Help with curing pork

[eaglesj]

Hey everybody,

I just got a smoker and am curing some pork right now. I bought the Bradley demarara cure and followed the recipe on Bradley.com for maple cured bacon. I have two 4 pound pork bellies and 4 tenderloins going. By Monday it will have been the 2 weeks that I am supposed to wait.

What should the meat look like when it is cured, should it be the bright pink colour, or brownish? Mine is turning brownish and when I put my nose right up to the meat, I get a slight smell like sandwich meat going bad.

Did I ruin my meat I have been curing for so long, or is this normal?

[MuleyMadness]

Mine doesn't typically smell bad at all....I generally only get the smell of whatever I am using as brine when I open up the container (in this case maple). Generally mine isn't bright pink though...seems to be somewhat pink with a fairly firm outer layer. It's hard to describe really, but it shouldn't smell rotten (rotten is rotten, in brine or not). What does the cure smell like sans meat? Maybe it's just got a funny smell?

[cdub]

2 weeks seems a long time. When i make back bacon i pump the loin with brine then put the loin in a container covered with brine and sit for 4-5 days in the fridge then smoke it. Meat is pink throughout after smoking.

[eaglesj]

The Bradley website said to cure one week per inch of meat thickness.

[BiG Boar]

Seems pretty long to me too. I'm curing an entire rear and that should take 11 days. If it smells bad, shy away.

[MuleyMadness]

I don't agree it's too long. If properly prepared the cure time of up to 30 days is doable, and not uncommon. Yes if you are injecting the brine it doesn't take as long, but it's not going to turn because you are curing it too long...that's the whole point of the cure after all. Personally I do 5 - 6 days per 2" of thickness if not injecting with brine.

Just did some whole bear hams, injected AND brined for 15 days...they came out perfect. Are you sure you followed the instructions correctly for your brine? Personally if it smells bad I wouldn't go near it, but maybe you can use this as a chance to learn.

[M.Dean]

I'd continue with smoking if that's what it calls for and see what it looks and taste like from there. Be the shits to chuck it all out and find out later that's what that brine mix smells like!

[LYKTOHUNT]

I'd continue with smoking if that's what it calls for and see what it looks and taste like from there. Be the shits to chuck it all out and find out later that's what that brine mix smells like!
Might be the real shits if you eat it and it was bad:wink:

[M.Dean]

Might be the real shits if you eat it and it was bad:wink: Feed the Dog or Cat some first???

[eaglesj]

Well, I threw it out yesterday, I am going to go buy another piece of pork belly and will see what I can find on this website for recipes. I want to do some cold smoking so we'll see what I can find.

The smoked trout turned out great though. Too bad I don't like fish.

[eaglesj]

Ok, so I could not find any bacon making recipes so if anyone has one for me that would be greatly appreciated. I have maple syrup here that I would like to use in it but it is not necessary. I just want to make sure it is a cold smoking recipe, and if your recipe calls for "cure", are all cures the same?

Thanks guys.

[Conrad74]

Here is a standard brine recipe

water_ 4 liters

kosher salt_ 350 g. ( 1.5 cups)

sugar_ 225 g. (1 cup) or use 1/2 maple syrup & 1/2 cup sugar

curing salt_ 42 g. ( 8 tsp)

Bring water to boil and stir in all ingredients until dissolved _ cool completely & chill in fridge before using.

Brine meat for 5 days / remove from brine and allow to dry uncovered in refrigerator for 12-24 hrs before smoking

As for cures not all cures are the same the one in the recipe is also known as prague#1 (sodium nitrite) which is made up of roughly 94 % salt & 6 % sodium nitite . also known as pink salt in some parts. Cure for dry cured products is prague # 2 ( sodium nitrate) . If you are using a Mortons or other cure it would pre-measured salt, sugar & cure for a certain weight of meat so do not substitute this for cure.

The above recipe would work for back or side bacon and says it is good for 4 lbs of meat

good luck

feel free to ask me any questions I have done a lot of this at home and I work at a butcher shop thats makes 90% of its deli meats in house.