# Quick question on wet cured pork belly



## vikings8480 (Mar 3, 2017)

13 days ago, I began curing a pork belly using Pop's recipe for bacon.  As you all know, it is a wet brine/cure and it makes some amazing bacon.  

I use 2 gallon ziplock bags for curing the belly and make sure to eliminate all air in the bag so that the belly is submerged in the brine the entire process.  I agitate the bag every other day and/or when I think of it. 

Well, here is my question.  This morning, I took the belly out and rinsed it off and put it in the fridge to form a pellicle since I'll be smoking after work this evening.  I noticed that the belly had a spot on it that wasn't the typical gray color of pork belly in the cure/brine. This spot was red, almost the same as the color of the belly when I first put it in the cure.  This was the areas where the pork belly folded a little so it was touching it's self in that area. 

I'm assuming the color is different because the meat touching itself didn't allow the meat to oxidize in that area like the rest of the belly did and I should be fine.  The meat was submerged for 13 days so the cure should have done it's job.  I'm just good at second guessing myself so I wanted to get the opinion of you bacon experts.  Should I have anything to worry about or do you think this small spot of different color is due to oxidation?  I'd appreciate any insight!


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## vikings8480 (Mar 3, 2017)

Awesome!  That is good to know.  You don't have any issues with it not curing in those areas?


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## tropics (Mar 3, 2017)

You are fine with it.

Richie


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## pops6927 (Mar 6, 2017)

This should explain it sufficiently:

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/...bacon-and-red-spots-on-cured-meat#post_771341

And, I do not have to bother stirring, rotating, flipping, massaging or doing anything except letting the meat sit, under refrigeration, and cure in the curing brine.

My dad used 55 gallon commercial drums to cure his meats in, and would throw in 18 pumped hams or 350 lbs of fresh bellies on top of each other, fill them up with curing brine, enter their bucket numbers on a big chart and when they were put down and roll them into the brine cooler, weighing the meat down with 5 gal. flexible water bottles and just let them cure.  No nothing other than occasionally roll them to a different spot, rotating the product in the cooler (oldest to the front).  It is totally unnecessary.


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## pugsbrew (Mar 11, 2017)

Link to Pop's wet cure recipe?  Never mind, found it.


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