I have my first attempt at curing in the refrigerator right now. This is day number 4 and I just flipped the boneless butt. Now, is it typical to have a small portion of the meat still red/pink where the cure apparently hasn't taken as much effect due to the meat laying against the plastic bag and bowl that it's stored in? I assume that's part of the reason for flipping the meat halfway through the cure time, correct?
Also, I did all the calculations and measurements when applying the cure so everything is correct on that end. I also made sure to use all of the cure and to cover the meat as evenly as possible. It just appears that where the pork butt has been sitting against the bowl that the coloration isn't as dark as where it isn't touching anything.
Lots of juice in the bag and about 4-5 more days to go. I just want to make sure what I'm going through is typical.
JM the liquid is normal if your curing. I myself would flip the meat in the bag over DAILY and massage the meat inside the bag each day for the first couple. I do this to ensure that the cure is well distributed.
JM,
10.5 has you covered. Turn the meat everyday. The liquid is a good thing, means the cure is doing it's thing. If the bag is not vac sealed but rather a zip style bag try this. If the bag has a lot of air in it, open the bag and "burp" the bag and reseal so it has as little air as possible. It will help keep the liquid in contact with the surface of the meat.
Hang in there, it will turn out OK.
KyNola
Sounds good. Thanks, guys. I'll start flipping it daily now and next time I'll start flipping from day one.