Had about 18 lbs of pork belly in some tubs soaking up a wet brine. Left town for almost a week and immediately after I left the temperatures took a nasty turn downward and even in my garage the brine ended up freezing. It didn't freeze solid but there were ice chunks floating around on top of the bucket when I opened it up this evening. Is there any the brine penetrated the belly?
Now even if it did take, I need to get tough enough to go outside and smoke these suckers!
Ryan
Last edited by SenatorShriv; December 7, 2016, 12:34 AM.
As long as the belly stayed covered in brine, I am sure its fine. Must of got pretty damn cool for a salty brine to freeze. In florida here, so a nasty cold snap is like 45 degrees.
I dumped the brine before I really thought about the fact that the freezing may have impacted the brining process. I noticed that the center of the belly has a different color than the edge instead of that nice consistent pink color. I think that I'm going to just mix up a new batch of brine and toss the bellies in for a few more days just to be sure it penetrated all the way. Maybe then it will warm up before I try to smoke them! (The fun of trying to smoke / grilll in Alaska....)
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