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I started 10lbs of skin-off pork belly Sat. 10/12, using Morton's Sugar Cure at a suggested rate of 1/2 oz. per pound on both sides. It's been five days in a 40 degree fridge and I'm not seeing any liquid being released compared to batches I've made before using Tenderquick. Is there a reason to be concerned? It smells ok, and seems to be firming up (not too soft when you poke at it with your finger). Thanks!
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Chaplain Bill-
They were in ziplock bags, turned over daily. They looked cured/smelled ok when I pulled them Friday evening, rinsed then soaked for two hours in fresh water changed once. Were dried overnight with a fan on them- nice and tacky to the touch. Smoked with a combination of apple and hickory for 6hrs and left in the smoker to cool off for a few hours longer. Results this morning: nice cured color,very tasty, not too salty (for me)and not overly sweet. I paid $4.44/lb for an 11 lb. skin-off belly, are prices this high every where?
Nice summary. If it came out alright, it must have cured alright. Sometimes they just don't have as much water in them. I've really started dry curing mine more. After I cure it for a week, I hang on bacon hangers in the fridge for five or so days, and they really gets rid of a lot more moisture. I loose about 30 percent weight from start to finish. This intensifies the flavor and texture. I can't pay that much for bellies. That's high for me. About 2.50 a pound is my limit, if I can find them. I'd probably go up to 2.75/LB for skin off if I had to. I'm really having trouble getting decent bellies here in Grove, Oklahoma. I got my last batch at Fort Leonard Wood, commissary for 2.05/LB and have a preacher friend at Fort sill getting me 50 LBs next month and we'll meet somewhere in the middle. I just cured 52 pounds of boneless Pork Sirloin (top part of the ham), that I got on sale for 1.79/Lb at the local grocery store. This is my biggest batch of ham so far, proceeded by at 36 pound batch which yielded 24 pounds when finished, 20 of which made nice sliced dry cured ham deli meat.
Even better two days later. I'm liking this batch with just Sugar Cure, it's had the best over all balance of salty/sweet of the batches I've made, doesn't burn too easy in the pan and crispy. Mmm. Now, if I had access to your kind of prices I'd be in hog heaven (couldn't resist... sorry!)
l'm looking for a decent meat slicer on Craigslist, I burned out my small bore slicer on the last batch-

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