# Question about bacon curing and safety



## cbrider13 (Jan 21, 2015)

So i've made bacon a few times and use the Pop's brine recipe.  This time, my garage fridge got a little too cold (I live in Denver) and there is a decent sized (the size of a small book) of ice floating in the brine.  I'm wondering if anyone knows if the fact that some of it froze affects the level of nitrates in the rest of it.  The block of ice is an amber color, similar to the brine, but I'm not sure how much of it is water as opposed to solution. 

In other words, once cure is dissolved into solution and part of the solution freezes, does the level of nitrate in the unfrozen solution remain the same, or does it intensify?  Just wondering if I should be worried about the level in the bacon. 

As an aside, i have no idea when it froze or how long its been like that.  Its been in the brine 11 days now.  I was going to go 14 before smoking.

Thanks in advance.

Chris


----------



## wagdog (Jan 24, 2015)

It shouldn't at all. There are two ways for a solution to become more saturated. Either you add more solute (in this case nitrites, salt, sugar) or you cause the solvent (water in this case) to evaporate.


----------

