# Cure question



## CGfreak102 (Jan 7, 2018)

I sliced up my first batch of bacon of the year  today and was a little puzzled by it. For starters the middle was awfully red compared to my previous batches, and above it was a little gray (thinking nitrite burn?).  Figured I'd ask what everyone's thoughts are about it here. 

I have always  dry cured my bacon using the digging dog farm calculator, and always use 156ppm cure.

Normally I weight out a batch of the rub and split it into 3 parts and apply it on day 1, 5, and 9. Along with letting it cure for a full 14 days. Cure was always applied only on the meat side and I never had an issue.

However this time I applied the whole rub at once, on just the meat side, wrapped it in saran wrap, put it on a cookie sheet and put it in the fridge, with another slab of belly on top of it (three in total actually). The next day juices where flowing good so I separated them into their own cookie sheet. This is where I got concerned thinking that bottom one gotta little extra blast of the rub from the juices of the other two bellies. 

Here are some pictures of bacon for your evaluation.

I also noticed some small black marks in fat sections, posting that as I am unsure what it could be (thinking blood that turned black).


----------



## hank2000 (Jan 8, 2018)

I does not look cured all the way through to me. But don’t quote me on that someone who knows more then me will be along soon I’m sure. 

But what I do is I weigh each piece of meat measure out the amount of cure I need for that piece of meat. Rub it in to the meat half of the cure one one side the other half on the one here side.  Put it in to a zip lock bag making sure that I put any left over cure in the bag with it. I do this on each individual peace. Cure for 14 days turning everyday and massaging each side when I turn it.   I’ve never had a problem doing this.  I learned how to cure meat from this form and this was the way I was told to do it.   By the way u need 1.13 grams of cure #1 per pound of meat


----------



## CGfreak102 (Jan 8, 2018)

hank2000 said:


> I does not look cured all the way through to me. But don’t quote me on that someone who knows more then me will be along soon I’m sure.
> 
> But what I do is I weigh each piece of meat measure out the amount of cure I need for that piece of meat. Rub it in to the meat half of the cure one one side the other half on the one here side.  Put it in to a zip lock bag making sure that I put any left over cure in the bag with it. I do this on each individual peace. Cure for 14 days turning everyday and massaging each side when I turn it.   I’ve never had a problem doing this.  I learned how to cure meat from this form and this was the way I was told to do it.   By the way u need 1.13 grams of cure #1 per pound of meat



It being under cured also crossed my mind, I think the thickest part of the meat was around 2.5 inches thick and it did sit in the fridge for a solid 14 days before being taken out of the wrapper to form the pectile.  

Anyways, the second batch I have switched to Pops brine and gonna see how that turns out.

Still undecided what I will do with this batch but I will wait to see what others say regarding it.


----------



## SmokinAl (Jan 9, 2018)

Not sure what to tell you about the black spots, but from now on I would put all the cure in the bag with the meat, coating both sides & let it cure for 14 days.
I will PM Chef JimmyJ our safety moderator, and have him comment on the black spots.
He should be on shortly.
Al


----------



## daveomak (Jan 9, 2018)

The different colors of meat are because of different parts of the muscles...  The meat won't take on the "Pink" cured color until it is heated..  The pink color could be different across the meat, based on the amount of myoglobin that is present...
Using cure#1 on meat smaller than a ham, it is recommended to add all the cure, salt, sugar etc. at the start of the curing process so all the ingredients penetrate at the same time and same rate, for a complete cure...
Did you follow any particular recipe ???


----------



## SmokinAl (Jan 9, 2018)

daveomak said:


> The different colors of meat are because of different parts of the muscles...  The meat won't take on the "Pink" cured color until it is heated..  The pink color could be different across the meat, based on the amount of myoglobin that is present...
> Using cure#1 on meat smaller than a ham, it is recommended to add all the cure, salt, sugar etc. at the start of the curing process so all the ingredients penetrate at the same time and same rate, for a complete cure...
> Did you follow any particular recipe ???



What about the black spots Dave?
Al


----------



## daveomak (Jan 9, 2018)

Looks like "mold"...  I'd cut it out with a sterilized knife...   Use vinegar between each cut...


----------



## CGfreak102 (Jan 9, 2018)

daveomak said:


> The different colors of meat are because of different parts of the muscles...  The meat won't take on the "Pink" cured color until it is heated..  The pink color could be different across the meat, based on the amount of myoglobin that is present...
> Using cure#1 on meat smaller than a ham, it is recommended to add all the cure, salt, sugar etc. at the start of the curing process so all the ingredients penetrate at the same time and same rate, for a complete cure...
> Did you follow any particular recipe ???



Thanks for the information and help. As far as recipe I am unable to find it anymore, but it was not from this site, I just remembered about the calculator and the method. 

I will do what you and others recommend when dry curing and put it into a zip lock bag with all the rub (cure, salt, sugar) next time. 

Thanks for the idea regarding the black spots on the meat, it was not across everything and only on a small amount, I'll use the cut method you suggested.


----------



## chef jimmyj (Jan 9, 2018)

The guys have you covered on curing. I don't see any reason for concern with the spots. It does not look like mold to me. There can be a whole host of imperfections like bruises, old injuries and such that can cause darkening of the meat. If you are worried cut the spot out...JJ


----------



## CGfreak102 (Jan 9, 2018)

Cooked up 2 lbs of it in the oven tonight.  Turned pink while it was cooking.  Tasted like bacon, not as salty as before (I think i dropped the salt content a little since some family member dont like it super salty).

Otherwise tasted just fine.

Thank you everyone for the help! now to go give the pops cure batch a good stir.


----------

