First bacon

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azrocker

Smoking Fanatic
Original poster
SMF Premier Member
Feb 3, 2009
636
10
Edmond OK
I am making my first bacon. I used insta cure and followed directions. I was afraid to use too much as it warns against it. My boss sees it in our beer fridge and she is worried it is spoiled. I pulled it today after 4 days. Some of it is a little brown but still red in the middle. There is no stink to it but some of it has a goo. I have iced rinsed it and am going to re apply a cure with maple syrup. Should I be worried?


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If it spoils it will smell. The meat tends to get a little gray when curing. If you cure it too long it will get bright red and a little hard. I think your fine. Keep curing for another couple days if it is a belly or a few more days if it is a shoulder. I can't tell from the picture how thick it is. The meat will be firm and not spongy when cured.

Keep the q-view coming.
 
Who's directions did ya use Azrocker? And what cut of meat is it? More info would help, but if it's only been in there 4 days I'm sure it's not spoiled...heck it should be good for close to a week without a cure.
 
It is belly and it is about 2 inches thick. I used the directions on the box and a recipe I found online. I used 1 tbs per 5 pounds with bradley cure. I bought 30 pounds and used half of it so I had a good idea what I had. I think the gray might be pepper.
 
Is the brown color from brown sugar maybe?
I'm far from an expert, but the different colors in the pic look odd.
 
I think the smell is a good indicator. I rinsed it and re cured it. Thanks for the advice! Guess I will try it first. I work in a hospital so I can get a cheap stomach pump.
 
I'd wonder what the "goo" was.

4 days isn't a lot of time, especially if you're curing something, but if you have it in a "community fridge" and there's "goo" in it, I would tend to be worried about what got spilled into it, or if the fridge got unplugged or something.
 
AZ if u used the right ratio of cure your fine-bacon will discolor a bit during a cure-where u get it and was it frozen or fresh & when u got it?-the liqued is norm-may bacon drys out more than adds liqued after 10 days cure-I sure your fine.
 
I got it at a packing plant and it was frozen. It was still partially frozen when I started the cure. Is that a bad thing? It is thawed now.
 
Based on your photo, I would say spoiled. Re-curing will not "save" it. When in doubt, throw it out.

Any idea the temperature in the frig you used, or how stable the temp is throughout the day?
 
OK thanks. It was partially thawed but I was anxious to get started. I guess I still have the other half of a box if this is bad. Still doesn't smell and I know the smell of bad meat
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Thanks for the advice. I trust everyone to know better then I!
 
I had rinsed the bacon and put it in take alongs. The brown was gone and there still is no smell. I had made a cure with pink salt, maple syrup brown sugar. One container was pink salt only. They all look good now except one has one gray spot. I cut it out and tossed it. I will be able to smoke this coming Monday and Tuesday. I will warn the hospital to have the stomach pump ready
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