference in nitrite content (both were negative for nitrate) and its effect on the cure. Does Dr. Blonder have any insight?

[johnec00]

I know that Meathead's article on bacon says store bought bacon uses Prague powder #2, but 9CFR 424.23(b) prohibits use of nitrate in bacon. Store bought bacon is cured and (maybe) smoked, but otherwise raw. When fried at high temperature, it becomes crispy. Home made bacon made IAW the free site recipe is cured and cooked.
Can't speak to "uncured" bacon that is cured with natural sources of nitrite/nitrate like celery powder.

https://ecfr.io/Title-9/Section-424.23

[rickgregory]

Im not talking about cold smoking. And do what you want. Ultimately, unless you hurt someone else, it's your life.

[Foehn Watts]

rickgregory I will leave you with following I found, from the National Center for Home Food Preservation (NCHFP). Curing and Smoking Meats for Home Food Preservation Literature Review and Critical Preservation Point

Paragraphs 3.1, 3.1.1 and 3.1.2 look to me to be addressing what you are talking about. Cold smoking is way different than hot smoking.

Thanks! Good discussion, and an important one.

And I almost forgot! This page Cold Smoking Meats: Don't Do It!

[Foehn Watts]

rickgregory : I will start a new reply just below to pass on some info I found, please look below.

[rickgregory]

So, I'm not a health expert. Personally, I'd not eat a meat that was 'cured' for a long time without pink salt containing sodium nitrite and then smoked. It's the combination of curing for days or more and the smoking that, to my knowledge, increases the risk. If you put a rub on fresh belly then smoked it, you're fine. Same for fresh sausage. That's why there's no issue with brisket, chicken, pork butt, etc. They're not cured and then smoked, they're just rubbed, perhaps with salt, and smoked.

[Foehn Watts]

I gotta ask: then by your statement, shoud we eat ANY home smoked, non-nitrate/nitrite meat, smoked at around 200º F? The atmosphere in a smoker has plenty of oxygen in it, but humans would not like to breathe this because of the inhaled smoke.

Am I missing something? Is bacon more risky than any other meat/cut? Is it the length of time the stuff is smoked? Is it a lack of nitrites/nitrates? The time in the smoker? The smoker temperature? A combination of all of these?

Thank you.

[rickgregory]

PS: You know that uncured bacon etc you see? It's not uncured. It's treated with celery salt. Guess what one of the chemical in celery salt is...

Ever eat spinach salad? Yeah, nitrates (https://www.healwithfood.org/health-...s-benefits.php)

Plus, well, you're not eating all of the sodium nitrate that you use on the bacon. Some is washed away before smoking and you only eat a few slices at a time.

[rickgregory]

Foehn Watts No. Although the issue is way more prnounced there. Even hot smoked bacon (200+) can see botulinum spores bloom because a) they're not killed at those low temps and b) a smoker is a relatively anaerobic environment which the spores like.

Is the risk high? Probably not. But the consequences can be severe and the health issues with nitrites are, well, pretty much non-existent.

[Foehn Watts]

rickgregory you are talking about *cold* smoked bacon, aren't you?

[FireMan]

Hey, a charter dude & ya drop a bomb on us in 2020, welcome sorta, even though ya been around awhile.

[rickgregory]

I have been thinking of smoking my own bacon and found a site that does not use nitrites, just salt, sugar, and pepper.

I know that it has to be kept frozen if you don't use nitirites (Pink salt, prague power, etc.). Wonder if anyone has tried it.

Don't do it. First off, botulism. Second, botulism. Third, b... well no. But nitrites exist in regular food too. The 'uncured' stuff being sold? Has celery salts. Which have... guess. Go ahead. The amount of nitrites you use is minuscule and, frankly, if you're all about health, bacon isn't precisely a healthy food in itself.