# Brine went slimy



## Stepan

Need your help guys, not sure if I chose the right subforum for it though.

The thing is, that I’ve cured a couple of pieces of moose meat in order to do kind of slow roasted pastrami in the oven. It has been staying in the brine in the fridge for 5 days and today just before transferring it to the oven I noticed that the brine went slimy and weird. It smells ok and no foam is seen.

Why did that happened? Everything stayed in the fridge while I’ve been checking it everyday. Brine was quite salty (but I eyeballed it :( )
Maybe that’s bacause of the blood that may not have been sucked out nicely when I put meat in the water overnight before brining.


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## chef jimmyj

Check out the info DaveOmak posted on Roby Brine.... https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/threads/bacon-help.275608/#post-1831921
It's just one of those things that happen. Benign Bacteria on the ,meat, in the brine container, in the water or in the Sugar, can all contribute to Roby Brine. Discard the Brine, wash the  meat and container with Vinegar, and make a new batch. Don't sweat the extra cure. In 5 days, not much was absorbed and a new full strength batch will not hurt anything...JJ


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## Stepan

chef jimmyj said:


> Check out the info DaveOmak posted on Roby Brine.... https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/threads/bacon-help.275608/#post-1831921
> It's just one of those things that happen. Benign Bacteria on the ,meat, in the brine container, in the water or in the Sugar, can all contribute to Roby Brine. Discard the Brine, wash the  meat and container with Vinegar, and make a new batch. Don't sweat the extra cure. In 5 days, not much was absorbed and a new full strength batch will not hurt anything...JJ


Thanks a lot for the answer! Maybe I’ve seen this thread but unfortunately got lost in so many comments :)

Actually I have already just put it in the oven thinking that 60 Celcium will kill all the bad stuff(right?). After baking I’m planning to roast it a little on the cast iron pan to kill everything on the meat surface. 

But yeah, I hope I will be careful next time(and won’t die of trying this meat)


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## chef jimmyj

You are fine. The meat will not likely be cured to the center but still safe to eat. There are millions of bacteria species out there. We are only concerned with a dozen or so. The Salt and Cure will inhibit growth and 60°C is also sufficiently high for CURED meat. The final sear is good insurance and adds a lot of flavor...JJ


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## tardissmoker

How long are you baking it for? 60C is only 140F! Be sure you get a proper internal temp to be sure it is cooked. Searing after will definely add to flavour.


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## Stepan

tardissmoker said:


> How long are you baking it for? 60C is only 140F! Be sure you get a proper internal temp to be sure it is cooked. Searing after will definely add to flavour.


I baked it for 9hours. My thermometer is not really an accurate thing but it showed 57C (which is around 130F), I thought its okay, many people do this temp(getting «rare» meat)

Btw, meat is done. It rested for an hour, I’ve tried a piece. Went better than I thought after all this mess occurred, but not as good as I hoped it would at the beginning. Next time I’ll cure it longer and make the brine like totally 8-10% salty to make sure everything is fine


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## Stepan

chef jimmyj said:


> You are fine. The meat will not likely be cured to the center but still safe to eat. There are millions of bacteria species out there. We are only concerned with a dozen or so. The Salt and Cure will inhibit growth and 60°C is also sufficiently high for CURED meat. The final sear is good insurance and adds a lot of flavor...JJ


Finished all the work on the meat, left it rest for the night. Now I woke up(it’s morning where I live) and tried the meat. Taste and texture are nice but what strikes me odd is that it’s gray in the center and pink on the sides (not vice versa, as I was expecting). Did this happen from incomplete curing? I didn’t use a curing salt in the brine btw


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## chef jimmyj

No Cure #1 = No Pink beyond the depth the smoke can penetrate. At 130-140°, the smoke will get in 1/4 -1/2" before the surface cooks and seals up. Even with Cure #1 your meat, soaked 5 days, would only be pink the outer 1 1/4" as you only get 1/4" penetration, from all sides, per day soaking.
It is recommended the you use Cure#1 or HOT Smoke at 225°+. Yes, 130-140, is safe for SV cooking because the heat energy is in close contact with the meat in the water. Air is not a good conductor, so smoking at 130 my take so long the bacteria can grow before it's kill by the heat.
3% Salt by weight of the Meat and Brine, is too Salty for most folks. 10% Salt will be completely Inedible unless soaked severbal hour/days with frequent freshening. Why would you use 10%?...JJ


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## Stepan

chef jimmyj said:


> No Cure #1 = No Pink beyond the depth the smoke can penetrate. At 130-140°, the smoke will get in 1/4 -1/2" before the surface cooks and seals up. Even with Cure #1 your meat, soaked 5 days, would only be pink the outer 1 1/4" as you only get 1/4" penetration, from all sides, per day soaking.
> It is recommended the you use Cure#1 or HOT Smoke at 225°+. Yes, 130-140, is safe for SV cooking because the heat energy is in close contact with the meat in the water. Air is not a good conductor, so smoking at 130 my take so long the bacteria can grow before it's kill by the heat.
> 3% Salt by weight of the Meat and Brine, is too Salty for most folks. 10% Salt will be completely Inedible unless soaked severbal hour/days with frequent freshening. Why would you use 10%?...JJ


Wow, I’m completely new to this stuff but got a memory about reading a book in which they said putting 10 percent to make sure everything is fine, I’ll keep in mind now that brine should be 2-3% :)

By the way meat has cooled down an it tastes very good. Quite unusual for moose to be so soft and chewable (while not completely falling apart). Thanks to your respond. I was little horrified yesterday with that brine.

Next time will do longer brining and make sure everything will be sanitized. Sure it would be way better) And not so emotionally hard


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