Quick question to the all the experts.
I put in 7 pound of bacon to cure about a week ago. I had to go out of town for business so I couldn't do it in the 3 days that I was originally planning. The meat has really firmed up, shrunk and I actually have a couple ends that have hardened.
#1. Is this normal?
#2. Will the end result be ruined?
#3. Is the meat still good?
#4. Please tell me I didn't ruin the meat
Would like to Apple smok
Sounds like it did what it was supposed to do.
If you are concerned about it being to salty just slice a small piece off and fry it till cooked and then taste it to see how it is. If it is too salty try soaking it in water for a couple of hours and do the fry test again.Repeat as necessary You can leach out a lot of salt this way and end up with good bacon.
Quote from: Quarlow on March 27, 2010, 06:12:54 PM
If you are concerned about it being to salty just slice a small piece off and fry it till cooked and then taste it to see how it is. If it is too salty try soaking it in water for a couple of hours and do the fry test again.Repeat as necessary You can leach out a lot of salt this way and end up with good bacon.
Or if it really tastes good end up with not enough to worry about smoking!!
It should be fine as is IMO. Seems to me that most recipes for bacon require you to cure for 7 days. Taste a piece to satisfy yourself then start smoking ;)
BTW........I didn't get back to everyone, but the bacon was incredible. My wife who does not like smoked foods, said it was the best bacon she had ever had.
Osum, (what does that stand for by the way?) , one of the most common things that I have learned from being a member of this forum is the phrase " This is the best I (insert food item) I've ever had." Followed by. " If you do this yourself, you will never, ever want to buy it from a commercial store,."
Keep going bud! And get your wife involved!
I'm just a 1 year newbie, but the passion keeps growing!~!