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An Other Bacon Question

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    An Other Bacon Question

    I've been making bacon and a lot of it lately. Not sure if what if I did this last time is the result of a different outcome.
    I follow the bacon recipe on the free side and use the calculator.
    The slabs I cut or always around 1.2Kg (3#) about the same weight as the original recipe. I use the same ingredients but have adjusted the non essential ingredients to my taste.

    The last batch I made was a lot more slabs individually bagged but instead of them lying alone on the fridge rack I packed them 2 and 3 high (on top of each other.) I do turn them over every evening and morning.
    I found the bacon tasted less salty or bacon like for lack of a better description. It was still good but I sensed a difference.
    My question. Does packing one on top of the other have any affect on the end result by causing it to not cure as well or in the same time because of the stacking?


    #2
    If you stack them on top of each other, much of the liquid between the slabs squeezes out, and you effectively have a much thicker slab of meat for the cure to penetrate through. If they are lets say 5cm thick, and you stack two slabs on top of each other, for curing purposes, it is a slab 10cm thick, and it will take however much longer the cure calculator says for the cure to reach through the meat.

    Even with swapping them around, I feel like you were only getting one side of the slab exposed to cure throughout the day.

    Comment


    • scottranda
      scottranda commented
      Editing a comment
      Agree!

    #3
    That's what I concluded and was needing confirmation. Will have to make another plan. Thanks for response.

    Comment


    • holehogg
      holehogg commented
      Editing a comment
      jfmorris

    • jfmorris
      jfmorris commented
      Editing a comment
      Well, another thought is to use the cure calculator, and just see what it says with double the thickness. I imagine the cure time just needs to be longer.

    • holehogg
      holehogg commented
      Editing a comment
      jfmorris I would then imagine it's only the height or side area that the cure has to penetrate to the centre and the slabs are quite long and wide. Waiting a couple days for the bacon to cure is bad enough adding to that time will drive mevwild😊.
      I found an old vegetable plastic rack that you stack one on top of the other that I'm going to modify and use for extra space. Thanks again.

    #4
    I have made quite a bit of bacon in the past several years with each slab sealed in its own zip lock bag with its own curing solution. But I have never stacked them. It seems to me however that if they are stacked, each would still be separated or isolated from the other slabs above or below by layers of plastic. So my guess is that it's not a matter of effectively curing a thicker slab with too little cure but rather it is the weight of the upper bags forcing the cure off the tops of the lower bags before it's had a chance to do its job.

    I would not change the curing solution to adjust for a thicker slab since I don't think it really is a thicker slab. The vegetable rack is a good idea. If it doesn't work my suggestion, assuming you continue to stack larger batches, and if you don't do this already, would be when turning the slabs over be sure to also move each slab through the stack from top to bottom. This would still move cure to places where it can't work but for less time. So extending the cure time by a few days could help. Good luck.

    Comment


    • Potkettleblack
      Potkettleblack commented
      Editing a comment
      This is the real solution. The cure is being forced to the sides, off the top and bottom.

      Vac sealing would likely help. Racking would solve it entirely.

    #5
    I usually make 3 full bellies cut in half so 6 individual slabs. I put the cure on them, put them in ziplocs, and stack them 3 high in the fridge. When I remember I try to flip and rotate them a couple times throughout the week. Never had an issue with them not curing properly.

    Like wu7y said since everything is in its own bag I wouldn't think it should be treated like a big, thick slab. If I had multiple pieces in the same bag stacked on top of each other I would give it a longer cure.

    Comment


      #6
      I have usd AR’s maple recipe several times successfully and always tossed the left over brine. Recently I tried putting the brine in pan under the belly as it cooked. My logic was adding the aroma to the belly as it cooked. When it finished the brine along with drippings looked like something I’d like to cook morning eggs,potatoes, Brussels sprouts, onions, and garlic. My thinking is that the brine cooks at 220 for a couple hours, refrigerated, and recooked so should be safe.
      When my bacon was gone, I gave it a try. While I felt like a C-19 Inoculation volunteer, the results tasted great, and I’m not experiencing stomach discomfort as of this writing.
      Anyone have a thinking fore or against this procedure.

      Comment

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