Do you need to cook the bacon prior to slicing?

[wesir]

So I'm looking for an easy way to test different recipes, I'll be doing an equilibrium cure so the plan is to cut a belly into maybe 1lb chunks and then slightly change up the spice percentages (not cure) per chunk to see what comes out best. I guess I was wondering if I'm able to do the cure and then immediately slice and fry some up or does it have to be cooked in a smoker or oven prior to that for food safety reasons even if it's going to be cooked/eaten within a few days. Also by skipping the cooking step it takes the cook time/temp/wood variables out of the end result and I can add them once I get to where I like the base flavor. Thanks!

 

[fivetricks]

You can absolutely slice and fry once out of the cure.

if you are wanting to truly just taste the meat and the spice, you should consider baking the slices.

 

[smokerjim]

Agree with five tricks, should always do a fry or baked test prior to smoking that way if it's to salty you can soak in water until you achieve the level your looking for.

 

[wesir]

Thanks! I did some test pieces of my last batch but wasn't entirely sure if I could just treat the entire belly like that, I'd seen some recipes where they pulled it out of the cure and put it in the oven and it seemed strange to cook it just so you could cook it again after slicing, unless that process is to make it safer for the fridge prior to frying it up.