I make a premade cure mix using a trustworthy recipe for making bacon no spices just basic cure. I've not used it for a while and wondering if it goes bad. There a good couple pounds of it made and I would hate to waste it but also don't like the doctors office or hospital much either. Does it go bad . It's about 6 to 8.months old
If your talking about cure #1 going bad I would say as long as it has stayed dry it will last for years.
If it is just basic with no spices it should be alright. As long as it was stored properly, and has no hard lumps. If you have doubts, you can pretest it on a thin cut of meat like a 2" pork chop. If after curing the pork chop, once it is cooked it should remain reddish/pinkish inside.
Just to note; if your premixed contained anything other then sodium nitrite, sugars, and salt, I would not take a chance with it. The reason for this is that certain spices, herbs and other ingredients can have a chemical reaction to nitrites and nitrates, which can render them useless. This reaction usually occurs after a few days of shelf life. So far I haven't been able to locate a list of such ingredients.
Quote from: Habanero Smoker on November 17, 2013, 01:04:57 PM
If it is just basic with no spices it should be alright. As long as it was stored properly, and has no hard lumps. If you have doubts, you can pretest it on a thin cut of meat like a 2" pork chop. If after curing the pork chop, once it is cooked it should remain reddish/pinkish inside.
Just to note; if your premixed contained anything other then sodium nitrite, sugars, and salt, I would not take a chance with it. The reason for this is that certain spices, herbs and other ingredients can have a chemical reaction to nitrites and nitrates, which can render them useless. This reaction usually occurs after a few days of shelf life. So far I haven't been able to locate a list of such ingredients.
Ditto! Good advice given.
its just pink salt, salt and sugar nothing else. its just a basic cure to be adjusted when I make whatever im about to do
You should be good to go.
You may also be interested in the Basic Dry Cure (http://www.susanminor.org/forums/showthread.php?441-Basic-Dry-Cure-Morton-s-Tender-Quick-substitute&p=691#post691) recipe, or it may be the same formula as what you are using.