Cure times

[primevci]

I it ok for meat to cure longer than the cure time it says in the instruction i put it in last night late and might not be able to smoke it up till sunday morning and hte instructions says cure for 24 hrs will it hurt anything to let it sit till then.... thanks

 

[DanMcG]

It should be fine. How many hours total?

 

[beer-b-q]

From your post time of 12.29 AM and you said last night I am assuming you meant New Years evening. and since Sunday is only 23 ½ hrs away you are only talking a few hrs over 24 so yes it would be okay... It is hard to over cure time wise, it just allows better absorption into the meat...

 

[bbally]

The length of time in the cure does affect the total salt in the meat. Particularly if you are doing a salt heavy method.

If you do forget or get a product that seems to salty, you must do the undocumented step called Freshening. The use of cold water and osmosis to remove the extra salt from the meat.

Freshening is most commonly used during the making of lox.

 

[pignit]

I just finished up 4 Buckboard Bacons that I let cure about 4 days over what I had planned. I soaked them for about 4 hours changing the water then set them uncovered and dried off in the fridge for 48 hours. They turned out awesome. Morton calls it equilibration. I try to figure in at least a day in the fridge after soaking and I don't think your hurting anything to let them sit 2 or 3 days before smoking them.

 

[primevci]

i put them in thursday night at 7pm so on sunday it would be 7am it would be 60 hrs or so, also whats the exact steps of Freshening?

 

[bbally]

Depends on what cut of meat and what recipe.

Basically ice bath with two times the volume of water as there is meat and no more than one quarter of the water can be ice. (I use 36 quart and 24 quart coolers as they sanitize easy) and plunk the meat into it until you reach the saltiness desired.

I measure the salt removal by measuring the specific gavity change in the water in the cooler. But you can cut and cook a piece of the meat to do it by taste.

 

[mballi3011]

I have also cured some buck board bacon and had to leave it for longer then it said to and it turned out great I think maybe alittle better then it has before hand. I did soak it to get some of the salty flavor out of it but it smoked up just fine and tastey too.